Breaking News: Central Florida Gets Its Head Coach… Cindy Ball from Boise State

The University of Central Florida has followed the example of the University of Texas and snagged its new head softball coach with proven experience and success from the West Coast.

Cindy Ball will now don the Knights’ black and gold after wearing the blue and orange of Boise State for the four previous years.

Ball is credited with a complete program turnaround for the Broncos’ program, which won the Mountain West Division last year for the first time in school history. The win also earned its first berth into the NCAA championship, where Boise State was eliminated after losses to Washington and Minnesota.

The 2018 season was a record-setting one as the Idaho school set program records for most wins in a season (40) and most conference wins in a season (18) in addition to their first conference title and the first-ever appearance at the NCAA Tournament.

Ball was previously an assistant at Pacific, Cal State Northridge, and Washington under Coach Heather Tarr during their 2011 and 2012 campaigns when the Huskies made NCAA Super Regional appearances.

A 2009 graduate from University of the Pacific, she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2014 with the induction biography reading:

“Cindy Ball is considered the greatest-two way player in the history of Pacific Softball, earning All-American honors as well as Big West Pitcher of the Year designation in 2001 and 2002. Ball is the program’s career leader in innings pitched, wins, saves, strikeouts and shutouts. Following her playing career, Ball was part of the Pacific coaching staff from 2002-2006, while also spending time playing professionally in Italy and in the United States.”

The new Knights’ head coach brings eight years of head coaching experience as well as eight more years as a Division I assistant coach. Many of her assistant coaching years were spent handling pitching staff development and recruiting.

As a player, Ball was named an NFCA All-American and Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2001-02 as the Tigers went 162-77 and made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2001-02).

She went on to play in Italy in 2002 and for the Stockton-Sacramento Sunbirds of the National Pro Fastpitch League in 2004.

Ball holds a bachelor’s in Sports Sciences and a Masters in Education from Pacific.