BOCA RATON, Fla. – The home field for Florida Atlantic University softball has been renamed after its late great head coach, Joan Joyce.
FAU Athletics has announced that the home of Owls’ softball has been renamed ‘Joan Joyce Field’ in honor of an all-time legend, not only in the FAU softball world, but in the sporting world.
The first official game at Joan Joyce Field will be on Friday, April 28 against North Texas. A ceremony to honor Joyce and her family will be held pregame on Sunday, April 30.
“Joan was a legendary figure in the sporting world as well as at Florida Atlantic University,” said Brian White, FAU’s vice president and director of athletics. “Her legacy and impact will forever be felt, and maybe nowhere more so than at the university where she was the inaugural head softball coach and served for more than 25 years. It is a tremendous honor for us to name the FAU softball field after her, and we are eternally grateful for everything that Joan gave to this program, athletics department and university.”
Joyce was a pioneer in women’s athletics and is one of the greatest athletes, in any sport, of all time. Joyce, who passed away at the age of 82 last March, is a member of 21 Halls of Fame and built the FAU softball program from the ground up, leading the Owls to 1,002 wins, becoming only the 27th coach in NCAA Division I history to win 1,000 games.
The legacy of Joan Joyce goes well beyond the coaching ranks. She pitched professionally for the Raybestos Brakettes and holds some eye-popping statistics and accomplishments, including 150 no-hitters, 50 perfect games, 15 All-America selections, along with the record for most consecutive all-star team selections (18) and wins in a season (42). Joyce tallied a record of 753-42 as a pitcher.
She was such a dominant pitcher, that two of the greatest hitters ever to walk the Earth could not hit her. Perhaps her most widely known accomplishments were striking out both Ted Williams and Hank Aaron.
Despite her seemingly endless list of accolades, Joyce’s ability to teach and coach the sports she loved might have been her biggest legacy. During her time at FAU, Joyce was a leader, role model and mentor to 247 student-athletes on the softball team as well as 100 student-athletes on FAU’s women’s golf team.
“Naming our field after legendary coach Joan Joyce is appropriate to maintain her incredible legacy at FAU,” FAU head softball coach Jordan Clark said. “With her name on the field, every player that represents FAU softball will have a better understanding of the person most influential in the foundation of our program. In many ways, our program can continue to honor her legacy every day practicing and playing on her field.”
