Joan Joyce

Joan coaching the Florida Atlantic softball team. (www.fausports.com )

How I chose my Personal Career Hero was in a way awkward, since I never truly focused on what career path I wanted to take, until I took a glimpse at what I was wanted to do after I graduated high school. I first became aware of my hero when I first started playing softball. I was aware of other very famous softball players to choose, but Joan Joyce stood out to me. What attracts me to the career of professional softball is that if you are constantly learning and are always playing for something you love, what could be better? And that's definitely what I want to pursue a career of. Joan Joyce's passion and love for the game of softball also appeals to me and pushes me to want to do the same.

Joan Joyce pitching in a softball game. ( www.womentalksports.com)

A professional softball career skills include: agility, fast reflexes, excellent hand-eye coordination, catching, throwing, hitting, tactical thinking, critical thinking, and many more skills. Education for this career plays into if you play for college, which means you have to maintain above a 3.5 GPA to play. Training requirements are both physical and mental. Your physical abilities have to be able to be pushed to the limit and your mental abilities are tested also. The salary range of a softball player, according to the Outlook Handbook website, is $40,060 annually. The future outlook is projected to grow 7% from 2012-2022. It is slower than average for other occupations yet the competition for pro athletes will remain very strong. Similar related careers could be referees for sports events, fitness trainers, recreation workers, coaches, scouts, umpires. Recent developments in this field have not been documented except that the demand/competitiveness for athletes has improved.

Traits and aptitudes displayed by Joan Joyce at a young age were that she was a team player, natural born athlete, kindness yet competitiveness on the field, and that she had the determination to make it big. Joan has led many teams to wins, including Chapman College, where she played for the Orange Lionettes, and led them to a 1965 winning title. Since 1994 as the head coach, she led Florida Atlantic University softball team (Owls) to 10 conference championships and 7 NCAA tournaments. A specific career success in her young life was when she landed a spot on the Raybestos Brakettes at 14 years old, which sparked her softball career to launch. Three years later, she was selected as an Amateur Softball Association All-American Player. Joan is currently the head women's golf coach at Florida Atlantic University. She switched from softball to basketball to volleyball then to golf. She loves the environment of sports and enjoys the passion of teaching.

My Personal Career Hero contributes to society through her involvement of coaching the Florida Atlantic University softball, golf, and volleyball team. She led the teams to many victories and thus has provided the teams with a greater sense of community/ sportsmanship. She hasn't been involved with any organizations yet for the teams she has coached. "She knows she's got the total package, but she wants to be known as an athlete," this quote truly describes Joan Joyce because of her great skills yet humbleness. Many young girls look up to Joan Joyce, just as I do now. Joan has enabled other females to pursue athletics at a collegiate level too. Once again, "Joyce will always be best remembered as the "girl" who struck out two of Major League Baseball's greatest." This quote honestly shows the heart of Joan Joyce.

For me to live a life like Joan Joyce will require me to be very involved in softball (which I don't mind). Some goals for high school are being on the high school softball team (I already am), possibly joining a travel ball team, and to consistently practice drills over and over again. Making me a better player will overall increase my value as a player. A college goal of mine is to be on a college softball team. I will go further than Joan Joyce did regarding her education; I plan to earn a major in nursing or veterinarian (while playing softball) which Joan did not pursue. My lifetime goals would be to make others happy, or inspire those around me while doing what I love. The reason why I look up to Joan is because of her constant persistence of hard work, diligence, and responsibility. Joan Joyce is definitely one of my role models in my life.