JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 2008 softball season will be the last for University of North Florida head coach Sonya Wilmoth, who announced today her retirement from collegiate coaching to accept a job with Diamond Baseball and Softball in Jacksonville at the conclusion of the season.
Wilmoth will take on the position of Director of Softball Operations for Diamond Baseball and Softball after the conclusion of a career that has included a head coaching stint at West Chester University before taking over as the first-full time head coach at UNF before the 1997 season.
“I am saddened to leave UNF and everyone that I have worked with for so long, but excited to be a part of a young growing business that allows me to continue to work with athletes and teach them about our game,” Wilmoth said.
Wilmoth is the all-time winningest coach in Lady Osprey history, compiling a record of 411-181. Last season she notched her 400th win at UNF and is only two wins away from 500 in her career.
Wilmoth guided the Lady Osprey program into the transition from Division II to the NCAA Division I level. The Maryland native helped lead the Lady Ospreys to seven-straight NCAA Regional appearances from 1999-2005 as well as three Peach Belt Conference regular-season titles (2002, 2003 and 2005) and a PBC Tournament title (2003).
As a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, Wilmoth has led her team to a pair of sixth-place finishes in the league and would have had her team in the A-Sun Tournament the last two years if it were not ineligible due to NCAA reclassification rules.
She has also sprouted a coaching tree both in the local Jacksonville community and beyond, which includes at least nine players at head coaching positions at the high school or collegiate level and a graduate assistant at an NCAA Division I institution. That group includes former UNF catcher Kristen Atkinson, who was named the head softball coach at FlaglerCollege in early January.
"Sonya Wilmoth has served the University of North Florida in outstanding fashion for the last 12 years," UNF Director of Athletics Dr. Richard Gropper said. "She has built a highly respected softball program and recruited gifted student-athletes who have represented themselves and the institution well. Coach Wilmoth will be missed. We all wish her only the best as she embarks on a new career path."
Wilmoth will handle all softball duties at Diamond, a company started by former Major League Baseball player Rick Wilkins and financial investor Chris Todd. Those duties will include individual and team instruction along with conducting seminars and player evaluations. Wilmoth said she plans to stay active in both the national and local softball community. She will remain a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and attend its national convention and will also serve as an adviser to Diamond clients on the steps they need to take to earn a collegiate scholarship.
“I will miss the atmosphere at UNF,” Wilmoth said. “But I will always be an Osprey.”
Wilmoth’s final season will begin on Feb. 8 when UNF travels to Boca Raton, Fla., to take on South Carolina in its opening-round game of the FAU Invitational. Her final game will be played on April 21 at Stetson. Gropper said a replacement for her position will be named following the 2008 season.