ASHLAND – When Ashland University softball coach Sheilah Gulas came to Ashland University more than two decades ago, she thought she might finish her coaching career in Ashland, but she never thought it would be 2017 when she finally hung up her cleats.
Now, more than 700 wins and 21 seasons at AU later, Gulas will be coaching her final game for the Eagles before retiring. Overall, in 31 seasons of coaching, Gulas has won more than 900 games and had 29 winning seasons, numbers that have earned her a spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She will be inducted in December.
Gulas, a 1983 graduate of Clarion, said that a lot of circumstances came together to convince her that now was the time to retire.
“There’s never going to be a good time to go. There’s always going to be players that you’re leaving. There’s always going to be recruits that you just signed that you’re excited about that you might never coach. So that was the thing that was tough,” Gulas said. “But personally and professionally for me, I started thinking about it last summer and thinking really hard about it. A lot of things have happened since then. But it wasn’t getting in the Hall of Fame. It wasn’t the 900th win. It wasn’t anything that has anything to do with the team. It just is more personal for me right now.”
On the personal side, Gulas has been dealing with some family health issues, and her husband preceded her in retirement seven years ago.
“I guess the magic thing is I turned 55, and my financial person told me last year if I could stay to 55 things look good. Well I turned 55 in November. Things started going fast,” Gulas said. “When you looked at it, it just seemed like the time was right.”
No announcement has been made on a replacement for Gulas, but Director of Athletics Al King said she has left some big shoes for someone to fill.
“As a staff, we’re going to miss Sheilah in a myriad of ways. We’re in the process of filling her position and I told the search committee, ‘You don’t get a Sheilah Gulas walking through the door every day.’ We were fortunate she came here all those years ago and even more fortunate that she stayed. She’s been an unselfish and dedicated employee, a role model, a mentor and a trusted friend,” King said.
Coach Gulas started her time on the bench at Alleghany College in 1987. After averaging more than 30 wins in her four seasons there, she spent six seasons at Wittenberg.
In 1996, she had started dating her future husband, George, and was looking for a job closer to Cleveland where he lived. Coaching jobs at Akron and Kent State opened up and Gulas applied for both.
“But it was too big of a move for them, going from a Division III to a Division I,” Gulas said.
She considered getting out of coaching all together and just moving to the Cleveland area and finding something else to do as a career.
“Little did I know that Karen (Linder) from Ashland got the job at Kent, which then opened up Ashland, which then opened up me to get closer to Cleveland which was a big part of me wanting to apply for this position,” Gulas said. “It was kind of a wild ride, but personally it was a great opportunity and my life took a huge turn at that point. Not only professionally but personally.”
The Eagles finished the regular season 28-21 and 13-9 in the GLIAC. They will start their run in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament at 10 a.m. Friday in Findlay against No. 4 seed Ohio Dominican, so Gulas doesn’t know which game will be her last.
“There’s really no one that’s been dominant in this conference. It’s going to come down to a couple more weekends and who gets it done on the field,” Gulas said. “I know these players are playing hard and they’re definitely on a mission. So we’ll just keep riding it out and keep challenging and find a way to pull out those wins.”
However, as she thinks about how she’ll feel when she coaches her last game, she knows it will be emotional.
“Right now I’m just living in the moment. Living in the season. But that (thinking about the last game) is something I’ve done for 30 years. Because every year, as a season is progressing, you’re going to lose that group of seniors. That’s just a really emotional time for me, because you start building that bond with them when you’re recruiting them, so it’s more than four years that you built that bond with that player and you built that bond with that family,” Gulas said.
“And you look at their faces in that last game, and your heart just bleeds for them. The only difference is that this year, that’s going to be me, too. So almost more than me looking at the seniors, because I’m with them, I’m going to be looking at the returners. Where as in the past, I was looking at those seniors and been like, wow. Now I’m going to look at those returners and I’m going to be like wow. It’s going to be a different perspective. But it’s going to be emotional and it’s going to hurt and it’s just that feeling right then and there of having the season end and also, it will never be the same.”
Gulas announced her retirement in February before the season, a decision she weighed carefully, but one she is happy with.
“It’s been unbelievable. I’m so happy I announced it before the season. Because there have been so many players that have come back,” Gulas said.
Knowing this season would be her final one has changed the way she has approached the game and changed her appreciation for the game.
