USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team wins Gold Medal in Bogota, Colombia
On August 15, 2010 in Bogota, Colombia, the 2010-11 USA Softball Women’s National Team (9-0) stood atop of the podium at the III Pan American Championship, receiving their Gold Medals following a 3-1 defeat of Canada.
left to right: Stacy Iveson, Joe Salvatore, Karen Johns, Patrick Murphy, and Suzy Brazney.
Leading the team to victory were Head Coach Karen Johns, assistant coaches Suzy Brazney (Head Coach GWC softball), Stacy Iveson (Yavapai CC in Arizona), Joe Salvatore (volunteer coach from New Jersey), and Patrick Murphy (Alabama).
The US team now qualifies for the next International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Women’s World Championship, December 2011, in Cape Town, South Africa. Also advancing to South Africa from the Pan American Championship are second place Canada, third place Puerto Rico, fourth place Brazil and fifth place finisher Argentina.
Winning softball tournaments is nothing new for Coach Brazney. This is her second quad in the USA softball coaching pool (2004-2008 and 2008-2012). During the first quad, she coached the USA Jr. National team to a Jr. Pan Am gold in Puerto Rico and Jr. World Championship in Enschede, Holland. Last summer, she was an assistant coach with the National team on a trip to Sendai Japan for the Japan Cup where they won the tournament. This past July, Brazney went to Canada with the Futures team for exhibition games against Team Canada in Surrey and Whitehorse.
Suzy Brazney with her Gold!
Coaching the Jr. National team in Bogotá was to be her last venture. But, since they won the tournament, she will be going to Capetown, South Africa in December 2011.
“It was an amazing two weeks with a great coaching staff, support staff and 17 outstanding athletes. The young ladies on the team were all experiencing their first time to wear the USA uniforms. Giving back to the sport has been ingrained in me since college and it was enjoyable to help teach these future stars what wearing the Red, White and Blue really means. I was entrusted with working with the pitchers and catchers throughout the trip, from their workouts to preparations for games and during the games themselves. I can’t wait to see how these athletes grow throughout their college careers and hopefully someday, playing for OLYMPIC GOLD! I continue to learn from great coaches and athletes, which helps me, and Golden West College continue to compete at the highest level.” – Suzy
As a player at Cal Poly Pomona, Brazney was a two time NCAA All American and Broderick Award Nominee. She was inducted into Cal Poly’s Hall of Fame in 1994.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed four World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit www.usasoftball.com.
