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500 Wins for Coach Ellis
The Mesa Tribune, Monday, March 16, 1998 by Les Willsey
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Winning fits like a glove: Nancy Ellis has done plenty of winning as a softball coach at three schools, including Mesa and Dobson highs. The Mustangs can get Ellis career wins No. 499 and 500 today at the Marcos de Niza-McClintock Softball Invitational.
The earthquake that jarred
Southern California in 1971 got Nancy Ellis thinking that her location at the
time wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
"I was living in a third-floor
apartment and the wall cracked," said the Dobson High softball coach, recalling
the end of a three year coaching stint at Orange High in Orange, California,
"A piece of the freeway broke off. I wasn't too wild about sticking around."
So Ellis, whose father
was a career military man, packed her bags again (such is the life of a military
brat) and headed back to Arizona, where the weather was equally wonderful and
earthquakes generally keep their distance.
Since then, the Chandler
High and ASU graduate has become a fixture on and off the field in Arizona.
On the field, Ellis ---
a 1996 inductee into the Arizona Coaches Hall of Fame --- has done the winning
thing many times. Four-hundred ninety-eight softball wins to be exact. Dobson,
unbeaten this season until a 7-0 loss to Seton Catholic on Saturday, is currently
8-1. The Mustangs can get wins No. 499 and 500 today for Ellis during the second
day of the Marcos de Niza-McClintock Softball Invitational at Marcos de Niza.
Off the field, Ellis has
served as an advocate of female athletes coming of age and getting their due,
Title IX, a federal law mandating equal opportunities for female athletes at
publicly funded schools, was born in 1972, coincidentally the same time Ellis
returned to Arizona to stay. She even petitioned the media at the time to give
more coverage to girls' sports, likely to no avail.
Ellis takes coaching seriously;
she has coached girls in archery, badminton, basketball, field hockey, tennis,
track and softball during her career --- emphasizing that kids have fun and
learn. That's what she's most serious about, particularly in the sport of softball,
which she has always coached.
"I try to tell them to
have fun a lot, especially right before a game," Ellis said. "It's a way of
saying to them, 'Take a deep breath. Relax.' Kids are usually nervous before
a game. You have a lot more fun when you are loose. I have a lot of fun coaching.
And it is true. You have more fun when you win."
If Ellis' milestone comes
today (the Mustangs must beat Gilbert at 1 p.m. and Marcos de Niza at 3 p.m.),
it won't bring a sigh of relief or the feeling her career is winding down. No,
the 51-year-old Ellis plans on continuing for a long time (maybe 10 more years).
That's the mindset when you enjoy your profession.
Coaching and teaching
physical education hasn't weathered Ellis. To her, it's a dip in the fountain
of youth.
"I decided a long time
ago I would live and die coaching high school," Ellis said. "It's the last realm
where you see kids enjoy what they're doing without the pressures and distractions
you see more and more at the other levels."
Starting with a three-year
coaching stint at Orange High, Ellis coached at Mesa High from 1971 to 1981
and has resided at Dobson since. Her record in 30 seasons as a softball coach
is 498-242, a winning percentage of .673, including state titles in 1970 in
California and in 1990 at Dobson.
Ellis' manner often seems
sharp as she barks out practice instructions (maybe it's her military upbringing
showing through), but she gets results with what plays out as an easy-going
style.
"She's a good motivator,"
said Dobson athletic director Barb Adams, a Title IX boomer along with Ellis.
"She relates with the kids. She'll assess a situation and attack it. Sometimes
kidding and having a light moment works. Sometimes it takes more if she feels
a team isn't playing to its potential.
"She's been able to produce
winning teams just about every year, and she's been coaching for 30 years. Her
teams are very disciplined on the field, and react well under pressure."
Ellis is as comfortable
in the Mustangs' dugout before practice stitching a broken glove (as she often
does for baseball players, softball players or even fellow coaches) as she is
typing at home on her computer updating stats and facts on the team's website.
"When you do something
you enjoy, you stay active and stay healthier," Ellis said. "That's how I feel
now. I don't see that changing."
END OF ARTICLE
Todays Game Results...Dobson 2 Gilbert 0....Dobson 3 Marcos 2...YEA!!! 500 WINS.
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