BATON ROUGE — On Thursday, June 9, retired LSU Softball Head Coach Yvette Girouard was honored with a resolution by the Louisiana State Legislature for her “extraordinary coaching career.”
Here is the text from the resolution, as issued by the House of Representatives:
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 122
BY REPRESENTATIVE CARTER AND SENATORS ADLEY, ALARIO, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME, CHABERT, CHAISSON, CHEEK, CLAITOR, CROWE, DONAHUE, DORSEY, ERDEY, GAUTREAUX, GUILLORY, HEITMEIER, JACKSON, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARIONNEAUX, MARTINY, MCPHERSON, MICHOT, MILLS, MORRELL,MORRISH,MOUNT,MURRAY, NEVERS, PERRY, PETERSON, QUINN, RISER, SHAW, SMITH, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, AND WILLARD-LEWIS
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To commend Yvette Girouard, head coach of the Louisiana State University softball team, for her monumental achievements upon the end of her extraordinary coaching career.
WHEREAS, Yvette Girouard has been a key figure in the sport of softball for more than three decades, has been vitally instrumental in the evolution of the sport, and is retiring as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game; and
WHEREAS, a native of Broussard, Louisiana, Coach Girouard attended Comeaux High School and earned a bachelor of science degree in 1976 in health and physical education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where as a college volleyball player, she was named the 1976 Female Athlete of the Year; and
WHEREAS, after college graduation, Coach Girouard began the softball program at Lafayette High School and served as head coach there as well as at Comeaux High School; and
WHEREAS, prior to her eleven years at LSU, Coach Girouard spent twenty years coaching at her alma mater, ULL, where she started the softball program; and
WHEREAS, in Coach Girouard’s eleven-year career at LSU, her list of accomplishments is long and impressive, and LSU softball’s phenomenal success is a tribute to this exceptional coach; and
WHEREAS, Coach Girouard holds the distinction of being one of only three coaches to take two programs to the Women’s College World Series; she led her Tigers to two appearances and the Ragin’ Cajuns of ULL to three appearances there; and
WHEREAS, Coach Girouard, a true ambassador for softball, has made the LSU softball program one of the finest in the country, and it was during her tenure as coach that LSU saw the opening of Tiger Park, one of the nation’s premier softball stadiums; and
WHEREAS, Coach Girouard is widely recognized as a truly outstanding coach and has received many prestigious honors on the state, conference, and national levels, including her 2005 induction into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and numerous well-deserved coach of the year awards; and
WHEREAS, in Coach Girouard’s final season at LSU, the team finished with an overall record of forty victories and only eighteen losses and an appearance in the NCAA Regional tournament; and
WHEREAS, as she leaves LSU after an extremely productive and successful career, Yvette Girouard merits a special measure of commendation for her unparalleled legacy of excellence in coaching; and
WHEREAS, Coach Girouard’s retirement marks a milestone in the career of this Louisiana legend, and the legislature wishes to give her appropriate recognition as she embarks upon new challenges and begins the next chapter of her life.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Yvette Girouard upon her retirement as head coach of the Louisiana State University softball team, does hereby express to her enduring appreciation for her dedicated and highly effective leadership of LSU’s softball program and for the honor and distinction she has brought to the state of Louisiana throughout the course of her extraordinary career, and does hereby extend to her every good wish for continued success and happiness in her future endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted to Yvette Girouard.
Regular Session, 2011