Cary Shepherd is more than special to Kathi Coleman.
It”s just that it is so difficult for Coleman to find one word that encapsulates everything Shepherd did in her time as softball coach at New Hope High School.
She recalls how Shepherd was there for her when she was going through a “really hard” time in her life. She remembers how Shepherd used to support her in her role as the school”s basketball coach. She smiles when she thinks back to the mid-1990s when Shepherd asked her if she would be interested in helping her as an assistant coach with the softball team.
One question started a journey that has blessed her with too many rewards to count.
“She is just so special. She is unique,” Coleman said. “I know a lot of coaches across the state have referred to her as the ”first lady of softball in the state of Mississippi.” She was an ambassador for the game, and everything she did was a labor of love for her players and the game.”
Tonight, the Mississippi Association of Coaches will recognize Shepherd”s contributions when it inducts her and four others into its Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Jackson.
Shepherd, who worked with her husband, Roscoe, and assistant coaches like Coleman and Wayne Ellis, won nine state titles at New Hope High from 1982-2006 and laid the foundation for years of excellence in slow- and fast-pitch softball. She will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with Neil Hitchcock, of D”Lo, D.M. Howie, of Jackson, Lucy Seaberry-Moore, of Cleveland, and Shelby Watts, of Raymond.
“One thing I am going to touch on (in her speech) is the number of people who have given of their time and who have helped make our program such a wonderful thing and so special,” said Shepherd, who learned last year she would be honored. “I think every girl will have some kind of memory that will just a last a lifetime.”
Coleman said Shepherd helped foster that environment with love for her players. She said Shepherd was a great motivator who used passages of scripture to inspire the Lady Trojans. Her love for the sport and the student-athletes was a big reason why she wanted to create T-shirts for all of the returning starters each season.
Coleman said the T-shirts, which had unique sayings or messages tailored to each player, were just one piece to the puzzle that Shepherd created. She pointed to the bonfires and the “Happy Sacks” the team made for its opponents as other examples of the family atmosphere in the program and the lessons Shepherd taught.
“Cary started the program and it was in her heart to make it more than the game of softball, to make it so special,” Coleman said. “Her whole life has just been a picture of giving, just selfless giving. That was what her program was all about. She wanted to honor people. She honored other coaches, our rivals, and our competition.”
Tabitha Beard, who played for Shepherd and took her place as coach of the slow- and fast-pitch teams at the school, recently came across the five softball T-shirts Shepherd made for her. Locked away in a chest in her attic, Beard said the mementos reminded her of the special times she shared as a player at New Hope. She said Shepherd”s example is alive and well in the program today.
“She was my coach and what I strived to be growing up,” Beard said. “I wanted to be like coach Shepherd. The number of lives she has touched is immeasurable. What she has done for everyone is so far beyond softball it is unimaginable.”
Shepherd enjoys sharing her softball memories with her grandchildren and watching them hone their skills at Propst Park. She said her goal was to try to touch as many lives as she could, and she wound up impacting far more lives than she ever dreamed.
Tonight, the state of Mississippi will show its appreciation.
“In the scriptures, Jesus said it was better to give than to receive,” Coleman said. “That is (Shepherd”s) whole life, and it is really based on that.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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