A native of the Pacific Northwest – Eugene, Oregon to be specific – Laina Holmgren began her college playing career at Boise State before transferring to Charleston Southern to exhaust her eligibility. She earned the Christenberry Award as a Buccaneers senior, the highest academic honor bestowed by the Big South Conference.
When her playing career ended, Holmgren entered the coaching ranks right away, joining the staff at George Washington. She spent three years as an assistant for the Colonials, where she helped shepherd two-time A10 Player of the Year Jenna Cone and was part of the coaching staff that led the Colonials to the NCAA tournament in 2021.
In July, Holmgren was officially announced as the newest assistant coach on staff at Louisiana-Monroe. After joining the Warhawks coaching staff, she talked with Extra Inning Softball about her coaching career; her family background in the game; and her philosophies and methodology between the white lines.
Extra Inning Softball: When did you know that you wanted to pursue coaching as your career path?
Laina Holmgren: I knew early on that coaching would be an option, as I was always helping out with lessons and youth teams, but it wasn’t until my senior year of college that I felt a really strong pull toward it. I knew I wasn’t done with softball, but I felt my heart shift toward giving back to the game and its players as opposed to participating in it.
EIS: Describe your coaching style. What do you feel are your biggest strengths as a coach?
Holmgren: My coaching style is very player-focused. I take a lot of pride in connecting with each individual player so that I can know how best to coach each player. This generation takes so much pride in individuality and they truly want to be seen and heard… the best way I can coach them is through building those relationships so that we can work really hard and have a ton of fun doing so.
EIS: Your family is woven throughout the softball world… is “talking shop” a popular happening at family gatherings, or do you all intentionally avoid the topic for the sake of family time?
Holmgren: Talking shop is definitely a regular occurrence in our family! In many ways, it’s what’s always bonded us together. Softball is such a common language for us that has kept us tied together no matter where in the country any of us are living – it’s a special bond that I love! Plus, even when we try to talk about other things, it usually ends right back at something softball related!
EIS: How valuable is the experience of coaching a championship & NCAA tournament team as a young, still-growing coach? What kind of benefits did you take from that run that will benefit you as a coach long-term?
Holmgren: Those experiences have been massively valuable to me. Any kind of championship experience at any point in your career is huge, but being able to experience that right out of the gate in my first couple of years as a collegiate coach has not only set the benchmark of expectations, but it has also shown me so many different lessons of how we got there and how to implement those things for years to come.
EIS: What drew you to the ULM position and made it attractive to you?
Holmgren: SO many things! The culture of the program, the community in Monroe, the staff, the potential of this team, the competition in the Sun Belt, the list goes on! Monroe is a special place with many special people – I’m beyond blessed to be in this position.
EIS: After experiencing two sides of the country as a player and now coaching in two very different regions, does your approach change when you’re recruiting and building relationships in the south and Texas vs. when you’re in DC, for instance?
Holmgren: My journey as a player and a coach has fortunately taken me all over the country and to regions that are always completely opposite than the last. My approach generally always stays the same, because treating people the right way is always of upmost importance to me, but it is really fun to see where the “yes sirs” and “yes ma’ams” are appreciated and where they’ll get you funny looks!
EIS: The last year and a half have not been easy for anyone in the coaching world… even as an assistant, how have the challenges of the last 18-20 months affected and influenced you and how you do what you do?
Holmgren: It’s been a whirlwind for everyone, that’s for sure. I think one of the most challenging aspects has been being the strong leader that your team needs you to be. The coach is the one who is supposed to have all the answers, but in a time with so many questions with no answers, that was a big challenge. It’s really just encouraged me to have more open dialogue with my athletes and to ensure there’s always a line of communication for them. You don’t always have to have the answers as long as they know that you’re there for them and will listen to them in uncertain times.
EIS: Let’s say we’re having this conversation one year from now, once you have a full season under at ULM under your belt. What needs to have happened during that season for you to be able to say ‘this was a successful year’?
Holmgren: As a staff, we’re so committed to building a long-lasting culture within this program that there will be hundreds of ways to measure whether we’ve had a successful year. Obviously more wins is a successful year in our program and in any program, but as a lifelong John Wooden fan, I’ll say that if we compete to our best capability this year, I’ll come back to you to say we had a great year.
