Sharron Backus is one who had an outstanding playing career, then distinguished herself as a coach. Backus played amateur softball from 1961-1975 for the Whittier Gold Sox, the Orange, CA Lionettes and the Raybestos Brakettes. Backus batted .268, .298 and .301 for the Gold Sox and was a second-team All-American in 1961 as the Gold Sox won the national title. Backus spent three years with the Lionettes (1964-1966) and was a first-team All-American in 1964 and 1966. She batted .285, .293 and .263 those three years. Sharron spent the last seven years of her career with the Brakettes and earned All-America laurels three times. She was a member of five more national championship teams (1971-1975) and participated in 13 national tourneys. Backus had a seven-year .292 batting average with the Brakettes with .361 in 1971 her highest batting average. Born February 12, 1946, Backus was named head softball coach at UCLA in 1975 and coached for 21 years before retiring in June of 1997. In 21 years, she compiled a record of 847-167-3 with nine national championships and a post-season record of 118-32.
