Heather Ivey was officially named the Centenary Ladies softball assistant coach this year after volunteering her time and expertise all last season. Ivey has been playing softball since she was five years old and clearly stuck with it for many years after. She attended Henderson State in Arkansas, where she played on their Division II softball team all four years. After graduating in 2012, Ivey stayed in Arkansas and had a multitude of different jobs involving counseling and detective work before moving back home to Shreveport. Since Ivey moved back last year, she started volunteering with Coach Whitney in her free time because she and Coach Whit have been best friends since high school. After being a volunteer for a year, she decided to stay on as a full-time assistant coach because she “enjoyed watching the players grow and gain more knowledge of the game.” She says she has fallen in love with the game again after years because of the Centenary Ladies' hard work and dedication to the game and each other. Because of her hiatus from softball for years, the opportunity to not only teach but to learn more about the sport she loves was a no-brainer. When asked about their new official assistant coach, sophomore Brooke Sandefur said, “We started to get to know her last year when she filled in after our original assistant coach stepped down. She’s tough on us for sure, but still gives us constant encouragement and affirmation.” Her main responsibility is helping out with the out-field players, and she is known as the hype-man on the team. Ivey says that her goal with the team and individual players is to influence the girls with their coaching and training in a way that will positively affect them moving forward in life. “My hope for them moving forward is that they can take something from our teaching/training and be able to use it in the adult world and say, man, I’m prepared for this.” 

As a coach, the goal is to affect the player as a person as well as the team, and with this in mind, there is no doubt that Ivey will be an exceptional new addition to the Centenary Ladies. If there is one complaint about Coach Ivey, it’s that she has a problem with walking around the infield in nothing but her socks, and Sandefur says that many of the girls have tried to get her to stop. However, instances like this bring so much laughter and joy to the team at practices that all the Ladies are thrilled she has signed on as an official assistant coach. With Ivey by their side, the Centenary Ladies won their fall game against Kilgore College on October 9th. The Ladies will have an exciting season this year with six new freshmen boosting their already winning team. Just last year, the Ladies went to the SCAC Tournament, beating Schreiner 8-5 and narrowly losing to St. Thomas 8-7. With the new freshman and Coach Heather Ivey, the Ladies are looking forward to another amazing season.

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