Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press
U.S. Olympic softball player Lisa Fernandez demonstrates a batting stance at the Fury Softball gym on Saturday.Three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Fernandez took time Saturday to give fastpitch softball instruction to some fellow instructors.
The UCLA assistant held a coaching clinic at the Fury Academy for those she calls “connectors,” referring to the men and women who connect the athletes with the sport.
“I’m here to answer questions and to try and help them make their players be successful,” Fernandez said beforehand. “A coach’s job is not just to try and make them great softball players but great people. You want to make them feel good about the game and enjoy the game. When it comes down to it, it is a game.”
Fernandez was a four-time All-American at UCLA (1990-93) and played in the national final each year, winning twice. The upcoming season will be her 13th on the Bruins’ staff, and last year’s national title was their fourth with Fernandez as either an assistant or volunteer assistant coach.
“She spent an hour with us just on hitting,” said Kirk Lewis, who along with fellow Fury coach Tad Andrus helped arrange for Fernandez to visit for the weekend. “That was as good as it gets. A lot of the drills she can show the local kids, they’ve not been exposed to. She’s played at the elite level of the game. We probably could’ve stayed another three hours.”
Fernandez recalled talking with college batterymate Kelly Inouye early in their careers about how great it would be to become UCLA coaches eventually. Inouye-Perez is in her fifth season as the head Bruin, and Fernandez is content with that.
“Head coach is a different animal,” Fernandez said. “I like being in the grind. The major part of what I do is between the white lines. I like the hands-on approach.”
Fernandez married Michael Lujon in 2002, and their son, Antonio, was born in December 2005.
“I’d love to have another one,” Fernandez said. “I’ve got an incredible support staff around me that allows me to do what I’m able to do.”
That includes playing on the PFX Tour and its 24-game exhibition schedule throughout the country starting in June. Fernandez said she doesn’t pitch on the pro circuit, but she plays defense at times and bats.
“A long time ago my mom told me, ‘You hit, you play,'” Fernandez said. “Pitching is my perfectionism, but I love to hit as well.”
Fernandez has discontent with the International Olympic Committee’s decision to no longer include softball as part of the Summer Games, but she holds out hope that it can be restored for 2020. A lot would have to change, with regard to the IOC, the Amateur Softball Association, corporate sponsorship and possibly more. For now she believes the Women’s College World Series will have to serve as the sport’s pinnacle.
Fernandez is scheduled to conduct a youth pitching clinic today at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s indoor practice facility at Warner Park, starting at 9 a.m. Seven college coaches are scheduled to attend the afternoon session for the 13-and-up age group.
Fernandez should be careful. The area girls who will benefit from her teachings could end up in the Southeastern Conference, which is becoming a healthy rival of her beloved Pac-10.
“Her techniques are not so advanced you can’t learn them,” Lewis said. “A big part of her message is to focus on the positive. Here’s what to do, not don’t do this. Here’s what you want to accomplish. Just think how good you’ll be when you get there.”