Sam Silver

Sam Silver is an assistant softball coach at Bushnell University and serves as a lead coach for Nike Softball Camps and Next Athletes.

Sam Silver joins the Bushnell softball coaching staff for the 2025 season. Silver had a spectacular career as a player for the Beacons on and off the field. As a pitcher, she finished her career ranked in the top-ten all-time in nine different categories and ranks fifth all-time for wins in program history. In 2023, Silver was named the winner of the NAIA's Dr. Leroy Walker Champion of Character Award, one of the organization's highest annual honors. She was Bushnell's first recipient of any NAIA major award.

Silver has been coaching and giving private lessons for many years and most recently served as an assistant coach at Springfield High School. She has also been a head coach for the Diamonds Fastpitch 16u and 14u teams.

Much of Coach Silver's legacy lies in the impact she has had in the development of student-athlete mental health initiatives. This included the creation of Bushnell's student-athlete wellness program, providing a designated counselor to each athletic team, removing barriers to care and acting as a liaison between athletics and the counseling department.

During her collegiate career, she was also named the winner of the Gardepiey-Peloquin Outstanding Speaker Award and graduated with a 3.94 GPA in Communication. She went on to earn her Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is pursuing her Associate License for counseling. She continues to serve as the Student-Athlete Mental Health Coordinator for Beacon Athletics.