Head Softball Coach- Dana Meinders
Coach Meinders enters her second season at the helm after a great first year, where the Lady Patriots finished 15-23. With just 11 players, none of which had college softball experience, the team exceeded expectations.
Mrs. Meinders, originally from Morrisville, Missouri, was a star athlete in basketball and softball, then took her talents to the next level, and was extremely successful in both sports. A 1989 graduate of Marion C. Early High School in Morrisville, Dana, won a State Championship in softball in 1988 and finished in second place at the state tournament in basketball. From there she went to Crowder College where she received her Associates Degree in 1991. She played both basketball and softball for the Lady Roughriders, helping the softball team to a second place finish at the National Junior College World Series. Her next stop was only a few miles away as she continued her education and college sports career at Missouri Southern. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 1993, but before that she helped the Lady Lions win the NCAA Division 2 National Championship in softball. How much did she help, you might wonder? Mrs. Meinders drove in the game winning run in the title game over California State University- Hayward. Dana then continued her education by completing her Masters of Science in Education degree in 1996 from Southwest Baptist University.
Mrs. Meinders has taught in six public schools, Crest Ridge, Butler, Pleasant Hope, Aurora, Chadwick, and Walnut Grove, during the course of her 26 years of teaching. She coached softball at all of those school except Pleasant Hope. Dana is married to Athletic Director and Head Men’s Basketball Darin Meinders and is the proud mother of two college athlete sons, Dallas and Dawson. In her spare time, which has been little and far between since 1993, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, traveling as well as planning those vacations.
When asked if she had a favorite Bible verse, Mrs. Meinders offered two that hold a special place in her heart. Those are; 1 John 4:4, ‘Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world,’ and Psalm 61:2, ‘When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.’
