Upon graduating from the University of Alabama in 1977, Marcie Stokes was looking for a physical education teaching job.

She ended up getting that plus a coaching job for cheerleading and track and field at G.W. Long High School in Skipperville. A few years later, she began coaching volleyball and basketball before eventually coaching the Rebels’ slow-pitch softball team to a state championship and a state runner-up finish.

She did all of those despite limited or no background in those areas from an era when girls sports were not even offered at her high school, Carroll in Ozark, in the early 1970s.

Stokes, though, learned enough to be highly successful in all the roles, including a 26-year career in cheerleading and a 12-year career in softball that produced a 434-154 record.

“I just

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