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JUN.
9 — Bontrager Selected To Revive Goshen Softball
Former
Ball State catcher looks to return program to dominance as
head coach |
Goshen, IN — Goshen College announced
the appointment of Linda Bontrager as its head softball coach Thursday
afternoon, ending a season-long search for a new program leader.
Bontrager takes over for two-year head coach Marc Green, who resigned
prior to the 2005 season due to personal reasons (click here for
article). As Green continued his duties through the spring — he
coached the team to a 6-22 record this season — Goshen College
athletic director Ken Pletcher took full advantage of the extended
time to search for candidates, bringing in a former NCAA Division
I catcher with over 16 years of coaching experience to help rebuild
the Leafs’ program. Bontrager becomes Goshen’s fifth
head softball coach in the program’s 13-year history.
“Linda Bontrager has a keen interest in teaching, and that’s
what drew us to her as our new head softball coach,” Pletcher
said. “She has an air of determination and confidence, and
has a very positive outlook toward rebuilding a softball program.
She has a sincere enthusiasm for studying the game and comes from
a background of playing and coaching softball at varying levels.
Her interest in being a student of the game, as well as a teacher
of it, are important traits. She is extremely committed to giving
complete dedication to our program, and that’s what it will
take for us to again be competitive at the highest level.”
Bontrager commences her first collegiate coaching opportunity with
the Leafs, but not her first as a player. A walk-on catcher at
Ball State University in 1979, Bontrager earned an athletic scholarship
after her freshman season. After graduating from Ball State in
1984, Bontrager began working in varying roles within various school
corporations, coaching softball at nearly every stop. A four-year
stint as the varsity head coach at Fairview High School in Michigan
concluded when her family moved back to Indiana in 1997. She spent
the last two years as the head junior varsity softball coach
at
Penn High School in Mishawaka, leading her team to an overall 41-4
record during that time. She now takes a lifetime of softball experiences
to Goshen.
“I’m excited to be here,” Bontrager said during
a Thursday press conference. “I’m excited to prove
I can coach at this level. Before applying for this job, I really
didn’t
know much about the Goshen College softball program, but I heard
so many good things about it over the past few months. It turns
out there’s a lot of support here. I wanted to be a part
of it.”
Achieving a high level of success as Penn’s JV head coach
over the past two years, Bontrager will have a different set of
challenges in taking over the Leafs program: After winning the
Mid-Central Conference Championship in 2001 with a record of 24-12,
Goshen has posted a 12-49 record over the past two seasons.
“There’s no place else to go but up,” Bontrager
said. “I
had a meeting with the team before most of them left campus for
the summer, and there’s a lot of energy there. Once you get
that focused, they’re going to do good things. It’s
a group with a lot of desire, so it’s my job to channel and
direct.”
Bontrager said she has made as many recruiting attempts as possible
in the past few weeks, but acknowledges that such a late start
in those efforts presents an unusual challenge in assembling a
deep 2005 recruiting class. Still, Bontrager feels that the team
can increase in competitiveness right away. A strong mental game
and a disciplined approach help define the outline for Bontrager’s
coaching style.
“We will have the mental edge over our opponents,” she
said. “I
will make the other team prove they can make the plays to beat
us. I’m a very aggressive base path runner, but we’ll
play the short game, too. Most importantly, I’m a discipline
coach. I’m also a positive coach. I believe the coaching
occurs in practice and the players perform in the games. The nice
thing about being new, all of our returning players have a clean
slate, as far as I’m concerned. The girls will always know
where they stand with me. I believe I have what it takes to get
it done.”
Bontrager’s roles as a teacher and disciplinarian are numerous,
as she worked as in-school reassignment supervisor for four years
at New Augusta Public Academy (Indianapolis). Prior to that stint,
Bontrager directed various youth athletic programs at Fairview
Area Schools in Fairview, Michigan,
culminating with her four-year stint as the corporation’s
varsity softball coach. She also was the adult education director
for the
Mio Learning
Center for two years, helping individuals
obtain general education diplomas.
Originally from South Bend, Bontrager is married to her husband
of 21 years, Warren, a 1976 Goshen College graduate. They reside
in Mishawaka and have three children: Charles, 19, Conrad, 18 and
Callie, 15.
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  Linda
Bontrager
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