Liberty High School Principal and Head Softball Coach Karen Slack has joined an elite group of coaches with more than 300 career wins under her belt. As of Friday, March 25, Slack now has 329 wins, including two state championships for the Lady Panthers Softball Team.
After the game on Friday, Slack was surprised with a special ceremony on the softball field that featured presentations from Liberty County Judge Jay Knight, her coaching peers and the Liberty ISD Athletics Booster Club.
“We are here to celebrate Karen. We are here to celebrate over 300 wins for you, babe,” said her husband of 24 years, Coach Joe Slack. “We have some special people in the house – some alumni, school board members, people who played with you and a ton of people you coached.”
Knight presented a resolution proclaiming March 25, 2022 as “Coach Karen Slack Day” in Liberty County and shared the history of her life that led to her being one of the winningest coaches in LHS history.
Slack is a 1996 graduate of Liberty High School. While in high school, she played softball under then-Coach Jerry Cox. After high school graduation, she earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Houston in 2000, and then entered the field of education at Liberty High School. Throughout her time with Liberty ISD, she has coached girls athletics. Last year, she was promoted to high school principal.
“She has 21-plus years in education, all within Liberty ISD,” Knight said.
Slack is a lifetime member of the Texas Girls Coaches Association and Texas High School Coaches Association, and has been named Southeast Texas Coach of the Year twice in her 21-year coaching career.
Coach Cox lauded Slack for being “the best coach I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“She has more of an ability to get everything out of her players than I will ever have. I have seen her coach great teams, but I have also seen her use every player on the bench, and in every situation, she makes changes and adjustments,” Cox said. “I think her ability shows up in 300 wins.”
Liberty ISD Athletic Director Chad Taylor said during the presentations that he was unaware that Slack had achieved the 300 career wins milestone.
“She never talks about how many wins she has. I guess when you win a lot, you don’t talk about it a lot. I talk about all 10 of mine,” he said, garnering some laughter from those gathered.
“I’ve had the privilege to sit here and watch Coach Slack for the last 10 years. It’s been part of the exciting times I’ve been here in Liberty. Winning state championships are great but one of the things I love about Coach Slack is she is the epitome of tough love. She is going to ask the very most out of her players, expect the very most out of her players and get the very most out of her players. In the end, she will love you just as much,” Taylor said.
Taylor credited Slack for adding to the reputation of the community.
“As an alumni of Liberty High School, from one Panther to another, I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for our community, for our school. Two state championships are unbelievable. She brought a spotlight to this little town we all live in,” Taylor said.
