UCLA Bruins softball

Sharron Backus era

Judith Holland, UCLA senior associate athletic director, hired Sharon Backus as a part-time coach upon the program's founding in 1975. Holland recalled, "I had seen her play, and she was probably one of the best shortstops who ever played the game."^[4] Backus was a physical education teacher at a high school in Anaheim, California when she was hired by UCLA and kept her teaching job for the first couple years after being hired at UCLA. Backus taught in Anaheim in the mornings and drove to UCLA for practice and games in the afternoon.^[4] Holland recalled that UCLA paid Backus about $1,500 year as a part-time coach, "and I don't think the money even paid for her gas."^[4]

In Backus's first three years at UCLA, the team struggled. Between 1975 and 1977, UCLA compiled a record of 44–20. In the formative years of the program, the Bruins played at city parks, where they were "often bumped from fields by recreational softball leagues."^[5] Backus moved her team to the UCLA intramural field, but it was not until 1980 that her team got its own field.^[5]

In 1978, the Bruins won their first AIAW national softball championship with a 31–3 record. After women's softball became an NCAA sport in 1982, Backus's teams won six of the first nine NCAA softball tournaments.^[5] In all, Backus led UCLA to eight NCAA tournament championships (in addition to the 1978 pre-NCAA championship) in 1982 (33–7–2), 1984 (45–6–1), 1985 (41–9), 1988 (53–8), 1989 (48–4), 1990 (62–7), 1992 (54–2), and 1995 (50–6).^[6]

From 1988 to 1990, the Bruins won three consecutive NCAA championships and compiled a record of 163–19. Backus's success led the Los Angeles Times in 1990 to compare Backus to UCLA's legendary basketball coach John Wooden:

"When you talk about UCLA dynasties, you start with John Wooden, who coached the men's basketball team to 10 NCAA titles. But Backus has built a dynasty of her own. ... In total, the Bruins have won seven national titles, finished second twice and third twice in Backus' 15 seasons."^[5]

Commenting on the pressure and anxiety fostered by success, Backus noted, "John Wooden once said that he wished one national championship to his best friends, but four to his enemies."^[7]

Sue Enquist era

In 1989, Sue Enquist was appointed co-head coach with Backus, a position they shared through the 1996 season. Enquist played softball at UCLA under Sharron Backus from 1975 to 1978. She helped lead UCLA to its first national softball championship in 1978 and became UCLA's first All-American softball player.^[12] Her career batting average of .401 was the UCLA team record for 24 years. Prior to becoming co-head coach, she was an assistant coach under Backus from 1980 to 1988.

Following Backus's retirement, Enquist became the sole head coach at UCLA in 1997, a position she held for ten years from 1997 to 2006.^[13] Enquist retired from UCLA in 2006.^[14][15] In 18 years as the co-head coach and sole head coach at UCLA, Enquist compiled a record of 887–175–1.^[16] Her career winning percentage of .835 is the highest recorded by any of the college softball coaches with 800 career wins.^[17] During her years as a player and coach at UCLA, the Bruins softball team won 11 national championships in 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2004.^[13]