Blue Devil of the Week: Getting Duke in the Swing of Softball

Name: Marissa Young

Title: Head Softball Coach

Years at Duke: 2

What she does: When Young was hired as Duke’s first softball coach in June 2015, she took over a program that was little more than an idea. At the time, Duke softball had no office, letterhead or even a computer.

But Young and her program had some time.

Over the past two years, Young oversaw the construction of the program. She hired a staff, recruited players and built support within the Duke community and beyond.

“It’s really been like a small business owner starting up a new company,” Young said.

She said that during her early days on the job, the toughest part was not having anyone to bounce ideas off of. Now she heads a staff of four, which includes her father, Robert Young, who serves as a volunteer assistant.

While the team used to practice at the baseball program’s Jack Coombs Field and store its gear in a nearby shed, it now has its own stadium on East Campus.

And after two years of trying to get players to buy in to a vision, she’s now leading a roster of 17 players through their first season.

“We did the best we could to get things up and running quickly,” Young said. “And the kids just believed in the vision and knew great things were coming. Now, to have what we have, we’re pretty spoiled. It was worth the wait.”

What she loves about Duke: “I’ve never been at a place where people care about your well-being and success like they do here at Duke. From day one, a lot of the coaches of other teams in the athletic department have reached out and been nothing but helpful. They’ve been really great about teaching me what Duke is about. … People are genuinely invested in seeing our program get started.”

A memorable day at work: Last fall, Duke played a series of scrimmages against other college teams. While not official games, they did serve as the first time the Blue Devils got to play on their home field in front of fans.

The first scrimmage was against North Carolina State University and featured a crowd of roughly 1,500 and pre-game ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“That was just astounding,” Young said. “From the community support, the university and the student athletes that were here, it was a beautiful sight to see how many people came out to support our program.”

Most important object in her workspace: “My phone, really. We’re in the people business and staying connected to people is important. I’ll send my players positive texts or make calls. I’m big into video, so I use my phone a lot to film them and use it as a teaching moment so they can see what I’m wanting them to do. I’m pretty attached to my phone.”

First ever job: Growing up in Santa Ana, California, Young helped with her parents’ janitorial service. Later, she worked in a sporting goods store, where her job included cleaning dressing rooms.

“I think that’s the foundation of why I’m such a hard-worker, I’ve learned and seen what it is to do hard work every single day,” Young said. “It made me appreciate the little things. I really appreciate our housekeeping staff and what they do. I don’t want to leave things behind for other people to have to pick up. It’s made me humble and see things from a different perspective.”

Something that most people don’t know about her: While her job puts her in front of groups of people often, Young said that, at heart, she’s an introvert and enjoys having some periods of peace and quiet.

With coaching taking up much of her time, she doesn’t have nearly as many opportunities to enjoy one hobby that used to be a favorite during her quiet moments.

“I used to sew quite a bit,” Young said. “I don’t have time for that any more, but I used to do things like blankets, crafty things. … People still use some of them, so I guess they turned out OK.”

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