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Danielle Henderson
Memoir & Personal Growth
Former All‑American and Olympic gold‑medal softball pitcher who became UMass head coach and authored a memoir about growing up Black in a predominantly white town.
Biography
Danielle Henderson (born January 29, 1977) is an American former collegiate All‑American, Olympic gold‑medalist and retired professional All‑Star softball pitcher who is currently the head coach at UMass. She was a starting pitcher for the UMass Minutewomen from 1996 to 1999 and played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch from 2004 to 2007, where she ranks in the top ten in career strikeout ratio (6.8). Henderson holds numerous school records and is the Atlantic 10 Conference career leader in ERA, shutouts, perfect games (3) and WHIP. She represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal.
Henderson is also the author of the memoir The Ugly Cry (2021). The book recounts her childhood after being abandoned at ten, being raised by her grandparents, and growing up Black, "weird," and uncool in a predominantly white upstate New York town; it describes how her grandmother instilled a faith in her own capabilities that helped her save herself.
Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Excerpt, formatting adapted
Books by Danielle Henderson
The Ugly Cry
The Ugly Cry is a sharp, often hilarious memoir in which Henderson recounts being abandoned at ten, raised by her grandparents, and growing up Black in a predominantly white upstate New York town. She credits her grandmother with gifting her a faith in her own capabilities that helped her save herself.