BOCA RATON, Fla. — Chan Walker will serve as interim head coach of the Florida Atlantic softball team, athletic director Brian White announced Wednesday.
Walker will take over for the remainder of the 2022 season after the death of longtime head coach Joan Joyce.
A 1997 FAU graduate, Walker has served as associate head coach since the 2019 season and has been an assistant under Joyce since 1998.
Joyce, who recently reached the 1,000-win plateau, was the only head softball coach in school history. She died Saturday at the age of 81.
"While I'm extremely honored to lead this team as the interim coach, I look at this entire season as coach Joyce's 28th season," Walker said in a statement. "This team will take the field, compete and play hard for the rest of the season the way she would have expected, in honor of coach Joyce."
Walker played for Joyce's inaugural team in 1995. She is tied as the school's all-time leader for career stolen base percentage (.955).
White said a national search for a full-time coach will commence at the end of the season.
