Steve “Pup” Shortland began playing softball in 1977 but his true passion for the sport began once he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1983. After many years of playing military and civilian softball, he began coaching in 1999. After taking over as the full-time All Air Force head coach in 2002, he subsequently won the Armed Forces Softball Championship in his first year. Until his retirement from military softball coaching in 2015, he amassed eight gold medals, five silver medals, and was selected to coach the Men’s Armed Forces team 11 times. In 2009, he was selected to be the first ever head coach of Team USA (the US Men’s National Slow Pitch team) and went on to win seven Border Battle titles. He served as the head coach for Team USA for nine years until his full retirement from coaching in 2017. Steve was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in November 2022.
