logo
Who is Dot Richardson? What to know about Liberty softball coach ahead of Super Regionals

Who is Dot Richardson? What to know about Liberty softball coach ahead of Super Regionals

USA Today23-05-2025

Who is Dot Richardson? What to know about Liberty softball coach ahead of Super Regionals
Show Caption
Hide Caption
How the SEC's softball dominance could carry it through to the Women's College World Series
The Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson shares the top storylines she's following through the NCAA softball tournament, starting with the SEC's biggest strengths.
Liberty softball pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA softball tournament last weekend.
The unranked Flames became the first program in NCAA history to knock off the No. 1 overall seed in the regional round by winning the Bryan-College Station Regional in College Station, Texas, last weekend. Liberty opened the tournament with a win over the Aggies and then won the "if necessary" game on Sunday to advance to the super regional for the first time in history.
REQUIRED READING: NCAA softball winners and losers: Texas A&M stunned; Oklahoma, Texas roll
If it were not for a walk-off three-run home run by Oregon's Dezianna Patmon against Stanford, Liberty would have had the opportunity to host the super regional round. However, the Flames will travel to Eugene, Oregon to take on the No. 16 Ducks this weekend in the Eugene Super Regional.
While Liberty has become a softball darling overnight, the program is in the position it is because of longtime coach Dot Richardson. The fifth head coach in Liberty softball history hit all the right buttons against Texas A&M.
Here's what you need to know about Richardson, including her coaching career record and her softball career:
Who is Liberty coach Dot Richardson?
Dorothy "Dot" Richardson is the fifth coach in Liberty softball program history and was hired by the program on July 17, 2013. The Flames were coming off a 20-37 record and a second straight losing year under Paul Wetmore. He retired following the 2013 season after a 10-year stint as the coach.
Liberty won just 11 games in the first year under Richardson, but improved by 18 wins in her second season. After struggling to find success early on, the Flames are making their fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Richardson began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Adelphi University while completing her master's degree in 1988. She then served as an assistant coach with Oregon State and served as an advisor/instructional coach for Montverde Academy's softball team.
Along with being a successful softball player and coach, Richardson is also a licensed orthopedic surgeon in the state of Florida.
She earned her master's degree in exercise physiology and health from Adelphi University and then her medical degree from the University of Louisville, School of Medicine. Richardson did her postdoctoral residency at the University of Southern California/Los Angeles County Medical Center for six years from 1993 to 1999. She did an orthopedic sports medicine fellowship at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles from 1999 to 2000.
Dot Richardson softball playing career
Richardson was a strong softball player before becoming a coach, as she was inducted into the USA Softball Hall of Fame in 2006, into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 1982, Richardson helped UCLA earn the first of its 11 national championships, serving as the Bruins' starting shortstop. Richardson, from Orlando, Florida, began her career at Western Illinois before transferring to the Bruins. With UCLA, she was named the team MVP three times and finished her career with a .349 batting average.
Richardson was named the NCAA Player of the Decade for the 1980s. In 1996, Richardson hit a two-run home run in a 3-1 victory over China in the gold medal game in Atlanta. She was also on the 2000 Sydney Olympic USA team that won gold.
In addition to her Olympic success, Richardson was also on U.S. teams that won five Pan American Games gold medals and four World Championship gold medals.
Richardson retired as an active softball player following the 2000 Olympics.
Dot Richardson career coaching record
Here's a look at Richardson's coaching career, which has spanned 12 seasons, all with the Flames:

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports
LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports

LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports Betsy King grew up on 30 acres of land in Reading, Pennsylvania, where she honed a golf swing that would eventually land her in the LPGA and World Golf halls of fame. But golf wasn't her only passion. When older brother Lee left the house, mom often said, 'Take your sister.' And that's how King wound up playing baseball, basketball, hockey and, in elementary school, and tackle football with the neighborhood boys. Those memories come flooding back when King, a six-time major winner, sees biological males competing against females across the country. 'You know, when I was playing with the boys,' said King, 'I mean, it definitely helped my competitiveness to play then against other girls. But I was just trying to play well enough that that they would let me play. Obviously, even at that age, there was a physical difference.' Last week, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles made headlines when she called NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines a 'bully' and 'sore loser' for her criticism of biological boys competing in women's sports – in this particular instance, a high school state championship. Four days later, Biles apologized for her comments. 'In my mind, all I could think about is if a transgender woman started competing in what she (Biles) does, I think they could dominate,' said King, 'without a doubt.' Last December, the LPGA and U.S. Golf Association announced changes to their transgender policies that prohibit athletes who have experienced male puberty from competing in women's events. The move came as transgender golfer Hailey Davidson earned status on the LPGA's developmental Epson Tour. Sources say only a handful of LPGA players were in favor of allowing transgender athletes to compete. Even so, for King, the fight is far from over. Now she'd like to see a federal law put into place that would restrict the participation of biological males in female sports. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that called on the government to "rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities." But that hasn't kept it from happening at high school competitions across the country. President Trump said last week that California would face large-scale fines after a transgender athlete won two medals in the state's track and field championship. 'I just feel badly for the high school girls that have to face it,' said King. 'You know, I've seen a couple of them on TV talking about it. And it really bothers me that the adults haven't stood up for these girls as much as they should.' As for the LPGA's new policy, King would like to see the tour return to a female-at-birth mandate, calling the trend of childhood transitions frightening. "I don't know that at 7 years old, if you really know what you are, who you are, or know what you want to do, to make a decision that will impact you the rest of your life," said King. "We don't listen to many 7-year-olds about a lot of things, right? That you would decide to listen to them about this is kind of frightening." A New York Times/Ipsos survey released in January 2025 found that 79 percent of Americans polled were against allowing biological males who identify as women to participate in women's sports. And yet, so few Hall of Fame-caliber female athletes have come out publicly against it. King, 69, posts frequently about the topic on social media and was especially disheartened recently when, during a floor debate on the Save Women's Sports Act, Pennsylvania state senator Lindsey Williams said, 'I want all girls to know that there are elected officials like me who believe female bodies are just as strong and fast and capable as male bodies.' King said she found Williams' comments to be ridiculous and went searching to confirm they weren't a parody. Five years ago, tennis icon Billie Jean King joined World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, the WNBA's Candace Parker and nearly 200 athletes in supporting transgender youth participation in sports as part of a response to Idaho legislation that banned trans girls from competing in schools. 'There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,' Billie Jean King said in a Women's Sports Foundation release. 'I'm proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love. The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes – including LGBTQI+ athletes.' Another tennis icon, Martina Navratilova, however, sees it differently than Billie Jean and has been vocal about the subject for years. She's one of the few decorated female athletes to do so. Growing up, Betsy King didn't have the same opportunities as her brother to play organized sports. As a three-sport athlete at Furman, King recalled going to the president's office each year with other female athletes to ask for more money. Female athletes stood up more back then, she noted, out of necessity. Some in King's circle and beyond have commented that there are more pressing issues currently facing the country. Her response: It's possible to be concerned about more than one subject. For example, in September, she'll head back to Africa for the umpteenth time (26th or 27th, she's not sure) to check in on some schools her Arizona church funds in Tanzania. After winning 34 times on the LPGA, King launched her Golf Fore Africa foundation in 2007 and raised roughly $20 million for World Vision, enough to fund 400 wells, at least 50 mechanized water systems and eight maternity wings for local hospitals. Though her work with the foundation has come to an end, she's finding more ways to use her platform. 'You know, I have nothing to lose,' said King on the divisive gender topic. 'I don't have any sponsorships at this stage. I've always been kind of outspoken and strong about values that I think even if I were playing, I would speak up.' Her mother, Helen Szymkowicz King, graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1940 and was elected into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame as a three-sport athlete. King looks at how much the landscape has changed for women's sports in recent decades and views the transgender debate as a step backward. 'Many of us fought for places to compete when none existed,' King said. 'We cannot surrender our sports or our spaces.' Put another way by one of golf's most decorated American players: It's simply not fair.

Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX
Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX

Fox Sports

time2 hours ago

  • Fox Sports

Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX

Eight female athletes filed an appeal Wednesday of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement, arguing that women would not receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes who were barred from making money off their name, image and likeness. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week, clearing the way for direct payments from universities to athletes and the end of the NCAA's amateurism model. The athletes who appealed the settlement competed in soccer, volleyball and track. They are: Kacie Breeding of Vanderbilt; Lexi Drumm, Emma Appleman, Emmie Wannemacher, Riley Hass, Savannah Baron and Elizabeth Arnold of the College of Charleston; and Kate Johnson of Virginia. They have standing to appeal because they previously filed objections to the proposed settlement. Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. "We support a settlement of the case, but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law. The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion," Hare said. "Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports." The House settlement figures to financially benefit football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, who are likely to receive a big chunk of the $20.5 million per year that colleges are permitted to share with athletes over the next year. Some athletes in other sports that don't make money for their schools could lose their partial scholarships or see their roster spots cut. "This is a football and basketball damages settlement with no real benefit to female athletes," Hare said. "Congress has expressly rejected efforts to exempt revenue-generating sports like football and basketball from Title IX's antidiscrimination mandate. The NCAA agreed with us. Our argument on appeal is the exact same argument the conferences and NCAA made prior to settling the case." The appeal was filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook of Boulder, Colorado, and was first reported by Front Office Sports. It would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience NCAA Women's Soccer NCAA Women's Volleyball NCAA Women's Track and Field recommended Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store