Induction 2007 - Athlete
Premier Canadian Junior Softball Pitcher 1978-1982
Member Junior Olympic Team
Win Loss Percentage Tops School Records for more than 4 decades
Young Athlete's True Passion Softball
Val
Greenwall was born and raised in Wetaskiwin. Growing up she participated
and excelled in many school and community sports including Volleyball,
Basketball, Badminton, Track and Field and Ringette. Because of her
athletic participation, ability, and leadership she was chosen as the
Wetaskiwin Composite High School Female Athlete of the Year in her
graduating year (1980). Val’s true passion was Softball. She started
playing softball at age five, developed into an exceptional pitcher and
during her playing career achieved some incredible accomplishments and
garnered many deserved awards.
Softball is still part of her life, as a high school coach she instils
the love of her favourite sport in young people.
Recipient of US University Athletic Scholarship
Because
of her innate talent as a pitcher Val usually played on teams with older
girls. If her Wetaskiwin team was not in the final, teams from Camrose
or Edmonton picked her up for championships. From 1974 to 1982, Val
played on teams that won the Provincial Championships and represented
Alberta in the Western Canadian Championships. In 1977, playing for the
Wetaskiwin Greenwall Construction Midget A team, Val was named MVP for
the Western Canadian Championships.
That year she also played on the
Alberta team
in the Canada Summer Games in Newfoundland. From 1978 through 1982, Val
played in the Junior Canadian National Championships. During those five
years her team won the championship twice (‘79. ‘82), was runner-up once
(‘81), and third twice (‘78,’80). As a sixteen-year old, Val was
named MVP in the 1978 Nationals and from 1979 to 1982 she was awarded
Top Pitcher in the nation.
As well, in 1978 Val was a member of the
Junior Olympic Team. Softball Alberta recognized her accomplishments in
1982 when she was named “Alberta Female Player of the Year”. In 2006
Val was inducted into the Softball Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as a
member of the Camrose Imperials that had won the Junior Canadian
Championship in 1979.
1979 Canadian Junior "A" Ladies Champions
Valerie Greenwall - top row, second from right.
Record Holder Puts
Skills to Work as Coach
Val's outstanding play was recognized internationally and in 1980 she was given a full, four-year scholarship to Sam Houson University in Texas.
During her stint with Sam Houston, the women’s softball team made the National Championships every year. Val led her team to two National Championships (‘81,’82), one runner-up (‘83) and one 8th place finish (’84). She earned Earned NCAA Division II All-America honors in 1982 and was an NAIA World Series all-tournament selection in 1981 for leading SHSU to national championships both years.
Val’s Won-Lost Percentage of .782 and Earned Run Average of .83 with the Sam Houston Bearkat Women’s Softball team still tops the school’s records as of 2024.
At the time of her induction Val was the Women’s Athletic Coordinator at Splendora High School in Splendora, Texas and was the Head Softball Coach for the previous ten years. During that time her team won the district championships every year and also won regional championships, represented their school at state championships. Her team won the State Championship in 2002.
Val has received numerous coaching awards including nine “District Coach of the Year”; five “County Softball Coach of the Year”. In 2002 she was named “Coach of the Year” by both the Texas Girls Coaches Association and the Texas Sportswriters’, and in 2003 Fox Sports Network” (Texas) cited her as the “Coach Who Makes a Difference”. Val is indeed a worthy Wetaskiwin Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Record Holder Puts Skills
to Work as Coach
Val's outstanding play was recognized internationally and in 1980 she was given a full, four-year scholarship to Sam Houson University in Texas.
During her stint with Sam Houston, the women’s softball team made the National Championships every year. Val led her team to two National Championships (‘81,’82), one runner-up (‘83) and one 8th place finish (’84). She earned Earned NCAA Division II All-America honors in 1982 and was an NAIA World Series all-tournament selection in 1981 for leading SHSU to national championships both years.
Val’s Won-Lost Percentage of .782 and Earned Run Average of .83 with the Sam Houston Bearkat Women’s Softball team still tops the school’s records as of 2024.
At the time of her induction Val was the Women’s Athletic Coordinator at Splendora High School in Splendora, Texas and was the Head Softball Coach for the previous ten years. During that time her team won the district championships every year and also won regional championships, represented their school at state championships. Her team won the State Championship in 2002.
Val has received numerous coaching awards including nine “District Coach of the Year”; five “County Softball Coach of the Year”. In 2002 she was named “Coach of the Year” by both the Texas Girls Coaches Association and the Texas Sportswriters’, and in 2003 Fox Sports Network” (Texas) cited her as the “Coach Who Makes a Difference”. Val is indeed a worthy Wetaskiwin Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
