 | This biographyneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this biography. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Joan Joyce" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1940-08-18)August 18, 1940 Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | March 26, 2022(2022-03-26) (aged 81) Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Softball | |
| 1954–1963 | Raybestos Brakettes |
| 1964–1966 | Orange Lionettes |
| 1967–1975 | Raybestos Brakettes |
| Golf | |
| 1977–1995 | LPGA |
| Basketball | |
| 1964–1965 | USA Women's National Team |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| College softball | |
| 1973–1974 | LIU Brooklyn |
| 1974–1975 | Mattatuck Community College |
| 1995–2022 | Florida Atlantic |
| College golf | |
| 1996–2014 | Florida Atlantic |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 1002–674–1 (.598) |
Joan Joyce (August 18, 1940 – March 26, 2022)[1] was thesoftball coach atFlorida Atlantic, for 28 years until her death in 2022. She previously was a softball player for theRaybestos Brakettes and theOrange Lionettes.[2] She also had set records on theLPGA Tour as a golfer and on theUSA women's national basketball team, and was a player and coach for theConnecticut Clippersvolleyball team.[3]
Joyce played for the Brakettes from 1954 to 1963, the Lionettes from 1964 to 1966, and again the Brakettes from 1967 to 1975, In her career, she racked up many of the sport's records, which have yet to be broken:
Her pitches were extremely fast at over 70 miles per hour. She pitched 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games, with a lifetime earned run average of 0.09. In her record-setting 42-win season, she pitched 38 shutouts. Her 1974 Brakettes team was the first American team to win the world championship.[3]
In exhibition games, she struck outTed Williams at Municipal Stadium inWaterbury, Connecticut in 1961 (also during a brief stint in 1966) andHank Aaron in 1978.[2][4]
Joyce was co-founder (withBillie Jean King,Jim Jorgensen andDennis Murphy) of theWomen's Professional Softball League in 1976 and the coach and part owner of theConnecticut Falcons team, which won the Championship all four years of the league's history.
She was a coach atFlorida Atlantic University, having coached softball since 1994 and women's golf since 1996.[5] As of 2022, Joyce's Owls team won eleven conference championships and advanced to elevenNCAA Division I softball tournaments.[3] In her first two seasons (1995 and 1996), the Owls wereAtlantic Sun Conference runners-up, then won the next eight championships. They took second in 2005, then won again in 2006. The Owls won theSun Belt Conference championship in 2007, and theConference USA championship in 2016. Joyce was namedAtlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2002,Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, andConference USA Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2018.
On March 18, 2022, Joyce earned her1,000th career win as a head coach, becoming the 27th NCAA Division I softball coach to reach the milestone.[6][7]
After softball, she joined theLPGA Tour, in which she was from 1977 to 1994.[8] Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66.[8] Joyce holds the record for lowest number of putts (17) in a single LPGA round, set at the 1982Lady Michelob.[9]
Joyce served as player and coach in theUnited States Volleyball Association with theConnecticut Clippers.[citation needed] She competed in four national tournaments, and was named to the All-East Regional team.[citation needed]
Joyce played on theUSA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965[citation needed], setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points[citation needed]. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American[citation needed], and a three-timeAmateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-America player[citation needed].
Joyce was inducted into theNational Softball Hall of Fame in 1983.[10] She was inducted into theInternational Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 1999.[11]
In addition to the National Softball Hall of Fame and International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, she has been inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hank O'Donnell Hall of Fame, the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame, the Greater Waterbury Hall of Fame, and, as one of only three Americans, theInternational Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
Joyce died on March 26, 2022[12] in Boca Raton, Florida.[4]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Atlantic Owls(Atlantic Sun Conference)(1995–2006) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Florida Atlantic | 33–18 | 9–5 | 2nd(East) | |||||
| 1996 | Florida Atlantic | 37–32 | 11–5 | 3rd(East) | |||||
| 1997 | Florida Atlantic | 42–29 | 14–2 | 1st(East) | |||||
| 1998 | Florida Atlantic | 47–20 | 14–6 | 1st(East) | |||||
| 1999 | Florida Atlantic | 49–20 | 10–2 | 1st(East) | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2000 | Florida Atlantic | 57–17 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2001 | Florida Atlantic | 46–21 | 9–5 | T–1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2002 | Florida Atlantic | 62–13 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2003 | Florida Atlantic | 44–28 | 18–4 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2004 | Florida Atlantic | 56–18 | 17–3 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2005 | Florida Atlantic | 37–32 | 14–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 2006 | Florida Atlantic | 35–25 | 15–5 | T–2nd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| Florida Atlantic Owls(Sun Belt Conference)(2007–2013) | |||||||||
| 2007 | Florida Atlantic | 42–23 | 16–8 | 1st | |||||
| 2008 | Florida Atlantic | 35–26 | 17–7 | 2nd | |||||
| 2009 | Florida Atlantic | 30–30 | 10–13 | 7th | |||||
| 2010 | Florida Atlantic | 28–26 | 12–10 | 4th | |||||
| 2011 | Florida Atlantic | 34–25 | 15–9 | 2nd | |||||
| 2012 | Florida Atlantic | 15–39 | 5–18 | T–8th | |||||
| 2013 | Florida Atlantic | 28–29 | 10–12 | 5th | |||||
| Florida Atlantic Owls(Conference USA)(2014–Present) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Florida Atlantic | 33–22 | 15–9 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2015 | Florida Atlantic | 39–19–1 | 16–7 | 2nd(East) | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2016 | Florida Atlantic | 51–9 | 22–2 | 1st(East) | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2017 | Florida Atlantic | 35–21 | 15–9 | 3rd(East) | |||||
| 2018 | Florida Atlantic | 30–26 | 15–8 | 1st(East) | |||||
| 2019 | Florida Atlantic | 20–30 | 7–17 | 5th(East) | |||||
| 2020 | Florida Atlantic | 8–14 | 1–2 | 3rd(East) | Season canceled due toCovid-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2021 | Florida Atlantic | 12–35 | 6–14 | 6th(East) | |||||
| 2022 | Florida Atlantic | 18–17 | 6–3 | 2nd(East) | |||||
| Florida Atlantic: | 1002–674–1 (.598) | 348–194 (.642) | |||||||
| Total: | 1002–674–1 (.598) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||