Cobras to Honor Coach Clutts May 4
Award-winning coach wraps up his 19-year career with Parkland Softball
Parkland Cobras Softball will honor Head Coach Chuck Clutts Saturday, May 4, at the Parkland Softball Field following the Cobras' 1 p.m. doubleheader against Danville Area CC.
Clutts is concluding his 19-year career at the helm of the Parkland softball program, compiling a .700 (762-325-2) winning percentage, highlighted by three appearances in the NJCAA National Championship game. Following the doubleheader against Danville Area, the Cobras will honor Clutts with a brief recognition ceremony followed by a cookout open to current and former players along with family, friends and fans.
Over his 19 seasons, Coach Clutts molded Parkland into a national softball powerhouse at the conference, regional and national levels. Since taking over in 2001, Clutts has guided the Cobras to eight NJCAA Nationals appearances, reaching the title game three times (2002, 2005 and 2006) in five years. From 2002 through 2009, Parkland placed in the top-10 seven times, including five top-five finishes. In 2012, Clutts and the Cobras returned to Nationals to take third place. Overall, Clutts owns a 30-16 record at Nationals.
On the way to routine Nationals appearances last decade, Clutts made Parkland a constant presence atop the Mid-West Athletic Conference (M-WAC) and Region 24 with eight conference and regional titles. Maintaining a .798 winning percentage (414-105) in conference, Parkland is the only school to post undefeated conference records, doing so in 2003 (32-0) and 2005 (24-0). Regionally, Clutts has led the Cobras to 11 Region 24 championship games in 18 seasons with a 43-22 overall record at the regional tournament.
Among the 18 teams and countless players Clutts has mentored, three of his teams have been inducted into the Parkland Athletics Hall of Fame and 73 athletes have gone on to compete at four-year colleges. Eighteen times Clutts has had a player honored as an NFCA All-American and 20 times as an NJCAA All-American. The success of Clutts' teams also extends into the classroom with16 teams achieving NJCAA All-Academic team status.
In honor of the individual and team success, Coach Clutts has been named Region 24 Coach of the Year and District Coach of the Year eight times, while also being named the M-WAC Coach of the Year three times. In 2007, Clutts and his coaching staff were named the NFCA Region Coaching Staff of the Year.