“For me coaching, there’s always been pressure in games. You’re just always trying to get that win and you’re always trying to find a way to do it. But this year’s just a little bit different because you’re kind of appreciating the moment more than I ever have,” Gulas said. “You’re not always trying to think of the next thing or the next opportunity. You can really get in that player’s head and you can kind of feel where they are right now. Where as in the past I’d be thinking about next weekend’s game. You always have to plan so much ahead as a coach. This year I found myself being more in the moment. Which has been a really good feeling. I’m noticing things I probably haven’t noticed in the past.”
When asked to name a highlight of her 21 years at AU, Gulas grabs a photo off her shelf that shows one of the first teams she coached in Ashland. The 1998 team went 53-6, including 24 wins in a row, and finished the season as the No. 3 team in Division II. Four players from that team – Sunny Litteral, Natalie Pry , Tara Ringler, and Julie Weir – are in the Ashland University Hall of Fame.
“We just had an incredible team that year. That was like a dream season,” Gulas said. “As a coach, every move I made worked. The players, no matter who I put in, they got it done. It was just a dream season that I don’t know how you match that.”
In her 21 seasons at AU, Gulas has never had a losing season. Her teams made the postseason 12 times and won five GLIAC titles and she was named GLIAC Coach of the Year three times. Six of her players are in the AU Hall of Fame.
King said Gulas has made her mark at the university by doing things the right way and helping her players succeed, both on and off the field.
“We have been blessed to have a softball program that can annually compete for conference, regional and national honors. Sheilah has ties that extend throughout Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania. As one of her players told me a day ago, ‘Everyone knows Coach.’ Everyone also knows that if you play for Coach you have the opportunity to experience success on the field and in the classroom,” King said. “Sheilah’s been exceptional in identifying talent and building championship teams. She gives her teams and players a sense of quiet confidence that they can succeed. That attitude permeates every part of their lives and it’s a big reason so many of her players go on to live happy and productive lives.”
“Sheilah has directed a first class softball program for over 20 years. When you talk about AU’s Accent on the Individual philosophy one of the first people you think of is Sheilah. She’s been relentless in promoting softball and Ashland University. Sheilah’s former players will speak at length about the life lessons they learned from her. Every year when we have alumni events softball is as well represented as any sport we have. Those former players know and understand that the focus of her program is the student-athletes and their well being.”
Gulas said she has worked hard to build a family atmosphere around the softball program, something she has seen other schools struggle to do.
“The biggest thing for me is I just try to be myself. Yeah I’m not perfect and yeah I make mistakes. But I care a lot about the people I’m involved with. Whether they’re our current players, whether it’s our sports information director, whether it’s our trainer, whether it’s the athletic director or the people who work in the athletic department. I think you just have to give yourself and give time and give appreciation to everyone that is a part of what you’re trying to do,” Gulas said. “I think there’s a lot of people that are coaching that try to keep family separate from the program and I’ve been blessed that we’ve been able to keep families a part of the program.”
Gulas has surrounded herself with some talented assistant coaches, who have helped her build a program that recruits want to be part of, including Bill Graham, Julie Weir, Blake Bach and Shonda Stanton.
“You look at each of those coaches and what they helped bring the program because you can learn so much from them, too, and now they’re out there being head coaches and having a lot of success,” Gulas said.
Her current assistant coach, Shannon Schaub, has been an assistant coach for seven seasons but her ties to the program go back even further. Schaub played softball for Gulas at AU, earning first-team All-GLIAC and first-team all-region honors her senior year. Gulas credits her with helping keep things fresh.
”She’s definitely taken this year’s team to a different level. Just with some of the enthusiasm and the things we’ve incorporated this year, it’s been a big part of her,” Gulas said.
With a background in elementary education, Gulas said that has helped her succeed as a coach.
“My degree is in elementary education so I feel like I teach the game and I teach the players how to play the game. I’m not the kind of controlling coach that has to control every aspect of the game but I lik to teach them so they can make decisions. Hopefully they’re good decisions,” Gulas said. “All of the programs that I’ve been at are small schools with players that are overachievers and are too hard on themselves. So sometimes an elementary education major is good because you’re trying to get them to get beyond that and shake it off and move forward. And that’s something I think I’m good at, finding a way to motivate, finding a way to turn the thinking about something else.”
Gulas is looking forward to spending some quality time with her husband and her extended family this summer, including some travel on her own time, not just in between summer travel ball games.
But it should come as no surprise to anyone that knows her that Gulas still plans on keeping her fingers in the game she loves. She is planning on doing some camps and special events with her predecessor Karen Linder and also is going to work with Leffew Fastpitch in North Ridgeville.
“I’m going to keep giving to the game. I’m not going to walk away from softball,” Gulas said. “I will continue to support this program and continue to give to this sport. It’s a love that I have and I’m not going to walk away from it.”
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