For the relatively young program (first fielding a team in 1995), the Florida Atlantic University softball team has been overwhelmingly successful under the leadership of former head coach, Joan Joyce. In twelve seasons of competition in the Atlantic Sun Conference (from 1995 to 2006), the Lady Owls won the conference championship nine times, including eight consecutive championships from 1997 through 2004. The Owls added their tenth conference championship in their first season in the Sun Belt Conference in 2007. The team currently participates in the American Athletic Conference and is led by head coach Jordan Clark.
On March 18, 2022, Joyce earned her 1,000th career win as a head coach, becoming the 27th NCAA Division I softball coach to reach the milestone.[2][3] She died on March 26, 2022.[4] The field was renamed in her honor on April 26, 2023.[5]
