JEFFERSON — It seems like an unlikely place, but life has come full circle for DeMaris Gurley several times over on the high school softball diamond.

As a child growing up in Jefferson, there weren’t many athletic options for girls at school — only basketball and cheerleading.

Though those options were great for the girls that chose them, Gurley said they weren’t the right fit for her. She longed to hit home runs and slide into home plate.

“Back then there wasn’t a recreational department, so everybody played on church leagues. I started playing church league softball when I was 13 or 14 years old. That’s when I really developed a love for the game,” said Gurley, principal of Jefferson Academy.

“One day during my sophomore year in high school, I was asked to play on a traveling softball team — the Colonial Tradewinds. We traveled all over the Southeast playing other teams.”

Even when her post-high school education carried her to Athens to attend the University of Georgia, Gurley’s passion for the sport drove her to still find time to continue playing softball with her church league and traveling teams. After graduation, she returned to Jefferson with the hopes of starting a teaching career.

Back home where she first developed her love of the game, fate would step in and allow her to fill a void for future generations of female athletes.

“I was in the park practicing with my husband and the then-superintendent of schools saw us playing. He came over, we started talking and he asked me to start up a slow-pitch softball team at the high school,” Gurley said.

Years after not being able to play on a school team, Gurley founded the girl’s softball team at Jefferson High School.

The inaugural season kicked off in 1980, and as the head coach for 23 years, Gurley established a very prestigious career. She has a career record of 321 wins with only 118 losses. Among those wins are two region championships, three area championships and a 2000 state title.

Though all of Gurley’s players were special to her, one girl was even more special — her daughter, Taryn Gurley.

“She was more than a coach to all her players. She was a mother figure and role model to everyone. She was always telling us how important it was to give back to the community,” the 23-year-old said of her mother.

As a testament to how much her players and the community thought of Gurley’s contributions, the high school softball field was named DeMaris Gurley Field on Oct. 18, 2003.

“I was riding around with my (family) and they were like, ‘Look, there’s someone on your (coaching) field.’ I tried telling them that it was fine and to ‘Let’s keep going,’ but my husband pulled over anyway,” said Gurley. “When we got to the field I realized that there was something going on because there were balloons and the scoreboard was covered up.”

Besides unveiling a scoreboard bearing the field’s new name, the dedication ceremony also included an alumni game between Gurley’s former players.

The 2003-2004 season marked end of an era at Jefferson High. Not only was it the last year of the slow-pitch softball program — the school transitioned to fast-pitch after that — and Gurley also hung up her cap as coach.

But the Gurley leadership tradition didn’t end there. Her daughter is now the assistant coach for the Jefferson High varsity softball team.

“Knowing the legacy that my mom built not only gives me a connection to the field, but also to the tradition of Jefferson High School softball,” Taryn Gurley said. “I’ve been on this field ever since I could walk — watching my mom’s team practice and later being a bat girl. I’ve always had a passion for softball and always wanted to come back home to coach. I just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, but the way everything has fallen into place, I know this is where I need to be.”