UCLA Sports Information Sue Enquist has
compiled four national championships and a record of 628-119-1
since 1989.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Reporter
The bottom third of people can suck the life out of you.
The middle third is ready to go with whoever influences them.
They’re ready to stay positive, but they’re also ready
to get sucked into the negative.
The top third are the leaders and see the positive in every
challenge and experience.
That’s Sue Enquist’s “33-percent rule”
““ one of her many Sueisms.
Enquist, in her 13th season as UCLA softball head coach, has a
lot of these Sueisms ““ little pieces of wisdom that instill
in her players some fundamental things which not only apply to
softball, but life in general.
Senior pitcher Courtney Dale and junior catcher Stacey Nuveman
are proof that the Sueisms work.
“I just know that being here five years, she’s
taught me so much and I’ve changed as a person,” Dale
said. “And her lessons don’t just apply on the softball
field.”
Then Nuveman interjected: “We joke about it. If she knew
how much we sit around and talk about her, in good and bad, she
would laugh. I’ll be in a totally unrelated situation in my
life, and I’ll find myself saying some of the things that she
says in her speeches.”
“Her Sueisms,” Dale added.
“It’s scary, her Sueisms and how they’re
ingrained,” continued Nuveman.
Enquist likes to keep things simple, focus on the task at hand.
Another Sueism goes like this: realize that there are only two
things you can control ““ your effort and your attitude.
“It’s kind of corny, and the kids think it’s
funny, but if people can carry out those two things, a positive
attitude and 100-percent effort, their life ends up being more
enjoyable,” Enquist explained.
She has been part of the UCLA family for quite a while ““
as a player from 1975-1978 and a coach from 1980 to the
present.
Enquist, who is the only player to complete her career with a
batting average over .400 (.401), has been part of four NCAA
championships as an assistant coach (’82, ’84,
’85, ’88) and four more as a head coach (’89,
’90, ’92, ’99).
This success would lead one to believe that the UCLA program is
all about wins and losses, but Enquist doesn’t like to be
evaluated on the last hour and a half of a season.
“I don’t want people looking at me saying whether
I’m a success or a failure based on the last seven innings of
the season,” said Enquist. “If you do that, I
wouldn’t be able to stay on this job or sustain the pressure
of being ranked so high for so many years.”
The philosophy at UCLA involves process-oriented thinking.
Enquist, described by everyone on the team as an intense person,
doesn’t coach to the scoreboard and her team doesn’t
play to the scoreboard.
After every game, the team meets in the clubhouse. Just because
it wins doesn’t mean the team played up to its
expectations.
That’s why, after a 5-0 win, Enquist could give one of her
most cutting and intense meetings. Every season, every game, every
inning, every pitch, she’s pushing her team to reach its own
standard of success.
Enquist is a reality check for the Bruins.
“Sue Enquist kind of shows you everything that she
is,” said sixth-year Assistant Coach Lisa Fernandez.
“In terms of the work ethic, and in terms of the dedication
and intensity that she has toward her sport, what you see is what
you get.”
The passion and intensity is most evident whenever an umpire
makes a questionable call. Enquist is a true believer in playing
the game straight up, and seeing her kids day-in and day-out, she
knows that they’re more talented than what the umpires give
them credit for.
So when the opposing team, or as she calls them “shirts in
the other dugout,” get a favorable call, she’s out
there feverishly arguing her case.
“If I believe Stacey Nuveman has been screwed on a call,
I’m going to be the first one under the umpire’s
nose,” said Enquist. “I admit that I’m very hard
on my team Monday through Friday, but when it comes game day,
I’m its biggest fan.”
Enquist is a simple person, only in need of her family, softball
and surfing. She lives a half hour from her mom and dad, 25 minutes
from her sister and is a 40-minute plane ride from her brother
““ all important people who help her remain balanced.
But her outlet is surfing. Out in the water, nobody talks about
work. Some players like second baseman Monique Mejia will join
Enquist on the waves, but they don’t have the advantage that
their head coach boasts about.
“When I was Monique’s age and I was surfing, I was
going nose-to-nose with these guys and they would not let
up,” Enquist explained. “It was hard to get waves. But
now, when you’re out there surfing, and they look at me, and
I’m old enough to be their mother, they take care of me, so I
get all of the waves. So I’m really enjoying this time of my
life because they wouldn’t dare take off on an old lady like
me out in the water.”
Once she gets out of the water and makes her way back to UCLA,
Enquist can re-enter the “bubble” ““ another
Sueism.
During the recruiting process, Enquist points out to a player
that she is about to become surrounded by excellence. In no other
place in the world after her players leave will they experience
that, being around people in the same place of life like you,
striving for excellence like you, motivated and driven like
you.
“So I always tell my players that when you get out of the
bubble, you’re going to learn that 33-percent rule, and
you’re going to learn how special it was to be in the bubble,
because you’re surrounded by mediocrity outside the
bubble,” said Enquist.
At least once they’re outside the bubble, they’ll
have those Sueisms upon which to rely.
SUEISMS UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist’s little
pieces of wisdom relating to softball and life.
"Don’t look left and don’t look right, because in order to get
to your goal as efficiently as possible, if you look left or look
right you have to slow down."
"I don’t coach to the scoreboard and they don’t play to the
scoreboard."
"Realize that there are only two things you can control: your
effort and your attitude."
"Leap into the unknown. It’s so exciting. So what if you fall,
I’ll pick you up. The rest of the team will pick you up."
SOURCE: Vytas Mazuka Original graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin
Web adaptation by Jackie Mackapanpan