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Coach Dan Eakin is a legend in the sport of softball and in the Kansas City area and recently announced he’s retiring from coaching after an amazing four decades on the field.
Eakin has done an amazing amount for the sport, especially in the Midwest, including building a makeshift field at an Olathe, Kansas deaf school when he first started in softball with his oldest daughter to provide her an opportunity to play the game.
This led to his first coaching his first team, the Olathe Express, which ultimately became the Kansas City Peppers.
“Dan has impacted so many in the sport, developing young ladies in many more ways than just softball,” states Jeff Wallace, who will be coaching the two oldest teams in the Peppers organization with Eakin stepping down. “I find it interesting that he tells the story he has been going to play in Boulder longer than the IDT (Independence Day Tournament run by Dan Burns) has been in existence.
Eakin is also responsible for creating Olathe Girls Softball (OGSA), the longest standing “league” in the Midwest and was hands-on in planning and developing the fields while serving in the role of President to this day.
“Dan’s leadership at OGSA has provided opportunities for many girls to enjoy the sport that do not envision playing in college,” Wallace adds.
In his 41 years of coaching fastpitch—38 with the KC Peppers, Eakin has accumulated an amazing list of accomplishments while also playing “Dad” to four daughters and a son: Gail, Kristen, Kelly, Lynne and Daniel:
- 150 players who went on to play college softball,
- 44 players who would earn college All-Conference honors
- 1 would play in the Olympics (Christie Ambrosi, UCLA grad, 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist)
Eakin himself was an excellent athlete, starting as an offensive guard for the Michigan State Spartans in the 1950’s.
His former players are coming forward to offer appreciation for what the coach of over four decades has meant to them.
“Coach Eakin was that coach in my life that really changed the game for me,” offers Hailey Reed, a Pepper alum who would go on to play at Kansas. “He held me to a standard that I didn’t even think was possible but, man, was he also my biggest supporter. To this day I can call Coach to talk and expect great advice, and of course a goofy story/joke. I can genuinely credit a lot of my successes and love for the game to him being my coach.”
The Peppers, under the leadership of Coach Eakin, will continue to compete led by Wallace who will coach the 18U and 16U Premier teams. Cynthia Adams will coach a 14U Premier team and there will be 16U and 14U Futures teams as well as younger teams at 12U, 10U and 8U.
Coach Wallace adds: “I watched Dan’s Gold team my second year of coaching—I have coached 14 years—and after watching his team I knew I wanted a team that could play at that level.”
On Wednesday, Midwest Sports Products honored Coach Eakin with the Legacy Award and presented the following video:
*****
Here is a sampling of the many tributes released this week from former players:
Alex Hugo (played at Georgia)
Coach Eakin to me is the one person that will critique you, push you, expect your best & love you all at the same time. He has the biggest heart of anyone I have met and he is where I credit the drive to compete at the level I’m capable of playing at.
I can call him at any time and we’ll talk softball and life and that means more to me than any wins or losses we’ve had together.
I love him more than words could describe.
*****
Alex Hupp (played at Nebraska, DI college coach)
Coach Dan Eakin has been the KC Pepper’s coach since ‘86 & before that a Michigan St football player. He has done more for girls Fastpitch than any name I can think of in KC & I was lucky enough to call him Coach.
I remember growing up in Olathe playing for OGSA (Olathe Girls Softball Association) and always knew who Coach was. He was The Man. He ran the complex, was there every day of the week along with traveling the country with his elite team that year, all while he had another “real” job. Everyone knew Coach Eakin’s van blasting some Bob Seger…that years later turned into his truck when he drove 100mph into the complex. He says he learned how to drive in NYC so that’s where the pedal to the metal driving comes from. Maybe he has slowed down on the roads these days, but not likely.
