Norma Nelson: Of Mentors, Milestones and Moving On

It’s late in the afternoon and the sun has found that place in the sky where it is aggravating at best as one peers in towards the dirt infield of Ooltewah’s Jim Lovell Softball Field from the right field grass and tries to sustain a conversation.

 

Norma Nelson knows pretty much every blade of grass on the field she lived on for a quarter century in what seems almost a lifetime ago.

So of course, the veteran East Hamilton softball coach knows exactly where to turn to avoid the glare and speak comfortably.

 

“It’s a place where I had a lot of really fun days and nights with a lot of softball kids who have meant the world to me,” Nelson smiles before adding in jest, “It has Coach Lovell’s name on it because he won three state titles and I only got one.”

 

As has been the case since she was unceremoniously forced out of Ooltewah in 2013 as administrators tried to open up a spot for a football coaching hire in need of a teaching position, Nelson made her annual pilgrimage back to Owl land Tuesday for a softball battle decked in her signature visor and East Hamilton garb.

 

Today the focus was on securing a needed 4-2 District 5AAA win over the stubborn Lady Owls to put the Lady Canes in position for a league championship with Monday’s winner-take-all battle with Soddy Daisy for the crown. Nelson lamented the play of her outfield as she addressed the team, but followed with “attagirls” for the pitching and hitting. It was typical Norma style, the one honed from some of this town’s finest mentors and perfected over the past 32 years of coaching young ladies in the sport she loves.

 

Nelson was an assistant to Lovell for two of his state titles and after taking over for Lovell she finally bagged one of her own in 2008. She coached the Lady Owls to state championship games four times. And last week she collected a milestone 800^th coaching victory in a win over Central with 25 years worth of those Ws coming in Ooltewah red.

 

“It is bittersweet coming back here in some ways because I have so many people here who I love. You look in the Ooltewah dugout today and I coached or coached with all the Mongar family. But to be honest, I work with the best administrators around now, and East Hamilton turned out to be the best move for me. I have the greatest parents, and coaching kids in today’s environment, that can be rare.

 

“I got tossed out of a game a few weeks ago for the first time in my 32-year career, and when the game was over my parents had already collected the money to pay the fine,” Nelson said.

 

Just as the folks who forced her out at Ooltewah have moved on or been forced out themselves, Nelson has moved on from the incident. She prefers to talk about her players, like pitcher Syerra Rogers, who two-hit Ooltewah and struck out 12 to surpass 300 Ks on the season.

 

“She’s the best pitcher I have had since Holly Thomas dominated the state title run in 2008. She is that good,” Nelson affirms.

 

Nelson has also found she has been more reflective over the past week since so much hoopla has been made of her milestone – “they threw a parade for me at school!” – and has stuck with the prototypical “all it really means is that I’m old and having been doing for a long time.”

 

Nelson’s age has nothing to do with it other than allowing it to accumulate. Her pedigree, however, has played a vital role in it.

 

“Coach Lovell taught me how to treat people. I coached with Clifford Kirk and he taught me about the game of softball. I played for Wayne Huling at East Ridge and he was the one who sparked my interest. I played basketball for a legend in Catherine Neely. When I was a manager for the UTC basketball team I was there with Sharon Fanning. You can’t help but be pretty good with those kinds of people in your life,” Nelson smiled.

 

She knew from an early age in college she was destined to be a coach and teacher. She spent many an afternoon catching Fanning who happened to be one this town’s best pitchers when she wasn’t coaching basketball games. She had no idea she would still be coaching today, but can’t think of any other place she would rather be than the ball field.

 

“Last year when we didn’t get to play, it really made you appreciate all that you have. I sat on my back porch and watched kids play outside and couldn’t wait to get back out here. I just don’t know what I would be doing if I wasn’t coaching softball, and East Hamilton has really made it fun again for me,” she smiled.

 

And while Norma Nelson can enjoy visits to the place she once called home, there is no doubt where her heart resides.

 

“I’m just really blessed. I’m blessed to get to do what I love. I’m blessed to have had so many great kids and players who won 800 games. I’m blessed to be at East Hamilton. I didn’t understand things and it’s easy to question when it’s fresh, but I’ve always said that if somebody can fire Clifford Kirk then nobody is safe,” Nelson grinned.

 

As she made her way to the parking lot, she made time to go visit with Ooltewah coach Kerilyn Mongar who Nelson coached at Ooltewah until she graduated in 2006.

“I remember when I was a little kid all I wanted to do was go stay at Norma’s house. We were all so close and she was like another momma to us. I was probably four or five years old, and I would play with her ponytail and try to talk her into letting me go home with her. She’s a great coach and everyone who has played for her will attest to not only that, but the fact she cares for each of us individually,” Mongar said.

 

And of all of Norma Nelson’s many accomplishments, words such as those are the most impressive.

(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)