Wikipedia

Jennifer McFalls

Jennifer Yvonne McFalls (born November 10, 1971) is an American, former collegiate All-American, gold-medal winning Olympian softball player and current head coach originally from Grand Prairie, Texas. She is head of the Kansas Jayhawks softball. team[1] She played college softball at Texas A&M as a utility player and shortstop.[2] She then went on to represent Team USA, being named an Olympic alternate in 1996 and a member of the 2000 team that won gold. After her years playing softball McFalls decided to become a coach with her first position as the assistant coach at Texas A&M. Mcfalls continued to coach for many years with several different schools at many different competitive levels. She was the head coach of the National Pro Fastpitch professional softball team, the Dallas Charge for their inaugural season.[3]

Jennifer McFalls
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamKansas
ConferenceBig 12
Record50–75 (.400)
Biographical details
Born (1971-11-10) November 10, 1971 (age 53)
Arlington, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1991–1994Texas A&M
2001WPSL Gold
Position(s)Shortstop
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1995–1997Texas A&M (asst.)
1998Oklahoma (asst.)
2003–2005Hockaday School
2006–2009Midlothian HS
2010–2018Texas (asst.)
2015Dallas Charge
2019–presentKansas
Head coaching record
Overall15–36 (.294)
Medal record
Women's softball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team competition

Early life

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Born in Arlington, Texas and raised in Grand Prairie,[4][5] McFalls began to play softball at the early age of eight. She was first introduced to softball though her family, as many family members had encouraged her to play. As McFalls came of age, she moved on to more competitive leagues within the Dallas and Fort Worth area. She started to play for a team called the Everman Shadows. In high school, McFalls was a multisport athlete. She played volleyball, soccer, and basketball. Softball was not offered at her school, so she could not play during her high school career. Although McFalls did play in the summer on a select softball team, this is where she was first recruited by Bob Brock at A&M University at the age of 16. McFalls graduated from South Grand Prairie High School in 1990.[5]

Collegiate career

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At Texas A&M University, McFalls started at shortstop for Texas A&M Aggies softball from 1991 to 1994.[5] She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in kinesiology in 1997. While there, McFalls was a major component on the women's softball team. McFalls was an All-American shortstop and led her team in batting average all four seasons during her career at Texas A&M. She also led her team in hits, total bases, and slugging percentage. McFalls was named Texas A&M's Female Athlete of the Year in 1994. She was also elected to the Texas A&M hall of Fame in 2001.[6] While at Texas A&M she received the awards for All American 1993,[7] and All- South Region 1st Team during the years of 1993 and 1994.[8]

USA Softball

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McFalls started out her Olympic career as the 1996 alternate soon after she became the world champion gold medal winner in 1998. In the following year, she was the Pan American Games winner. From 1994 to 2000, McFalls was a part of the U.S. National team. She played in several of the 2000 Olympic games. McFalls helped score the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning in the victory over Japan, winning 2–1.[9] McFalls walked twice and scored two runs in the games overall.[10]

Coaching career

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McFalls first began her coaching career as an assistant coach for three seasons at Texas A&M from 1995 to 1997 and one season at the University of Oklahoma, in 1997–1998. After her seasons at the collegiate level, McFalls went on to become the fastpitch softball academy director at Power Alley in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2002 to 2003. Shortly afterward, McFalls took an assistant athletic director and head softball coach position at Hockday School in Dallas, Texas. She spent two years at the school, from 2003 to 2005. McFalls was then offered a position at Midlothian High School, in Midlothian, Texas, where she became the head coach and assistant athletic director, compiling a record of 139–48 and leading her team to five consecutive playoff appearances. During her time at Midlothian High School, she was also a part of the USA Softball selection committee from 2005 to 2010 and served as the assistant coach for Team USA at the 2010 Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship.

McFalls then started to coach for Texas in 2010, as an assistant coach under head coach Connie Clark.[11] In 2015, she was hired as the head coach for the National Pro Fastpitch team, the Dallas Charge.[12] Clark resigned following the 2018 season, and McFalls did not return to the coaching staff.[13]

On August 22, 2018, McFalls was named head coach at Kansas.[14]

Statistics

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Texas A&M Aggies

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[15][16][17][18]

YEAR G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB SBA
1991 61 182 44 67 .368 26 1 4 9 87 .478% 21 12 9 10
1992 60 178 22 65 .365 27 2 7 14 99 .556% 19 6 7 9
1993 52 150 51 64 .426 40 5 8 13 108 .720% 25 4 11 12
1994 76 226 51 83 .367 33 3 5 12 114 .504% 26 9 17 20
TOTALS 249 736 168 279 .379 126 11 24 48 408 .554% 91 31 44 51

Head coaching record

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College

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12 Conference) (2019–Present)
2019 Kansas 15–36 3–15 6th
2020 Kansas 13–13 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Kansas 22–26 2–16 7th
2022 Kansas 20–36 3–15 7th
2023 Kansas 25–27 5–13
Kansas: 95–138 (.408) 13–59 (.181)
Total: 95–138 (.408)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "1993 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020 Texas A&M Softball Fact Book" (PDF). 12thman.com. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Jennifer McFalls". Kuathletics.com. April 17, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  4. ^ Jennifer Mcfalls at Sports Reference
  5. ^ a b c "Jennifer McFalls". TexasSports.com. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "Hall of Fame Inductee List | Texas A&M Lettermen's Association". www.aggielettermen.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  7. ^ "Jennifer McFalls". USA Softball. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  8. ^ "Jennifer McFalls". Team USA. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  9. ^ "Jennifer McFalls Signs with Dallas Charge | DallasCharge". dallascharge.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  10. ^ "2000 Olympic Games". Teamusa.org. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  11. ^ Staff, Michael Adams American-Statesman (January 20, 2015). "UT assistant picked as 1st coach for Dallas Charge". Hookem.com. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  12. ^ "The Official Website of The University of Texas Athletics". texassports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  13. ^ "Ex-Texas assistant coach hired to lead Kennesaw State's softball program". July 2, 2018.
  14. ^ Lopez, Eric (August 22, 2018). "Jennifer McFalls Named New Kansas Head Coach". fastpitchnews.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  15. ^ "Final 1991 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  16. ^ "Final 1992 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "Final 1993 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  18. ^ "Final 1994 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
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