Not everyone can become a collegiate athletics coach, but some people seem to know exactly what it takes.
NSU’s Head Softball Coach Lesa Boneé has had a tremendous success since taking over the program in 2003. She has grown a softball team of just nine players to a full-fledged nationally competitive program with 17 players.
Going into her tenth season, Boneé has achieved a 339-229-1 record. During that time, she has helped players win many different awards, including 36 All-Conference, 15 All-Region and five All-America selections. This success has also helped recruit many players, such as junior exercise science major and right-handed pitcher Jennie Von Doellen.
“I didn’t know a lot about the school, so I just went off of how her program was run,” said Von Doellen. “I looked into the past history and it looked like she takes it very seriously. She seemed focused and disciplined.”
Since coming to NSU, Boneé has set several team records. In 2004, she led the Sharks to a 32-26-1 record, earning them their first ever NCAA Division II South Region top 10 ranking. In 2009, Boneé’s team played in the NCAA South Region-2 Championship Game, which was the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance. On the way to the championship game, the Sharks went on six different five-game winning streaks and climbed all the way up to the number two team in the country. During the 2010 season, Boneé’s squad garnered their second NCAA regional selection, won the most Sunshine State Conference games in program history and had five players receive All-SSC honors.
Von Doellen said that her favorite thing about Boneé is “the fact that she’s hard on us.”
“At times you hate it, but in the long run, it’s what makes this program what it is,” said Von Doellen.
Not only does Boneé care about athletic accomplishments, but she is also passionate about how well her players perform in the classroom. She has seen four of her players earn NCAA Scholar All-American awards, most recently with infielder Lauren Lopez in 2009-2010.
All NSU athletes are required to have study hall time, and Boneé adds on additional hours.
As sophomore athletic training major and utility player Melanie Spicola explained, “All athletes have their own study hall, but she has her own study hall. She adds on more time based on our grade tracking sheet. We won an academic award my freshman year and she keeps telling us to strive to get that again.”
Before coming to NSU, Boneé coached at a few different levels. She was head coach at University of Missouri — St. Louis and Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C., for three years each. From 1997 to 1998, she was an assistant coach for the Carolina Diamonds, a women’s fastpitch softball team in Gastonia, N.C. Her first coaching job was at the high school level, as varsity head coach for Venice High School in Florida.
Boneé has dedicated a lifetime to the sport of softball and, according to her players, has demonstrated just how much she cares about the sport. Spicola and Von Doellen agreed that Boneé is “intense, passionate and structured.”
