LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Speakers are an important part of the NFCA convention. These segments are designed to allow attendees to learn from their peers and other professionals associated with the game of softball. Today we feature our first set of speakers, who hit the stage on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 3. Leading off is head coach Tim Walton of the two-time defending national champion Florida Gators. He is followed by our Coach Emeriti Panel, which consists of three retired coaches and respective teachers of the game- Cindy Bristow, Yvette Girouard and Deb DiMatteo.
The 2015 NFCA Convention is being held Dec. 2-5 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
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Tim Walton, Head Coach, Florida
“The Championship Approach” | Dec. 3 | 3:00 p.m.
Tim Walton has changed the face of Florida softball since his first season in 2006, establishing the program as a national powerhouse in 10 years at the helm of the Gators squad. Under Walton’s tutelage, Florida became the first Southeastern Conference institution in history to earn four consecutive Women’s College World Series berths (2008-11). The Orange and Blue have earned a total of seven WCWS berths since Walton’s arrival, with three championship series appearances and the program’s first and second national titles in 2014 and 2015.
After winning the program’s first national championship in 2014, the Gators followed that by becoming just the third program in NCAA history to win back-to-back softball titles in 2015. In the 34-year history of the WCWS, 12 different teams have claimed the national title and Florida joined UCLA (2003, 2004 / 1988, 1989, 1990 / 1984, 1985) and Arizona (2006, 2007 / 1996, 1997 / 1993, 1994) as the only three programs to claim NCAA titles in consecutive years.
Walton will enter his 11th season at Florida with a 552-121 (.820) record at the head of the Gator program and a 675-185 (.785) career record in 13 seasons as a head coach. Florida has seven 50-win and three 60-win seasons in program history, all under Walton.
In his 10 years at Florida, Walton has led the Orange and Blue to countless school and SEC records, and his squads have earned numerous firsts for the Gator softball program. In 2011, UF advanced to an unprecedented fourth straight Women’s College World Series, including its second trip to the Championship Series. Working as a four-time SEC Coach of the Year, Walton has led the Gators to four SEC regular-season and three conference tournament titles.
UF has made the NCAA Tournament every year of his tenure, hosted Regionals all 10 times and played host to NCAA Super Regionals seven times from 2008-15. Florida reached the pinnacle of college softball in 2014, capturing the national championship with a two-game sweep of Southeastern Conference rival Alabama in the finals. This past season in 2015, Walton and his squad won the program’s second-straight national title, defeating Michigan two games to one in the final of the WCWS.
Coach Emeriti Panel | Dec. 3 | 4:00 p.m.
Cindy Bristow, Founder of Softball Excellence
NFCA Hall of Famer Cindy Bristow has been involved in virtually every facet of softball throughout her 30-plus year career in fastpitch softball. As a player, Bristow earned All-American honors while pitching and playing first base for Cal Poly Pomona. In addition, she played professionally for the Santa Ana Lionettes.
After her playing days, Bristow turned to coaching, holding numerous collegiate and professional softball coaching positions, including an assistant coach position at Arizona State, head coach at New Mexico State, head coach at Wichita State, head coach and assistant general manager of the Georgia Pride, which later became the Florida Wahoos in the Women's Professional Softball League.
Bristow has held national and international leadership positions in softball including President of the NFCA, National Director of Junior Olympic Softball for the Amateur Softball Association, Director of National Teams and Coaching Development for USA Softball, and Director of Development for the International Softball Federation (ISF), the world governing body for the sport of softball.
A passionate educator who loves to share and pass on knowledge, Bristow has authored eight softball instructional books, produced 18 training videos, authored countess online instructional materials and articles including the seven-level Softball Excellence Coaching Certification Program. In addition, she has been a featured speaker, organizer and leader of thousands of softball clinics both in the U.S. and abroad, and has been a color analyst for ESPN's college softball coverage.
Besides her induction into the NFCA's Hall of Fame, a few of the many milestone accomplishments in her softball career include the guiding of the selection of the United States' first-ever Olympic Softball team that won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games, coordination of the Greek Olympic Softball Team's creation and first-ever appearance in an Olympic Games, working with three different Olympic Softball Teams — USA, Greek and Chinese, and the leading of the Florida Wahoos to a WPSL championship, which resulted in Bristow being named WPSL Coach of the Year. In addition, Bristow has worked closely with Softball Australia to create and establish Pitching Excellence Schools, with Softball Canada to develop a Skills Development Pathway for players from Olympic level to 8-year olds. She also has traveled the world to help increase the level of softball coaching and play on a global level while working with the ISF's 125+ member countries.
