After having the second-best record for pitching (27-7) in the ACC and becoming the first N.C. State softball player to be named ACC Player of the Year in 2007, Abbie Sims was named the new pitching coach for the Houston Cougars.
Sims is taking over for Beth McClendon, who is now the head coach at Florida International. Though Sims has been named coach, most of her time spent since she graduated with a degree in business management has been spent playing professional softball with the Rockford Thunder.
“It’s fun,” Sims said. “We made playoffs. So playoffs are this coming up weekend. It’s a lot harder. You’re playing with the best of the best. Your whole team’s solid, but it’s fun.”
Like many college seniors and graduates, Sims did her search for potential jobs that would suit her needs of coaching.
“I’ve sent my resume and references out to all the schools I can, just to get the word out that I was looking for a position,” she said. “It was tough; I got more rejections than I got follow-ups. Houston was a great job. It was the only Division I school that offered me [a job]. I ended up doing what I wanted to do, and they recently came off of a really good season.”
Wolfpack softball coach Lisa Navas was one of Sims’ biggest references, helping her along the way in looking for a coaching spot.
“I was basically with her, step-by-step, through the whole process. When I learned of the position, I gave her a call and that was a place where she had given me a list during the season of places where she wanted to coach at and what was going to work for her,” Navas said.
“I was with her through the whole process. We talked about questions and who to answer them and how to deal with different things and things she can expect and all that. I’m just like a proud mother.”
Navas went on to say that despite being a few years older than some of the pitchers of Houston, she believes Sims would realize what the State coaching staff and team has done for her and would take those learning experiences with her.
Senior outfielder Blair Harkey, who is a close friend of Sims, said she is excited for Sims and is anxious to see how she will do as a coach. Harkey said the Cougars will learn a lot from her.
“I just think that overall, she’s very aggressive and a very hard worker,” Harkey said. “She’s going to instill that in her players as well. She has a drive that you can’t really teach, and it’ll be great to see those girls have that role model for them.”
As for what kind of advice she has given Sims, Navas said she has talked to her about a lot of situations. Navas also said the opportunity is great for Sims, despite it being her first job.
“It was kind of a step-by-step process. They needed to understand that she doesn’t have the experience, but she was willing to learn, and Houston was where she wanted to be,” Navas said. “And [Houston coach] Kyla [Holas], someone who I have known for a long time, she wanted to give someone an opportunity to coach the same way she was given an opportunity, and that was without that much experience.”
Sims said the advice she has received from the people close to her has been positive.
“They’ve just kind of told me to be confident with my skills. Be confident in coaching the way I was confident in playing. That it’s my first year and that I’m gonna make mistakes and to learn from them,” Sims said. “The big thing is to be like an open canvas, just soak up all the knowledge that I can from my co-workers.”