Sandy Mader graduated from Triton Regional High School where she excelled in 3 sports: Basketball – All Conference; Field hockey – All Conference, All Group 3, & All South Jersey, But softball was Sandy’s true passion. She played 3•• base at Triton where she was named Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 1982. In 1981 and 1982 she was All Conference 1st team, All Group 3 1st team, All South Jersey 1st team and Courier Post Player of the Year. She was All State in 1981 and 1982 and Gloucester County Times All South Jersey Team in 1981-1982. Sandy was team captain and MVP in 1981-1982. In 1990 she was named Player of the Decade for the 80’s and in 2000 she was named to the All Century Team for the Courier Post.
She received a full softball scholarship to Sam Houston State University. In college, Sandy moved to shortstop where she was 1st team All American in 1984 and 1986, MVP in 1984, Offensive Player of the Year in 1984 and 1986, All Conference and All South Region in 1985 and 1986, team captain in 1985 and 1986. In 1986 she was named Courier Post College Player of the Year. One honor she was very proud of was being named as a 1st team Academic All American in 1986.
Sandy continued playing summer ball for Cannon Illusion out of San Antonio, Texas.. Sandy was named All American and All World and was inducted into the USSSA Hall of Fame. She is in the USSSA Hall of Fame for Texas, Triton Hall of Fame, Sam Houston State University Hall of Fame and Texas High School Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Sandy is a National Softball Instructor. She has helped several players go on to college and receive scholarships.
Sandy is an accomplished student-athlete, coach, teacher and administrator. As a student, Sandy went on to receive her Masters in Education and received her Administrator Management Degree at McNeese State in Louisiana. As a coach, she earned Rookie Coach of the year, Coach of the year 2 times. While at Alvin High School, she was recognized as Who’s Who Among America’s teachers.
Sandy moved on to become an administrator. She was the first woman to be named athletic director in the Galveston Independent School District, where she stayed for 13 years. Sandy wanted to start a family and decided to resign as athletic director of Galveston ISD. She became the assistant athletic director for the Aldine Independent School District.
She has served on the NIAAA Board of Directors an<!. many other committees. She teaches classes at the NIAAA conventions throughout the U.S. Sandy was named NFHS Citation Winner (Athletic Director of the Year in the U.S.) in 2004. She is also an NFHS speaker and moderator at their national conferences.
One of her most significant accomplishments was her work with the Texas University Interscholastic League in adding fastpich softball as a sport in Texas High Schools. She helped the Texas High School Girls Coaches Association Board add softball coaches to its membership and also helped initiate a Softball All Star game for the state of Texas.
Today Sandy resides in Pearland, Texas with her son Jake who is the light of her life.
