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| Ball State graduate assistant Sarah Harman |
The opportunity to become the head softball coach for Marion Military Institute was one that former Ball State graduate assistant Sarah Harman found too intriguing to pass up.
With a grandfather who used to tell her stories of his time serving during the Korean War and an uncle who is currently a second lieutenant in the Army, Harman has always been somewhat of a patriot.
“There is a part of me that has always felt like I wish I was able to have done something to help,” said Harman, a native of Port Clinton, Ohio.
While serving as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton, Harman’s interest in a military institution was ignited when the school’s Army ROTC and softball program collaborated for various training activities.
Collegiate statistics at Defiance College
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“I could see how military and athletics kind of correlates,” she said. “Common goals, team leadership type goals, trying to get through the bigger picture of things and a lot of teamwork. ... That kind of sparked my interest.”
After deciding it was time to become a head coach, Harman accepted Marion’s offer and was named the institution’s newest softball coach in late May.
As a player, Harman attended Defiance College, a small Division III school located in Defiance, Ohio, where she became one of the program’s all-time greatest pitchers.
The team’s MVP her junior and senior seasons, Harman holds school records for innings pitched, 665.1, and games started, 103. She is second in strikeouts, 381, and ranks third with 72 complete games, 39 wins and eight shutouts. In 2003, she was named the Defiance Purple and Gold Sportsmanship Female Athlete of the Year.
Having played at a Division III program, Harman realizes the challenges many small schools face athletically. She said recruiting will be one of the biggest differences now that she is no longer at Dayton.
“At first, it’s just going to take some time to explain what Marion has to offer,” she said. “A lot of kids, when they are freshmen and sophomores, their goals are to be Division I. Then later on, they start to realize that maybe they’re not Division I [caliber players]. ... [At Marion], I am going to have to wait for those kids to realize that maybe they are not going to Division I right away, whether it’s because of grades or because they are not ready yet. It will certainly be different [than at Dayton].”
In addition to serving as Dayton’s assistant coach, Harman has spent time as an assistant at Norfolk State and at West Texas A&M, where she became the program’s first full-time assistant.
No matter where she has been, Harman has taken it upon herself to give back to the game she loves. She is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, a 2008 graduate of the Women’s Coaches Academy, a committee member of the NCAA Division II Softball World Series in 2008 and served as a game liaison for the Mid-Atlantic
region.
“I think it’s important for your athletes to see you in a leadership role and that you care so much about the sport,” she said. “No matter what level you play at, it takes a high commitment level ... to be involved in your sport. You almost have to give back in order to keep it growing and make it better.”
One area in which Harman would like to see change is the disparity in the number of male and female coaches throughout all sports.
“A lot of times, a male coach is more mentally able to make [it as a coach] because at home, typically, they are not the ones who have to do everything, as well,” she said. “A lot female coaches tend to drop after a certain amount of years in coaching. Whether it’s because they want more free time or they want to start a family, they find it difficult to do so.”
Harman credits her success as a female coach to the way she has been able to combine just the right amount of intensity to counter her natural, laid back approach to the game — a personality trait she said she learned from Pat Quinn, Ball State’s associate athletic director.
As she now starts a new chapter of her life, one that has seen Harman move across the country to Alabama, she can finally have her chance to feel like she has done something within the military.
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