Flowers to lead Juniors
8/16/2012
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today the selection of Tairia Flowers (Tucson, Ariz./ head coach at Cal State Northridge) as the head coach of the USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team that will compete in Brampton, Ontario, Canada July 1-7, 2013 for the ISF (International Softball Federation) Junior Women’s World Championship (19-Under).
“I’m very excited to stay in the USA program,” said Flowers. “I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play on the Junior Women’s National Team. The coaches and those involved in the program have had a huge impact on my life and I hope to share the knowledge that I've learned with the new USA softball generation.
Flowers, who was an outstanding collegiate player during her years at UCLA and an Olympic gold and silver medal winner for Team USA, recently finished her second season as an assistant coach with the USA Softball Women’s National Team. Flowers was a member of coaching staffs that lead Team USA to the 2011 Pan American Games gold medal in Guadalajara, Mexico and a silver medal at the 2012 ISF Women’s World Championship this past July in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
As a player on the USA Women’s National Team, Flowers helped the United States to a perfect record and the gold medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004, and to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also won gold medals at the 2002 and 2006 ISF Women’s World Championships, the 2003 and 2007 Pan-American Games, and the 2001 U.S. Cup.
Flowers recently completed her second full season as the head coach at Cal State Northridge. Prior to her duties at Northridge, she spent four seasons (2007-10) as an assistant coach at Long Beach State. She is married to Cal State University Northridge women's basketball head coach Jason Flowers. The couple has two children, daughter Jasmine and son Jayce.
“All of us at ASA/USA Softball are thrilled that Tairia will be at the helm of our Junior Women’s National Team at the ISF World Championships in 2013,” said ASA and USA Softball Executive Director Ron Radigonda. “Her skills as a coach and a former player will translate into improving the skills of our current players and her team-first attitude will impart positive energy with our players as they start their careers with Team USA.”
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 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://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 six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.