Lisa Dreher

Bryant softball coach enters UCA Sports Hall of Fame

Lisa Dreher, head softball coach at Bryant High School, is in the zone after recently being inducted into the University of Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for years of accomplishments and setting records, both on and off the field.
Lisa Dreher, head softball coach at Bryant High School, is in the zone after recently being inducted into the University of Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for years of accomplishments and setting records, both on and off the field.

The first young woman from Arkansas to sign a softball scholarship for a state college is still adding exceptional accomplishments to her repertoire as an adult. She’s a mother, an award-winning Bryant High School softball coach and still holds the NCAA record for the most doubles in a game. For these accolades and more, Lisa Dreher was inducted into the University of Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Dreher, along with the six other inductees, was honored last month at the annual UCA Sports Hall of Fame Brunch. The 2016 class is the 16th to be inducted into the university’s hall of fame. Dreher was UCA’s first softball signee when the program began in 1996 and was a four-time, first-team All-Gulf South Conference selection and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region selection. Additionally, she was inducted into the Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame in 2012.

The UCA honor was “so humbling,” Dreher said. “I was next to really great athletes and some I even remembered hearing about. One said he remembered me, which blew my mind. I’m not one for a lot of attention, but I have to admit, it was really neat. UCA really went all out that weekend. I will never forget everything they did and how accommodating they were through the entire process.”

A 2000 UCA graduate, Dreher has been teaching special education at Bryant High School for 13 years and coaching softball for 10. Bryant Athletic Director Michael Lee said Dreher’s drive and desire to be “the best” is an athletic director’s dream vision for a coach.

“I have come to know Coach Dreher as a tireless competitor who cares so much for what she is committed to,” he said. “In my judgment, she has received the highest possible honor from UCA, and I understand fully how she achieved the personal success the UCA softball program and supporters enjoyed. She has achieved so much in a very short time as our Lady Hornets head softball coach. On behalf of Bryant Athletics, we could not be more proud and more congratulatory to her and her recognition.”

Dreher grew up in Mabelvale in the same house until she moved away for college. She didn’t grow up in the typically sports-minded

family as one might imagine; they were more the snow-skiing, water -skiing, hunting and fishing kind of family when they weren’t traveling with Dreher’s ball schedule. The way her parents ran the household complemented her sports activities outside the home, setting her up for the self-reliant, successful path she’s living.

“Growing up, sports and life skills seemed to go hand in hand,” Dreher said. “As kids, my brother and I learned to work things out and get a job done with what we had. ​It seems kids today are losing their problem-solving skills. Maybe they rely on others’ help or just let someone else solve, fix or build it because that’s quicker. Sometimes there’s not a quick fix in life, just like in sports. You have to work.”

Dreher, the first in her family to be a coach, gives credit to coach Hayes LeMay for her softball journey.

“He was the coach of Bryant Express, which is and always has been the best softball team in Arkansas, and many times the nation,” she said.

After a two-year respite, Dreher started playing for LeMay when she was 14. She was burned out from the game by age 12, she said, but was encouraged by LeMay to pick it back up after he saw her playing on a church team. She would go on to play for him off and on until she graduated from high school.

“I know the softball community would agree that nobody has done more for the game in Arkansas than Hayes LeMay,” Dreher said.

Initially, Dreher had made the volleyball team at UCA, as well as trying out at several other colleges. She decided to sign on for softball after the coach, Natalie Shock, contacted her about playing for UCA’s inaugural team. A memorable moment as a Lady Bear was when Shock asked Dreher to assist her in her fifth year.

“I was honored by that more than anything because I looked up to her and the program so much,” Dreher added.

Dreher realized she was made for a career in education and coaching young people at the end of her sophomore year at UCA, she said. The decision changed her and her approach to the game.

“I realized I really needed to start soaking it in if I was going to be any good,” she said, “so that’s what I did.”

Dreher was named Saline County Female Coach of the Year in 2006 and has been to an Arkansas high school state tournament every year she’s been a coach. The Lady Hornets made it to the state finals in 2005, 2006 and 2009.

Coaching the games is the best part of her job, Dreher said, noting that she takes much responsibility for what happens in the games, win or lose.

“It gives me the feedback I need to know our weaknesses and what to work on. It also can be the rewarding part for the hard work.”

Witnessing very talented athletes who don’t have the drive to succeed is the difficult part, Dreher said.

“It’s hard to see that when you also see less-talented athletes who bust it day in and day out.”

Believe it or not, female athletes can be tougher and more resilient than their fellow male athletes, Dreher said.

“I know that’s a lot to say, but I’ve seen it. Sometimes you just have to get out of their way and let them do work because they drive themselves.”

At the end of the day, seeing her girls go on to have successful careers and families is what makes her job worth the hours and effort, Dreher said.

When she’s not teaching, leading and inspiring future community leaders, Dreher enjoys watching her own daughters in their activities — band, cross country, softball and soccer. Lake or outdoors-related activities such as hunting, running and tennis are on Dreher’s hobby list, in addition to watching the St. Louis Cardinals.

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