WARREN, Mich.  – Diane Laffey has been the head coach of girls’ basketball and softball of Regina High School since 1970. In 1993, Diane was selected as the state softball coach of the year. Diane is also a member of the following hall of fames: Michigan Softball Coaches Association, Michigan Basketball Coaches Association, Catholic Leagues and Metro Detroit ASA.

Diane Laffey was born on Aug. 16, 1939, in Detroit. She was a fan of all her father’s teams that’s why she wanted to follow his steps in coaching.

In 1999, Diane already had one of the most impressive coaching careers in both softball and basketball.

In basketball, Laffey was the Michigan all-time winningest coach with an impressive 468-241 record and had four of her squads play in the Michigan High School Athletics Association title game.

In softball, Laffey was Michigan’s and the nation’s winningest coach with also an impressive 701-236-2 mark. Her 1989 team won the MHSAA Class A title with a great performance.

Diane Laffey’s 50-year career at Regina High School featured 1,212 wins (state best), seven softball state titles and 6th-best 659 girls basketball wins.

When Laffey was asked about the best time she had with the team, “I would probably say, it would either be the 2006 team because they were going for their third straight and we had a lot of talent that year,” Laffey said. “Or the 2007 team because they were so determined to win. It would have to be one of those two.”

Diane saw a lot of crazy comebacks made by her impressive team all over her coaching career as in 2015 when her basketball team started with an 1-11 record and then they went on a run of 26-5 to win the state title. Another one of her craziest comebacks happened in 2019, as her softball team was down 5-0 in the quarterfinals in Division I then the Saddlelites turned that deficit into an 11-5 win and proceeded to capture the state title after that.

When Diane got asked about what helped making 2006 team as great as it was, she quickly chose a player named Nikki Nemitz

“She’s probably the best pitcher we had at Regina, honestly,” Coach Laffey said. “We’ve had some good pitchers. We’ve had some that probably benefited from a lot of good defenses behind them, Nikki benefited from some good defensive players, but Nikki was really one of a kind. She really was.”

Diane is 82-years-old and still doing her job as if it was 50 years ago at Regina High School and that’s why Diane Laffey is a one-of-a-kind coach.

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