Montevallo Adds a New Sport to the Flock

By Devan Cooley

The University of Montevallo has added a new sport to the Athletics Department. Softball is on its way to campus. With the university focusing on growth, the Athletics Department was given a chance to add to the list of sports.

Montevallo athletics have been very successful in recent years. The Falcons have won Peach Belt Conference championships in multiple sports, organizing many strong teams. Creating a team takes a special Head Coach, and Montevallo has found just that.

Montevallo Softball mock jersey

The search for a coach led the Falcons to hire Lindsay Vanover. Vanover played collegiate softball at Division-1 University of Houston, and later was the Assistant Coach and Director of Recruiting at Division-1 Dartmouth College. After coaching Dartmouth to 57 wins, Vanover took the leap to Montevallo to have the chance to build her own team.

Coach Vanover says, "It's been a cool opportunity to get to show these kids what the University Montevallo is about. The people here have been amazing." Vanover also says that recruiting for a brand new team has been difficult, but that 16 players are already expected to play for the Falcons.

More players are sure to sign with Montevallo later this Summer, and training will begin soon after. The Falcons will play a short Fall season before the inaugural regular season begins in the Spring of 2015. In anticipation of opening day, the University Athletics website even has a countdown running until the first pitch on February 1st of 2015.

The  Falcons will play their home games at a facility to be built at Orr Park. A short walk from campus, the new field is expected to cost between 650 to 700 thousand dollars total. The new field will be easily accessible from campus, just across Main Street, a quick walk down the new promenade.

Athletic Director Jim Herlihy says that the school is very excited about softball, "I think we'll attract new students that may not have been interested in the school, and we think double-header softball on Saturdays is going to be a lot of fun."