Jacksonville State head coach Jana McGinnis won her 1,000th game earlier this year, a feat only accomplished by a handful of active coaches.
On Sunday, she added another honor to her monumental year, as JSU officially announced the renaming of the Gamecocks’ softball home as Jana McGinnis Field.
The naming of the stadium was included in a resolution and was approved by the Jacksonville State Board of Trustees. A copy of that resolution was presented to McGinnis on Sunday by JSU President Don Killingsworth.
McGinnis, now in her 30th season as the Gamecocks’ head coach, has coached every softball game played at the stadium that now bears her name. During her tenure, she has led the program to a total of seventeen conference regular-season or tournament championships.
Per a JSU press release, the text of the resolution reads:
WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate to recognize and pay tribute to individuals who, by achieving outstanding success, bring honor, glory and pride to Jacksonville State University; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis has served as the head coach of the Jacksonville State University softball program since 1994; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis has developed a softball program at Jacksonville State University that is second to none, and has built a program on integrity, success and tradition at the heart of each player; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis is the most decorated coach in the history of the Ohio Valley Conference, having been named the OVC Coach of the Year a conference-record six times, and winning either the regular season or tournament championship in 11 of its 17 seasons in the OVC; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis also won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Title and the school’s first berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament in 1996; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis has led the Gamecocks to numerous NCAA Tournament berths, including the school’s first at-large berth in 2009 while also winning the schools’ first NCAA Regional and advancing to the Super Regionals and appearing in the national polls that same year; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis became just the 20th active coach in NCAA history to win 1,000 career games and 29th Division I coach in NCAA history to reach this incredible milestone with a 13-1 win over Alabama State on March 22, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Jana McGinnis is a 1991 graduate of JSU, where she was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference guard in basketball and still holds the JSU career record for assists with 603, as well as the single-season record with 204;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the members of the Board of Trustees of Jacksonville State University declares that the playing field at the softball stadium be named Jana McGinnis Field.
Adopted this 16th day of April, 2023.