Coach Dan Eakin has been the KC Pepper’s coach since ‘86 & before that a Michigan St football player. He has done more for girls Fastpitch than any name I can think of in KC & I was lucky enough to call him Coach. He prepared his players for life and we ❤️ him pic.twitter.com/qCWJLKAgyl
— Alexandria Hupp (@AlexandriaHupp) July 23, 2020
Along with all the duties of the complex, his team, family life, he always put on pitching clinics for many, many years, and that’s where my sister and I first learned how to pitch. He always made time for all ages of players. Some phenomenal athletes started their ball careers at OGSA, most beginning at 8u playing through 18’s! The Peppers were the team most girls wanted to grow up to make in Olathe and then expanded to interest outside the state of Kansas. The Peppers have been competing at the highest level of girls Fastpitch for years with some top athletes, all due to Coach’s competitive mentally.
Coach’s approach to the game is perfection. His level of commitment rubs off on everyone around him. He expects greatness and hard work and that’s what his players gave him. If you weren’t at your best, he would let you know. But then he would give ya a little pat and you knew he still loved ya. Coach would do anything for his players, even driving his players packed in his van to the tournaments that started on Thursday’s when parents were still at work. His caricatures of his players are as legendary as he is; each player that ever played for him received one at the end of the year and they are spot on! They were such a meaningful gift from Coach, I know every player loved theirs.
I was even lucky enough to call him my neighbor as well. He lives two houses down from my parent’s house still actually! Again, I knew when I got to the right age, I was going to be a Pepper. When we were younger, every time my sister or I were out in the front yard practicing, he would sometimes stop and see how we were doing or at least zoom by giving us a honk. Did I mention my younger sister also played for Coach? It was meant to be.
Coach also helped his players but local high school kids out by hiring them to work the complex! Sometimes you got the concessions job to make some summer money or like me and my sister, we would go the next morning after league nights and be on trash duty. Honestly, not always fun, there would be seeds and double bubble wrappers everywhere but he found a way to give me and my sister a summer job that we could do around our crazy softball summer schedules. He prepared his players for life in many different ways, not only on the field.
As I moved on to play in college then to my college coaching days, I love reconnecting with Coach when I’m home. He’ll always make time for a chat or a story. Sadly I don’t get back home very often but Coach has meant the world to me. Coach will coach you hard and then love you harder.
He’ll sing ya some Bob, tell ya a crazy story, yell at you across the field so the whole complex can hear, give ya snickers and Gatorade from the concession stands, make ya wear shorts that were worn in the 80’s, give you access to the cages for however long you need, show up at your signing day, and be a phone call away. He makes everyone around him better.
He has impacted the KC softball community greatly. He has been a huge supporter of all his players. He has put his heart and soul into the game and growing the game. The Hupp’s and the softball community appreciate his years of dedication. He is a legend.
We love you Coach. Always a Pepper!
*****
Cynthia Verhulst-Adams (All-American at Wichita State, coach in the Peppers organization)
I could tell you all the different accomplishments and titles Coach Eakin holds but I am going to tell what my experience with Coach Eakin was and continues to be.
The first time I remember meeting him was at the ballpark when I was 13. He walked up to me to say how good I did that game and proceeded to tell me, “You will play for me one day,” which meant little to me at the time other than he was the MAN to play for and had the best team in the KC area, the Peppers.
In just a few short years that is exactly what happened. I became a Pepper and still am a Pepper to this day. However, Coach Eakin was more than my softball coach, he did a lot of life coaching for me then and continues still today.
Those years I played for Dan were tough for me at home—my parents went through a divorce in addition to my being a teenager—but Coach did everything he could to keep me on the softball field. He drove me to practices, games, tournaments in Colorado, California, Georgia etc.
I had many plane rides and long van rides with him all because he wanted to be sure I got to play softball and follow my dreams. I was a good player and wanted to be on the field and he would do anything for me to make that happen.
I ended up getting a full ride scholarship to WSU. Without his dedication to helping me become the best player I could be and get exposure to all sorts of colleges I do not know where I would be today.
I could not be more thankful, grateful or appreciative for everything he has personally done for me. He has made all the difference in my life and I cannot be more honored that I get to carry his legacy of the Peppers on for future generations.
You will be hard pressed to find someone who does not know Dan Eakin and the KC Peppers because he has been on the field competing longer than I have been alive. Most have either played for him or against him or even have been a part of OGSA in some way.
He has literally impacted so many lives in his 40+ years of coaching and just because he is done as a head coach you better believe he will still be on the field watching softball games forever.