Softball

1996 OLYMPIAN JULIE SMITH HIRED
AS HEAD LEOPARD SOFTBALL COACH

Courtsey ULV Sports Information

University of La Verne director of athletics Chris Ragsdale has announced the hiring of former U.S. Olympian Julie Smith as head coach of the Leopard softball program.

Smith, a decorated softball player at the collegiate, national and international level, was the starting second baseman on the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team that captured the gold medal in Atlanta. She also was a member of two World Championship teams and three Pan American squads that earned gold medals.

Though ULV will be her first collegiate coaching job, Smith has amassed seven years of coaching experience from the club level to the professional ranks. She currently serves as president of Teamsmith, Inc., coaching three of its Amateur Softball Association (ASA) travel teams. She also spent the 2005 season as general manager and head coach of the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut franchise of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF).

"I'm extremely pleased to announce Julie Smith as our new softball coach," Ragsdale said. "Julie's credentials both as a player and a coach are impeccable, and I believe she is the person who will take our softball program to new levels."

A native of Glendora, Smith graduated from Charter Oak High School and was a member of Texas A&M's 1987 NCAA national championship squad as a freshman. She also earned All-America honors that season before transferring to Fresno State. At FSU she would go on to earn All-America honors in 1990 and 1991 while helping the Bulldogs to an NCAA second-place finish in '90. Smith was named Fresno State's Female Athlete of the Year in 1991 and earned a spot on the NCAA 25th Anniversary Team in 2006.

"The opportunity to work in a collegiate environment is very exciting to me," said Smith. "My expectations are to maintain a winning program here at La Verne while developing the necessary skills for the players to reach their full potential and make an imprint on this program."

Over the past eight seasons, La Verne has captured four SCIAC softball titles (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004) along with four second-place finishes (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007).