Beyond the Bench: How EC’s new fastpitch staff is trying to build a powerhouse program

Eastside Catholic Fast Pitch teed off the season with a new crew in the coaches’ box.  Always on the hunt for the best and brightest to guide their athletes, the Crusaders welcomed Head Coach Nicole Leadley as well as assistant coaches Tiffany Pardey and Lizzy Olson to the field this season. All three coaches bring a unique background and expertise to offer the team, with three individual outlooks on the game, Leadley, Pardey, and Olson offer a combination of coaching styles that complement each other and guide the team to success.

Leadley, Pardey, and Olson all played college ball, and prior to that, they were high school athletes themselves. Before they were coaching, they were coached. Through their individual experiences, each coach developed an idea for who they wanted to be when the time came for them to lead a team. While they currently lead the Crusaders with a strategic, intense, and focused outlook, their end goal is to build the teams confidence along with their skill.

“Tough love coaching is the style I grew up around, so of course that is what I use because I know it works,” shared Pardey, “I’m super competitive, and I really do not like losing. I’m not going to let the little stuff slide because that leads towards the big stuff.”

Pardey’s determination to lead the team to success installs itself through her keen eye to detail and accuracy when it comes to the game. The assistant coach isn’t afraid to let the girls know when they don’t reach her standards, and places strong importance on conditioning, often threatening a drill or workout to motivate the girls at practice.

While Pardey credits the majority of her fastpitch career and coaching style to her father, who was never her formal coach but trained her for over twenty years, Leadley faced a variety of coaches that heavily impacted her career.

“I appreciated a coach who was not afraid to push me to be the best I could be and held me accountable when I was not playing at my best,” explained Eastside’s new head coach.

“When I was in college, I had a coach that made me start hating the game of softball. This made me realize I want to give back to the softball community and create positive experiences for them.” In the past two months, Leadley has worked to create a competitive yet positive team, ensuring her players don’t lose the love she once did for her sport, while still holding them to a high playing standard.

In her time as a student athlete, Olson appreciated coaches who were invested in her development both on and off the field, sharing the following with Metro Prep athletics, “I’ve incorporated elements of that coaching style into my own approach, emphasizing skill-building, teamwork, and personal growth,”.

Despite having separate coaching styles representing their individual backgrounds, the three coaches have worked together to combine strategies and lead the team in a way that highlights each of their areas of expertise.

“Having three coaches is a huge benefit to our team and staff, not only are we all specialist in different areas, but we also all see eye to eye and communicate very well between the three of us.  We also are female with very different personalities, this hugely benefits the team,” explained coach Pardey.

Despite being a majority female sport, the world of fastpitch coaching is dominated by men. Offering three women that are all leaders in different ways allows the Crusader fastpitch team to develop a deep respect for the coaching staff.

While the coaches offer complimentary rather than identical coaching styles, they all agree tough love is necessary when it comes to guiding the team to reach their full capabilities.

“There have been times when tough love was necessary to push the team beyond their comfort zones and achieve their full potential,” explained Olson, “It’s about finding the right balance and knowing when to challenge them to bring out their best.”

“My coaching style is to push the girls past what they think they are capable of doing to build their confidence,” added Leadley, who went on to explain further the tightrope that coaching can be. “You need to use tough love in a way where it will bring together and it is not negative, but something they can learn from.”

Pardey shared how the right amount of toughness from the coaches has helped unite the team, “all the girls are getting the same tough love so they can all relate to it.”

Despite not having a record-breaking season, the three coaches have helped the Crusaders improve greatly in only a few short months.

“In the past 2 months I have been seeing small things “click” with the girls when they are learning something new. They become more confident and have more fun as they are no longer frustrated, ” shared the head coach.

Bringing in a full set of new coaches was a risky swing, but Eastside seems to have knocked it out of the park.