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This past summer, Walker was an assistant coach on the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team, featuring Bruins Holly Azevedo and Bubba Nickles, which won gold at the WBSC Junior Women's World Championship.
Walker returned to UCLA after spending nearly two decades at Oregon State. The all-time winningest coach in program history and the fifth-winningest in Oregon State history regardless of sport, Walker posted a 594-490-3 record (.548 winning percentage) and eight seasons with at least 40 wins. The Beavers made the postseason 10 times with Walker at the helm, including the 2012 campaign, which saw Oregon State post a 36-23 mark and set team records for runs batted in (269) and runs scored (301). Under Walker's tutelage, the Beavers earned 79 All-Pac-10/12 honors, 28 All-Region accolades and 10 All-American awards.
In 2006, Walker led the Beavers to their first-ever appearance in the Women's College World Series, as OSU posted a school-record, 28-game winning streak and reached No. 5 in the national rankings with a 43-16 overall mark. In 2005, he guided Oregon State (43-16) to its first-ever Pac-10 Championship (and the first regular-season Pac-10 title for any OSU women's sports program), earning Conference Coach of the Year honors for the second time (1999). The most wins in a season for Oregon State came in 1999, when the Beavers had 47 victories and went to the postseason for the first time in program history. Along with his Pac-10 COY award, Walker's staff was named the Speedline Pacific Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year.
Walker has also earned coaching acclaim away from the collegiate level. He was named one of 12 coaches to form the USA Softball National Team Coaches Pool through the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Walker served as an assistant for the USA Elite Team for three summers (2002-04), and also assisted the USA Red National Team during the summer of 2001. He was the head coach of the four-time USA Women's Major National Champion California Commotion from 1996-1999. In addition, Walker was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the summer of 2015 after winning his first National Championship as a player at the NAFA Men's Masters 40 and over National Championships in Carson City, Nevada.
Walker spent 11 years at UCLA from 1984-94. The Bruins won National Championships six times with Walker on the staff ('84, '85, '88, '89, '90 and '92). He earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UCLA in 1988. The Woodland Hills, Calif. native has an adopted daughter, Ava, with his ex-partner. A visible and vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion in sports across the country, he is one of the founders of the Equality Coaching Alliance and the LGBT Sports Coalition. Walker also serves as a founding board member for the non-profit Sports Equality Foundation along with being the chair of the UCLA Athlete Allies committee for UCLA Athletics. read more...
Walker returned to UCLA after spending nearly two decades at Oregon State. The all-time winningest coach in program history and the fifth-winningest in Oregon State history regardless of sport, Walker posted a 594-490-3 record (.548 winning percentage) and eight seasons with at least 40 wins. The Beavers made the postseason 10 times with Walker at the helm, including the 2012 campaign, which saw Oregon State post a 36-23 mark and set team records for runs batted in (269) and runs scored (301). Under Walker's tutelage, the Beavers earned 79 All-Pac-10/12 honors, 28 All-Region accolades and 10 All-American awards.
In 2006, Walker led the Beavers to their first-ever appearance in the Women's College World Series, as OSU posted a school-record, 28-game winning streak and reached No. 5 in the national rankings with a 43-16 overall mark. In 2005, he guided Oregon State (43-16) to its first-ever Pac-10 Championship (and the first regular-season Pac-10 title for any OSU women's sports program), earning Conference Coach of the Year honors for the second time (1999). The most wins in a season for Oregon State came in 1999, when the Beavers had 47 victories and went to the postseason for the first time in program history. Along with his Pac-10 COY award, Walker's staff was named the Speedline Pacific Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year.
Walker has also earned coaching acclaim away from the collegiate level. He was named one of 12 coaches to form the USA Softball National Team Coaches Pool through the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Walker served as an assistant for the USA Elite Team for three summers (2002-04), and also assisted the USA Red National Team during the summer of 2001. He was the head coach of the four-time USA Women's Major National Champion California Commotion from 1996-1999. In addition, Walker was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the summer of 2015 after winning his first National Championship as a player at the NAFA Men's Masters 40 and over National Championships in Carson City, Nevada.
Walker spent 11 years at UCLA from 1984-94. The Bruins won National Championships six times with Walker on the staff ('84, '85, '88, '89, '90 and '92). He earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UCLA in 1988. The Woodland Hills, Calif. native has an adopted daughter, Ava, with his ex-partner. A visible and vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion in sports across the country, he is one of the founders of the Equality Coaching Alliance and the LGBT Sports Coalition. Walker also serves as a founding board member for the non-profit Sports Equality Foundation along with being the chair of the UCLA Athlete Allies committee for UCLA Athletics. read more...
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