“In 2008, Liz Kelly enters her fourth year as Head Coach of the Dutch National Softball Team and becomes only the third in Dutch history to lead the National Softball Team for a fourth consecutive year.”¹

“Order was restored by American Liz Kelly, a native of California and a veteran collegiate coach in the United States. Kelly, who served as Technical Operations Director for the 2004 Olympic softball tournament in Athens, spoke to NBC Olympics about her job and what was involved in getting the Netherlands back to the Games.” ²

A homegrown Saratogan who has spent most of the last two decades traveling both the U.S. and around the world as a professional softball coach, Liz Kelly still returns often to Saratoga to visit her mother and two sisters that live nearby. 

With fond memories of Foothill Elementary and Redwood Middle Schools, Liz remembers the most playing a variety of sports at Saratoga High.  “I was not sure what sport I wanted to do at the time, so I played volleyball, basketball, softball and badminton.  But eventually I played only softball and volleyball in college,” says Liz. 

Crediting her SHS coaches and teammates for the eventual career success, Liz remembers Ms. Ellis and Ms. Hoffman, and players Lisa Ross, Carrie Titus, Aderian Mathews, Lori Holtz, and Patty Perry.  She also credits her parents and family for the constant support and encouragement that ignited her enthusiasm in athletics early on.  According to Liz, her father either played catch with her or hit her flies almost everyday. 

While the concept of college sports scholarship was still in its infancy, Liz was one of the first SHS girls to earn one.  She was attracted by Utah State’s reputation for having a very strong women’s athletic program and moved to Logan, Utah in the fall of 1978.  Away from home for the first time, the memory of how different Logan was from Saratoga is still vivid in her mind.  Liz helped Utah State to the AIAW Collegiate Softball National Champions in 1981 (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women).

Aspired to professional coaching, Liz went to coach softball at California State University in Chico as soon as she graduated from Utah State in 1983.  And since then, it’s been almost twenty years of going non-stop with several high profile positions that include taking the Dutch National Softball Team to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Today, Liz is back in the United States; she continues to work with the ISF (International Softball Federation) giving softball clinics to coaches and players and at the same time is taking time off to travel.

As high as she has risen in the professional sports arena, Liz still remembers the bus rides to play Los Gatos High, the practices in the “girls” gym, the fact that her parents came to all of her games invited or not, and most of all being selected SHS Girls Athlete of the Year among some stiff competition.