The winningest coach in Valpo
softball history, Randy Schneider guides Valparaiso
into the 2010 campaign for his seventh season on the Crusader bench.
The 2009 Crusaders were an
offensive juggernaut, as ten team single-season records and six individual single-season
marks were set by the squad. Schneider’s
players hit .312 on the season while scoring better than five runs per
game. Schneider guided the Crusaders to
25 wins last year, increasing his record tally to 137, and their third straight
season above the .500 mark.
Schneider earned Horizon
League Co-Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading Valpo to a
school-record 30 wins and a second place finish in the league standings. Included among the 30 wins was the Crusaders’
first-ever victory over a ranked squad, a 7-5 win over #23 Maryland.
Valpo also ended the season atop the nation in stolen bases/game,
swiping 2.57 bases/contest.
Schneider got the 2007
Crusader team off to a 9-3 start, the best 12-game record in school history, en
route to a then-program record tying 27 victories. Schneider’s 2006
campaign was the most successful of his Valpo coaching career to that point, as
he guided Valpo to 22 victories. With his 21st win of the season,
Schneider moved into first among Crusader head coaches in victories.
Schneider’s arrival on campus
brought a 14-game turnaround in 2004, when the Brown and Gold won 21 games and
earned a spot in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament for the first time in
five seasons. The 2004 Crusaders even picked up a win at the conference
tournament before falling in the championship game to Centenary. Four
players from that team received Mid-Con All-Tournament honors.
Schneider has coached 21 All-League
players in his six years at the helm. Five of his players were honored
following the 2006 campaign, matching the most by any team in the Mid-Con, and
five more received All-Conference notice in 2007. During his tenure, the
Crusaders have broken 21 team single-season records and 34 individual
single-season and career records.
Schneider has also made sure
his student-athletes have been successes not only on the field, but also in the
classroom and in the community. Eight of
his players have earned CoSIDA/ESPN the
Magazine Academic All-District honors during his tenure, including Valpo
Softball’s first ever Academic All-American last year in Karen Korb. In the community, the Crusaders’ “I Need a
Hug” program, which he helped to start upon his arrival at Valpo, is continuing
to grow to even greater heights.
Schneider arrived at Valpo
from Wartburg College
in Iowa where
he led the Knights to a 100-37-1 record in four seasons. Wartburg won an
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 2001, the first in the
school’s history. That same year he guided the Knights to the NCAA
Division III Tournament where they finished as Central Region runner-up, and
Schneider was named IIAC and Region Coach of the Year.
Schneider earned his
bachelor’s degree from Wartburg in 1988 with a degree in physical
education. He and his wife Kristy have three children, Karli (9), Alec (6)
and Bryn (4).
