Dorothy Gay Richardson (born September 22, 1961) is an American physician and former two-time gold medal-winning Olympian

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

. Richardson is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. Richardson played college softball at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and won the inaugural

NCAA Division I softball tournament The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City. Tournament play and team s ...

in 1982. She is a USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree.

Education

Richardson attended Western Illinois University for one year and the University of California Los Angeles for four years. Richardson has a master's degree in exercise physiology and health from

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

in Garden City, New York.Aquitania, Ray E. M.D. (2011) ''Jock-Docs: World-Class Athletes Wearing White Coats'' She attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

School of Medicine and received an M.D. degree in 1993. She then entered her five-year orthopedic residency program at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. She took a one-year leave of absence to participate in the 1996 Olympic Games, where she and her teammates captured the first ever Olympic gold medal in softball. Between 1999 and 2000, she did a fellowship in sports medicine at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Sports Medicine Clinic in Los Angeles.

Softball career

Dot began her softball career in 1972 playing for the Union Park Jets in Orlando. In early 1975, at the age of 13, Dot was a member of the Orlando Rebels in the ASA (Amateur Softball Association of America), She became the youngest player ever to play in the ASA Women's Major Fast-Pitch National Championships. After graduating from Colonial High School in Orlando, Richardson played for Western Illinois, before transferring to UCLA, where she played for the UCLA Bruins from 1980 to 1984. While there she helped the Bruins win their first NCAA championship in 1982. After college Dot played professionally, starting her career in Orlando with the Florida Rebels. She then joined the Raybestos Brakettes of Stratford, Connecticut in 1984, where she remained until 1994. She ended her professional career with the California Commotion of Woodland Hills, California. Richardson was a key part of the United States national team that won the gold medal during the sport's Olympic debut in 1996 hitting the home run that won the game. She was also part of the 2000 gold medal-winning team in Sydney. After her win at the Olympics, she continued with her career as an

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Dot Richardson was Executive Director and Medical Director of the National Training Center until 2012. She is the head softball coach at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia. Richardson now serves as a board chair for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Softball Ministry, where her husband Bob Pinto is the national director.

Coaching career

Richardson was named as the head softball coach at Liberty University on July 17, 2013. The Flames have shown improvement in each of Richardson's first five seasons. After an 11–46 record her first season in 2014, Liberty won 29 games in 2015. Richardson then posted her first winning record in 2016 and followed that year with two straight regular season Big South titles in 2017 and 2018 with 45+ wins in both seasons, winning the Big South conference tournament in 2018 and receiving a regional automatic qualifying spot to play at South Carolina. Richardson also coached the Flames to the NISC postseason tournament title in 2017.

Awards

Richardson is the recipient of the 1998 Sports Legends Award, the 1997 Babe Zaharias Award (Female Athlete of the Year), the 1996 Amateur Athletic Foundation Athlete of the Year, inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1996, Nuprin Comeback of the Year Award in 1990, four-time Sullivan Award nominee and inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1999. Her college honors include NCAA Player of the Decade (1980s), three-time NCAA All-American, two-time AIAW All-American, three-time UCLA MVP and 1983 All University Award at UCLA. She was named MVP in the Women's Major Fast Pitch National Championship four times. She is an inductee of the National Softball Hall of Fame.

Statistics

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

Team USA

Head coaching record

References

* * http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=36961&teamID=2&CFID=3157509&CFTOKEN=70025606

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Dot 1961 births Living people American softball coaches American orthopedic surgeons American sports physicians UCLA Bruins softball players Liberty Lady Flames softball coaches Olympic softball players of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in softball Softball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Colonial High School alumni Adelphi University alumni Western Illinois University alumni University of Louisville School of Medicine alumni University of Southern California alumni Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida Softball players from Florida