EWU's Parks earns Hall-of-Fame nod

 

Last updated 10/5/2017 at 11:09am



Former Eastern Washington University volleyball coach and current administrator Pamela Parks will be inducted into the Inland Northwest Hall of Fame in ceremonies taking place Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Spokane Arena.

The event will begin at 4 p.m. with the induction and awards ceremony. A reception and cubicle unveiling will follow from 5:30-6:30 p.m. More information and registration for the event is available at: http://www.spokanesports.org/sports-hall-of-fame.html

Parks is among a handful of former Eagles who have previously been inducted, and is just the third former Eastern coach to be honored in that category. The others are football coach Dave Holmes and basketball coach W.B. “Red” Reese. Lanny Davidson, Irv Leifer and Launi Meili are the former Eastern athletes to be honored, and numerous others with an association to Eastern have been honored as contributors or on the organization’s Scroll of Honor.

“This is a tremendous honor for myself, but more importantly for all the student-athletes that I have coached at EWU and in the community,” said Parks, who plans to retire from EWU at the end of the 2017-18 school year. “It has also given me a voice to thank my coworkers and give Eastern Washington University and the athletic department great exposure in the Arena and to the Intermountain Northwest.”

A pioneer who helped spark the area’s passion for volleyball, Parks found unprecedented success as a coach and has had wide-reaching impact as an administrator. She graduated from Eastern in 1974, and coupled with her time as a volleyball player for the school, the 2017-18 school year is her 40th on the campus in Cheney, Wash.

“With retirement looming, this has been a great going away present,” said Parks, who was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. “My time in volleyball and with Eastern has made for an amazing life.”

The last 19 years at Eastern she has served as an associate athletic director at EWU, serving as the school’s primary women’s administrator. He has also worked on the on the NCAA Division I volleyball committee and as chair of the Spokane Sports Commission.

She had a 291-256 record in 18 seasons as head coach of the Eagles from 1976-78 and 1985-99. In her final three seasons, her Eagle teams won 70 matches and lost just 20 for a winning rate of nearly 80 percent. Her final two seasons ended with NCAA Tournament appearances.

 

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