CSR (Sharon De Kleine Named Calvin Head Softball Coach)

June 17, 2009

Sharon De Kleine Named Head Calvin Softball Coach

GRAND RAPIDS – Sharon Boeve De Kleine has been named head softball coach at
Calvin College. The move brings De Kleine back to her alma mater where the 1985
graduate was a standout student-athlete in both softball, as a pitcher and a
shortstop, and basketball, where she played point guard.

A native of Holland, Mich., De Kleine was a three-sport athlete at Holland
Christian High School, participating in volleyball, basketball and softball. At
Calvin she earned All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors in
softball and basketball, including league MVP awards in softball in 1983 and
1984, and in basketball in 1983.

Also in 1983 she became the first NCAA III softball All-American in Calvin
history. And she was part of three Calvin softball teams that advanced to the
NCAA III Tournament with Calvin’s 1984 team advancing all the way to the NCAA
World Series.

As a senior she was honored with Calvin’s Kay Tiemersma Award – given to
the senior female student-athlete who most exemplifies athletic and academic
excellent along with Christian leadership.

De Kleine graduated in 1985 with a major in physical education and a minor in
English. In 1982, she completed her master’s degree in secondary education at
Grand Valley State University.

After graduating from Calvin, De Kleine accepted a teaching position at
Hudsonville Unity Christian High School where she remained for the next 23
years. While at Unity, she coached girls tennis, volleyball and softball. She
was the varsity softball coach at Unity Christian from 1986-1995, leading the
Crusaders to a Class B state title in 1992 along with a state runner-up finish
in 1990 and a berth in the 1993 state quarterfinals. Despite choosing to step
away from her position as a head coach in 1995, DeKleine continued to stay
involved in the game over the 14 years on a volunteer basis.

This past fall, De Kleine joined the Calvin health, physical education,
recreation, dance and sport (HPERDS) department as a part-time instructor – a
position she will continue to hold along with her softball duties.

“I am excited about the opportunity to coach at a place where I grew up in
many ways and is very special to me,” said De Kleine of her alma mater. “I
know it will be a big challenge but I am looking forward to the
opportunity.”

Calvin’s Director of Women’s Athletics, Dr. Nancy Meyer, believes that De
Kleine is up to the challenge. “I am very pleased that Sharon has accepted
the head coaching position for our softball program,” said Meyer. “I am
confident that she is ready to be a head coach at the collegiate level. I am
also confident that she will bring stability and maturity to the softball
program.”

De Kleine is not unfamiliar with the recent MIAA softball ranks as she served
as the pitching coach for the Hope College softball team this spring. De Kleine
served as pitching coach under her former Calvin head softball coach Karla
Wolters who now heads up the Hope softball program.

“I learned many things from Karla while I was a player for her and I also
learned many things from her as a member of her coaching staff this spring,”
said De Kleine. “One thing in particular that I learned this year was that
the level of play in our conference right now is very strong. In order to win,
a team needs to compete at a high level.”

This spring, the MIAA sent three teams to the NCAA III Tournament in softball,
marking the first time it had done so since the 1995 season.
  

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jun 17 14:36:28 2009