Bristow is the founder of Softball Excellence, which she created to extend the anyplace-anytime convenience of the internet to softball coaches, parents, and players at all levels and across all continents. Softballexcellence.com offers on-demand softball instruction and has the largest online repository of softball drills, skills, practices, and clinics in the world. Softball Excellence is a premier "online destination for all things softball," and the first place to go for any type of softball instructional information or training aids.
Yvette Girouard, Head Coach (Retired) LSU and Louisiana-Lafayette
A pioneer of the game and one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division I college softball history, Yvette Girouard, a 2005 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee, retired from Louisiana State University at the end of the 2011 season with a 1,285-421-1 career record.
She left coaching with 30 consecutive winning seasons, nine conference championships and 10 national top 10 finishes, while leading teams to NCAA regionals 20 times and the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) five times. She became just the third coach in NCAA history to steer two programs to the WCWS when she guided LSU during the 2001 and 2004 seasons and the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana-Lafayette) to a trio of WCWS appearances in the 1990's. Her highest finishes were third place in the 1993, 2001 and 2004 national championships.
In her two decades as the UL-Lafayette head coach (1981 to 2000), Girouard built the team from the ground floor with no scholarships and a $3,000 budget to one of the nation's perennial powers. The Cajuns totaled 10 NCAA regional berths and three WCWS trips. With a .815 winning percentage, her teams posted the third-best winning percentage nationally in the 1990's behind only Arizona and UCLA.
At LSU, Girouard's legacy continued to grow as she compiled a 526-171-1 record from 2001 through 2011 for a .754 winning percentage in the ever-improving SEC.
Girouard is also a member of the Louisiana Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She’s the daughter of the late Rose Mary and Alton Girouard, and was born in Broussard, La. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana-Lafayette in 1976 in health and physical education. During her college days, she played on the Lady Cajun volleyball team and was named the school's 1976 Female Athlete of the Year.
Following college, Girouard served as head coach at Lafayette High School where she began the softball program in 1977. She moved to a softball coaching position at her alma mater, Comeaux High School, in 1980 before beginning the USL softball program the following season.
Girouard was involved in NFCA committee work and served several terms on the NFCA All-American and Coaching Staff of the Year Committee. In addition, she served on the NCAA Softball Rules Committee and on several regional ranking committees.
Since her retirement, she has received numerous accolades, including a 2015 induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Girouard was presented resolution by the Louisiana State legislature for her “extraordinary coaching career” and an award from the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame as Louisiana’s Most Outstanding College Coach. In addition, she worked as a studio analyst for ESPN softball championship coverage in 2011.
Deb DiMatteo, Head Coach (retired) College of DuPage, MacMurray, Benedictine
DiMatteo, an Associate Professor of Physical Education at the College of DuPage, has dedicated her life to coaching athletes of all ages. DiMatteo, a 1977 graduate of Lewis University, spent 26 years coaching collegiate student-athletes with stops at MacMurray College, Benedictine University and College of DuPage before retiring in 2004.
On the softball field, DiMatteo compiled a record of 660-270, including seven consecutive appearances in the NJCAA World Series and four National Championships (1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004). She was tabbed as the NJCAA Softball Coach of the Year at COD in 2000, 2001 and 2004.
As a volleyball coach, she compiled an overall record of 510-138. DiMatteo's teams earned 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 1981-93 and she took Benedictine to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament in 1988.
A member of the NJCAA Coaches, Benedictine and Lewis Hall of Fames, DiMatteo coached 97 All-Americans in volleyball and softball at Benedictine and COD.
A pioneer of Lewis women's athletics teams in 1973, DiMatteo competed on the basketball, volleyball and track and field teams and spearheaded the formation of the first Flyers' softball team in 1976. Following graduation, she obtained a masters degree from Western Illinois University in 1978.
In 2011, DeMatteo was named the 2011 female recipient of the Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni Award of Distinction. It is an annual award presented by the Great Lakes Valley Conference in remembrance of University of Southern Indiana professor and faculty athletics representative Dr. Charles Bertram to individuals that display academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership who have served their institutions with personal distinction since their graduation and who have displayed postgraduate public or community service and contributions to athletics at any level.
-- Photo Courtesy of Tim Casey (Gatorzone.com)