In the Dugout with Associate Head Coach Alyson Habetz
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Jan. 23, 2009
When Alyson Habetz was first approached by head coach Patrick Murphy about joining his staff at The University of Alabama in 1998, coaching softball was far away from her plans at the time. As a member of the Colorado Bullets, a women's professional baseball team now honored in halls of Cooperstown, Habetz was living out her life-long passion of playing baseball. As entrenched as she was in the sport she had always loved to play, coaching was not on the horizon.
"I eventually was going to go to law school and become an attorney," Habetz said. "I just had so much respect for coach Murphy and I was excited about his opportunity to become a head coach because I knew how long he had waited for that and the dues he paid to get there. I really wanted to help him be successful because I felt he deserved it, and it would be a great opportunity to work for him."
For Habetz, as Murphy told her when he called, it was time to hang up the cleats and put on the coaching shoes.
As a student at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Lafayette, Habetz was recruited to play basketball on scholarship. Because she played baseball in high school, it was not until her days at USL that she encountered the sport of softball. After seeing advertisements to try out as a walk on for the softball team, Habetz thought it would be worth the chance. It was then that she met Murphy, who was serving as an assistant coach on the team.
"I loved basketball but my heart was in baseball," Habetz said. "I had never played softball before but went out there one day and figured I would try. Thanks to coach Murphy and Yvette Girouard, they gave me an opportunity. I ended up making the team and playing for four years."
Even as a young player for Murphy, Habetz began to see the qualities that would lead her back to coaching for him years later. She remembers a coach that demanded a lot, expected a lot and got the most out of all his players. Just as playing for Murphy was a useful learning experience, coaching under him continues to present new challenges and provide Habetz with the tools to help their players grow.
"I learn something new every day," Habetz said of her time with Murphy. "He is always looking to improve in some way, whether it is through marketing the program, hitting and defense or getting more fans to the field. He has great vision for the whole realm of the game and he is an incredible guy to be around, not just as a coach, but also as a person."
With such respect for the man that helped introduce her to the game, it is no surprise that Habetz is entering her eleventh year as an assistant coach for Murphy. In that time, she has seen UA's softball program rise to the top of the ranks and annually compete with the nation's best. Habetz looks back on the days when Alabama was playing at Bower's Park, a local parks and recreation field, and remembers the "little bleachers that were barely filled up." Now, the biggest difference she sees in the program is the unrelenting support from the Crimson Tide's fan base.
"It's been remarkable to watch it grow," Habetz said. "It's neat to see the fans and how their understanding of the game has grown and it's not just the packing of the stands, but their understanding of the game and what is important. When that third strike comes or a big play is made in a key moment, it's now a standing ovation or a roar from the crowd, instead a little clap. That fires us up and our players and it changes the whole atmosphere of the game."
Now as an associate head coach for the Tide, Habetz's duties range from working with hitting and defense to taking to the road and recruiting. As a coach her emphasis is centered on teaching players the fundamentals of the game, but she takes special pride in helping the student-athletes grow off the field as well. Being viewed as the "mother" of the team, with Murphy serving as "father" and assistant coach Vann Stuedeman, serving as the "big sister," Habetz sees coaching as an opportunity to help guide the young women through their college years.
"I love having an opportunity to work with young athletes," Habetz said. "I enjoy helping them in their four or five years, academically, athletically and socially. Obviously, softball is key, but more so is developing them into good young ladies and helping them be successful in life."
