Dot Richardson

Dot Richardson was a shortstop who won two gold medals with the US National Team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Richardson played in college at Western Illinois, but transferred to UCLA, graduating in 1983, and helping them win the 1983 NCAA Championship. She then turned professional as the youngest player to play in the National Pro Fastpitch League and played with the Florida Rebels until joining the Raybestos Brakettes in 1984, playing with them until 1994.

While playing Richardson earned a masters’ degree in exercise physiology from Adelphi University, and then attended the University of Louisville Medical School, earning an MD degree in 1993. She then did an orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Southern California, followed by a fellowship in sports medicine at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles.

Richardson practiced orthopaedics but later became executive director and medical director of the National Training Center, holding that position through 2012. She also became the head softball coach at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 2013. She has served as the board chair for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Softball Ministry.

Richardson is the recipient of the 1996 Amateur Athletic Foundation Athlete of the Year, and was named MVP in the Women’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship four times. She was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1996, the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1999, and is a member of the National Softball Hall of Fame.