Margaret Olawoye’s journey from a rookie 16″ inch softball player to one of the greatest pitchers in women’s softball history began when she signed up to play with the Family Co-ed team in 1979 at Washington Park. That experience launched her career with a series of championship teams. She joined the Rookies in the early 1980s and promptly helped them to the Washington Park title. Her pitching skills were in such demand that she played with four teams at one time from the mid-’80s to the early ’90s, including Mixed Company at Dunbar Park, the Spoilers at Lansing, the Shenanigans at Lake Shore Drive Park, and the Force at Forest Park and Country Club Hills. Olawoye helped all these teams win championships at their respective parks. Her three hundred-plus victories against only twenty-five losses, earned her MVP honors in the Dunbar League with Mixed Company and at Washington Park. As longtime coach Mike Burns said “She was the most coachable player, male or female, that I have coached in over twenty-plus years of coaching.” Besides playing at the top levels of softball, Margaret also served as league commissioner in the Budweiser-Washington Park League, where she helped to rewrite the league standards, rules, and regulations. She is a teacher and administrator at Paderedskil Elementary School in Chicago. She holds a degree in chemistry from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina and a Supervision and Administrative degree from Roosevelt University. She and her son, Gabriel, live in Chicago.
