WINONA, Minn. — Elite.
According to Dictionary.com, elite is defined as:
• The best of anything.
Look up the definition in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association “dictionary,” and elite is defined more specifically:
• John Tschida.
Friday evening, as part of the NFCA’s 2016 convention in New Orleans, Tschida’s elite status will once again be on display, as the 1990 Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota alumnus and former head fastpitch softball coach will be inducted into the NFCA’s Hall of Fame.
“It is nice to be acknowledged by your peers—to get inducted is obviously an honor, but I know I still have to try to win my next game and winning is never easy,” said Tschida. “I am also smart enough to know that I never pitched us to a win or got the game-winning hit. I also wasn’t with the players in the off-season where they put in some quality hours in the weight room and cages.
“It really is a team award, and in this case, team is plural,” Tschida added. “As all coaches know, culture is bigger than the individual. Culture is created by the players, parents, managers, trainers, teachers, cafeteria workers, mail room workers, administrators, SIDs, athletic directors, field maintenance workers, admissions staff, coaches … . It is not always ‘cool’ to be the hardest worker or the one to bypass the fun bus to get some extra hits in, but student-athletes who have played for me made some real decisions to be great—not just good, but to be great. No one person can take credit for that.
“Great players make great coaches, and great coaches make good players great,” continued Tschida. “If you take the best jockey in world and put him or her on a donkey, I am pretty sure that great jockey will not win the Kentucky Derby. So it starts with the players. I think I have a passion for teaching and learning. I enjoy studying the game in great detail and enjoy the process of skill and mental mastery.
“As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘I have a dream’— it wasn’t, ‘I have a thought.’ My thoughts become my passion—and I think that passion shines through when it is sincere.”
Tschida’s numbers certainly shine through—and shine through very brightly.
In 22 years of collegiate coaching, Tschida has won three national championships—first guiding Saint Mary’s to the 2000 national crown, then leading University of St. Thomas to NCAA titles in 2004 and 2005. He has coached more than 1,000 collegiate games and is the winningest NCAA Division III coach, active or retired, with an 856-157 career record.
And among all those victories, Tschida still holds the national championship run made by the 2000 Cardinals near and dear to his heart.
“I see myself as having a part in all the success my teams have had over the years, but it doesn’t happen without so many other people,” Tschida said. “To see how many people can be affected by a high level of commitment to something positive, look at the welcome home party Saint Mary’s put on when we won our national championship in 2000.
“Riding the bus down the Highway 14 hill—with a police escort—and turning into the campus to see signs saying, ‘Welcome Home National Champions!’ and then seeing so many people standing outside of the main entrance of campus was chilling,” added Tschida. “There were a lot of people who touched my life, but also the lives of all our players. Without them, our team wouldn’t have grown to be the people they became—to become eventual national champions.
“Saint Mary’s is a special place, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to grow with so many positive influences surrounding me—and I know our players felt the same way. It is very much a family atmosphere, led by the ever-servant Christian Brothers.”
Tschida may try to deflect the attention that comes with so much coaching success, but his efforts over the years have not gone unnoticed. He has been named MIAC Coach of the Year in 11 of his 22 years, national coach of the year once, and national coaching staff of the year once.
Friday’s NFCA induction will mark the fifth time Tschida has been inducted into a Hall of Fame—having already landed in the Saint Mary’s Sports Hall of Fame (in 2005 along with the national championship team, and in 2010 for his coaching accomplishments); Mancini’s St. Paul Sports Hall of Fame (2011); and the St. Paul Men’s Fastpitch Hall of Fame (2016).
“Like most people, I have that little voice in my head telling me to get to work and I tend to listen to it,” admitted Tschida. “But it was never about me, the individual, but about serving others. Ironically, as we serve others, we become more satisfied with ourselves.
“I am competitive and don’t like losing, but I am fortunate to have had coaches who cared about character—and it is my hope that the players we connect with leave as better people, never perfect, but always better.”