July 31, 2008

Santa Clara University athletics director Dan Coonan is proud to announce he has hired 1996 Olympian Lisa Mize, the interim head coach since January and an assistant coach with the Bronco program two years prior, as the new head softball coach.

"I am thrilled for this opportunity and the chance to build the program. Santa Clara softball has a bright future ahead and I am eager to getting started," said Mize. "After spending this past season as the interim head coach we have defined areas of need on the field. We have a strong recruiting class coming in and with that class I look to build for the future. There is an impressive group of student-athletes on the softball team and we have a solid core with good leadership skills that will help us head in the right direction."

"Lisa Mize made the most of a challenging situation this year as interim head coach. We are pleased to be handing her the reins of the program now on a permanent basis," said Santa Clara athletics director Dan Coonan. "She is well connected in the softball community and played softball on the international level for a long time, including in the 1996 Olympics. She is ready to jumpstart this program. We look forward to seeing the progress she will make this year."

A 1996 Olympian, Mize brought a wealth of experience with her to Santa Clara. A right-handed pitcher, Mize was a member of the Puerto Rican National Team from 1989-96 and competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

"The 1996 Olympics was the first time softball had been played at that level and it was very memorable," said Mize, who won a gold and silver medal for Puerto Rico at two different Central American Games. "In general being on the international circuit for 10 years, I have competed against some of the best softball players in the world and gained an overall knowledge of the game playing at the elite level."

Collegiately, Mize played for softball power Fresno State in 1993, where she led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Regional Finals. Prior to Fresno State, she played at Colorado State University (1992) and at Chabot College (1990-1991). In 1991, Mize was honored as the California State Pitcher of the Year and helped her squad to the California JUCO Finals.

Her coaching experience includes a three-year stint at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., where she assisted with the softball program as a volunteer assistant coach from 1993-96.

Mize has been the owner and operator of the Lisa Mize Fastpitch Academy (Los Gatos, Calif.) since 2001, where she develops specific curriculums in order to enhance a student's specified talents in softball. In addition, Mize owned the Olympian School of Softball from 1993-2001, where she gave private pitching and hitting instruction to athletes on a weekly basis.