Former Arizona softball star Stacy Iveson retires from coaching

Stacy Iveson has been an icon in Tucson softball for over 40 years. From a star player at Catalina High School, to an All-Pac-10 catcher for the Arizona Wildcats, to a championship coach at every level from high school to NCAA Division I, her accomplishments define what the sport means to the local community.

That part of her life is now history, as the Arizona softball program announced Iveson’s retirement on Friday afternoon.

For the past several years, Iveson has served as the Director of Softball Operations-Recruiting under former head coach Mike Candrea and current head coach Caitlin Lowe. Prior to Taryne Mowatt-McKinney joining the staff in October 2017, Iveson was the team’s pitching coach. After that, she took the position off the field as the director of operations.

Iveson graduated from Catalina High in 1985 after a career as an all-state softball player and a state-champion volleyball player. She also ran track and played baseball.

She stayed to play for the hometown Wildcats, becoming one of the building blocks of the Candrea powerhouse at Arizona. She played on the former coach’s first four Wildcat teams from 1986-1989, earning all-region and All-Pac-10 honors during her sophomore season. Her 72 games played during the 1988 season are tied for first in Arizona history.

In the classroom, Iveson earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Arizona, then went on to get a master’s in educational administration from Northern Arizona. She used those degrees to teach in the Flowing Wells school district on Tucson’s west side.

Iveson’s coaching career started at the high school level when she became an assistant at Salpointe Catholic High School in 1990, coaching the junior varsity team. The next year, she took over as the head coach of the Lancers’ varsity program. Two years later, the team won the state title.

Iveson left the high school level after the 1994 season, joining Arizona’s staff as an assistant coach in 1995. She was part of the staff that coached the team to national titles in 1996, 1997, and 2001. During that time, she worked with Wildcat greats that included Nancy Evans, Jennie Finch, and Leah Braatz.

After Arizona’s 2001 title, Iveson was hired at Pima Community College as head coach of its softball program. Her teams won two national titles during her six-year tenure. She won two more NJCAA titles as the head coach of Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz.

She was tabbed the NJCAA Coach of the Year after her first PCC title in 2004. Her staff was named National Fastpitch Coaches Association/NJCAA Division I national staff of the year after both of their titles at Yavapai College (2009, 2011).

Iveson also served as the head coach of the professional Arizona Heat from 2005 through 2007 before taking the position at Yavapai. After her tour in Prescott, she returned to Candrea’s staff at Arizona in 2011.

Iveson coached on the international level. She was part of the coaching pool for USA Softball and she was the head coach for the Israeli national team as it tried to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

Iveson has been inducted into several halls of fame, including the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and the NJCAA Softball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021. She is also in the Yavapai College Athletic Hall of Fame and the ACCAC Athletic Hall of Fame.