Linda Marie Wells (born December 13, 1949) is a former American softball coach. She previously served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers softball and

Arizona State Sun Devils softball The Arizona State Sun Devils softball team represents Arizona State University in NCAA Division I College softball. The team competes in the Pac-12 Conference, and plays its home games at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. ...

teams.

Playing career

Wells was a three-sport athlete in high school, and played softball, volleyball, basketball, tennis and field hockey while at

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

. She Played professionally from 1975 to 1979, serving as player-coach for the Chicago Ravens and St. Louis Hummers.

Coaching career

Minnesota

Wells started the Minnesota Golden Gophers softball program in 1974. She served as the head coach for the Gophers from 1974 to 1989, missing the 1976 season due to attending medical school at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

. She was named the

Big Ten Conference Softball Coach of the Year The Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year is a college softball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding coach. The award has been given annually since 1985. Key Winners Winners by school References

{{Big Ten Conference ...

in 1988 after leading her team to a 31–25 record and the Big Ten Conference Championship. During her career at Minnesota she posted a 350–264–1 record. She served as the

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

coach for the 1973–74 season, and an assistant coach from 1974 to 1977. She also served as the

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball is the NCAA Division I women's volleyball team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The program began its first season in 1972 under head coach Dee Jilek. Its current head coach is Keegan Cook, who to ...

coach in 1974, and from 1977 to 1981. Her 1978 volleyball squad won an unofficial Big Ten title and her 1981 squad placed seventh at the AIAW National Championships.

Arizona State

Wells served as the head coach at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from 1990 to 2005, where she posted a 563–415 record and led the team to 12 NCAA Regional appearances and two

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

appearances. On February 13, 2005, Wells earned her 537th career win at Arizona State, surpassing Mary Littlewood for the most wins in program history. On March 5, 2005, Wells earned her 900th career win. Her 563 wins are the most in Arizona State softball history.

International career

Internationally she served as head coach of the

United States women's national softball team The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball (formerly known as the Amateur Sof ...

that won a gold medal at the 1985 South Pacific Classic in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

gold-medal team. She also served as the head coach of Greece women's national softball team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and a coach for the

Netherlands women's national softball team The Netherlands women's national softball team is the national team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en So ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Legacy

Described as a women's sports pioneer, Wells has been inducted into several hall of fame, including the

National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to recognize coaches who have made extraordinary contributions to the sport of softpitch softball. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association National may refer to: ...

, Arizona Softball Hall of Fame, St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, Southeast Missouri's Hall of Fame, the University of Minnesota Hall of Fame in volleyball and softball, and the State of Minnesota Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Linda 1949 births Living people American softball coaches Arizona State Sun Devils softball coaches Female sports coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers softball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball coaches American volleyball coaches