Fred Dohrmann is in his 30th season on Widener’s staff and 29th as head coach of the softball program. He came to Widener in 1980 as head coach of the program and the assistant coach of the men’s soccer and wrestling teams. He took over as head coach of the men’s soccer program in 1981 and filled the position through the 2003 season.
Dohrmann has guided the Pride to eight 20-win seasons (1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009). One of his signature milestones occurred April 8, 2008, when Widener rallied for a 4-3 victory over Lebanon Valley to give Dohrmann his 400th career win.
Dohrmann has 436 career victories to make him the winningest active coach in any sport at Widener. That included a school-record 30 victories in 2008, when the team advanced to the Commonwealth Conference Tournament. The 1998 squad won 23 games and shared the Eastern College Athletic Conference title. They also won the PAIAW championship in 1990 and 1991 and were co-champions of the Middle Atlantic Conference Southeast Division in 1992.
He has produced numerous all-conference athletes, including the conference Player of the Year in 1992, 1998, 2000 and 2008. Mallory Meyer, his most recent honoree, also was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Softball Student-Athlete of the Year. Dohrmann also produced a second team All-American in 2000 and 2001, and another won the NCAA Division III slugging-percentage title in 1992.
Dohrmann has notched 94 percent of the program’s victories and coached 91 percent of the team’s games.
Success with the squad goes beyond the playing field. Dohrmann assembled a team which in 2006 notched a 3.248 GPA. This was the 37th-best GPA in the country out of 81 reporting NCAA Division III schools according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Academic Team.
The 2007 squad ended with the 49th best GPA in the nation and had seven of its players named NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. The 2008 squad also saw seven of its athletes tabbed All-America Scholar-Athletes.
A native of Philadelphia, Dohrmann holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Pittsburgh in 1978 and attained a Master’s in Physical Education from West Chester in 1986.
At Pittsburgh, Dohrmann was involved in numerous instructional youth programs in swimming and soccer in addition to playing three seasons for the Panthers’ soccer squad.
Dohrmann is professionally affiliated with the National Softball Coaches Association and American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.