The “Littles.”
That’s how legendary softball great Lauren Haeger refers to the young and upcoming players she works with today as a coach and trainer in the Team NC organization.
“It’s crazy to think that it’s been eight years since my final game for the Gators,” the 2015 National Player of the Year and two-time national champion at the University of Florida begins.
“Since then, my professional career has come to a close and I’ve really leaned into the coaching aspect of the game. For the last five years I’ve been coaching and giving private lessons in Charlotte, North Carolina, seeing on average 60 girls per week as well as coaching travel ball in the Team NC organization for the last four.
Kevin Hinde, Co-Director of the Team NC travel ball organization, says he loves having Haeger on board to work with “the littles” and the feeling is reciprocated.
Lauren is such a positive influence with her younger softball students that she affectionately calls her “Littles,” Hinde laughs.
“She loves to share her knowledge and experiences with them knowing that they may one day have opportunities to play in college, play for a national championship, and play professionally among many other things.”
“Lauren will come to our 18U practices excited to tell me stories about something funny one of her “Littles” did in their lesson or how one of them just figured out something new with one of their pitches. There have been many times where her “Littles” come to our practices and games to catch a glimpse of Lauren coaching the older players.”
“he continues to give back to the game that gave her so much.”
After such an accomplished softball career, Lauren feels like she’ll be staying in the sport for a long time to give back to the upcoming generations of players.
“Coaching has been an absolute joy in my life,” Lauren continues. “Teaching and seeing some of my kids grow into young women over the last five years has been the absolute best part of my job. Seeing their hard work pay off is every coach’s dream and my 11 and 12-year-olds from when I started are committing to colleges and I couldn’t be happier proud of them.”
“I’m so thankful for the families and kids that stick by me and buy into the marathon of what a pitching career is. Their development will always be my top priority as well as doing things the right way! The game recognizes that and it’s a big part of my lessons every week.”
Hinde, whose daughter Anna was announced last week as being ranked No. 2 in the 2025 Extra Elite 100 and has committed to Florida State, has been a big influence in Lauren’s life, she says.
“Coaching with Kevin has been such a highlight in my coaching career,” she explains.
“We are such opposites but work so well together. I’ve learned so much from him as a travel ball coach and he is a huge mentor of mine. Taking on the travel ball world is definitely not easy–it’s turned into complete chaos at times–but we try to continue to remind each other that development is our main priority.”
And the former All-American believes there is growth that comes through adversity.
“We let them fail and try to recover,” Lauren continues. “We use our words and try to coach them through mistakes because teenagers don’t know everything and they aren’t supposed to know how to do everything already.”
“I wouldn’t coach travel ball for any other organization or head coach and I absolutely love getting to be on the field with them!”
Below is the article we published over two and a half years ago that give more background on Haeger earlier in her development with Team NC…
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Former Florida Gators 2015 National Player of the Year Lauren Haeger… Loving Being a Club Coach!
Originally published Jan. 25, 2021
Lauren Haeger and Babe Ruth… talk about an exclusive club!
Haeger, the two-time NCAA National Champion with the Florida Gators (2014 & ’15), and the Yankee slugging legend (and sometimes forgotten outstanding pitcher) are the only two players in softball or baseball history to hit 70 home runs and win 70 games in the circle at either the college or pro level.
If you’re too young or too new to softball to have witnessed first-hand Lauren’s amazing career in Gainesville, this two-minute YouTube clip will give you a nice recap of her 2016 National Championship!
Eight years ago this summer, Lauren completed one of the greatest seasons in college softball history as she led the Gators to a second consecutive Women’s College World Series titles and took home most every award possible including the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year, the WCWS Most Outstanding Player and the Honda Award.
The pitching legend from Peoria, Arizona, would go to have a four-year pro career with the Texas Charge and Scrap Yard Fastpitch and would be named All-NPF three times before she hung up her cleats for the final time in 2019.
Here’s a video from May 2018 when Lauren’s Deer Valley (Arizona) High School jersey was retired:
Today, she’s a full-time pitching and hitting instructor in North Carolina and works as the pitching coach for Kevin Hinde’s Team NC travel ball program.
“Lauren pours into each player and she is always willing to share her softball experiences, knowledge and time to help make them not just better athletes, but better people,” explains Coach Hinde: “She genuinely cares about the future of this team and when a coach of her caliber is fully vested, special things happen.”
“Anyone who has followed our team can clearly see the growth experienced, in part, due to her leadership,” Hinde continues. “I am grateful to have someone by my side who has played at every level and who is willing to share her experiences to help develop the next generation of strong female athletes, dedicated leaders and overall exceptional young women.”
If you check out her Twitter page, one thing you’ll quickly notice is you have to search deeply to find any of Lauren’s softball great’s accomplishments as the successes of her students are what she is actively retweeting most these days!
“Coach Lauren brings a special energy that’s hard to put into words!” says third baseman/catcher Anna Hinde, a Top 10 player in the 2025 Extra Elite 100.
“Aside from her obvious experience of playing at the highest level, winning two National Championships, playing professionally and being compared to Babe Ruth, she has a realistic ‘no excuses’ philosophy: she believes in dedication, sacrifice, grit and mental toughness as some of the top ingredients for success. She reminds us that we have to own ‘it’ and we are only as good as the energy we bring. Her value to this team goes way beyond the dugout and I soak up every minute I get to train with her!”
Lauren is also one of my favorite people in softball because of her energy, sense of humor, relatability, intelligence and what Coach Hinde calls her “genuine nature.”
She was kind enough to grant a few minutes this week to reflect on the past and what she’s doing today… here’s what she had to say!
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
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Let’s start with where you are today: how does a girl from Arizona. who played in Florida in college and then in Texas professionally, end up in North Carolina?
Kelsey Bruder, who owns The Softball Project (in Stallings, North Carolina) and played at Florida also, opened a facility over three years ago and reached out to me to see if I would be interested in giving lesson. I was already committed to my pro team in Houston and she asked if I’d be interested in giving lessons in Charlotte.
I said no originally, but Kelsey did an event with The Packaged Deal and I came to facility and asked if she was looking for a full-time position, catching her off guard I think. She asked if I was serious and I said, “Yes” and we moved forward. I moved to Charlotte and started working full time. It’s been two years now and I love it! I work five days a week at The Softball Project and do hitting and pitching classes, mostly pitching, and individual lessons from 4-9 pm.
You’re also the pitching coach for Team NC… how did you get associated with Kevin Hinde?
Kevin and Kelsey had known each other while getting the facility up and running and Kevin had brought his team in for practice. He came up to me one day, “Do you think you’d ever want to do something with travel ball?” I said, “Absolutely, I’d love to!” I think he was shocked and later learned it took him a couple weeks to work up the courage to ask!
He followed up and I told him that The Softball Project is my priority, but it’s worked out and, to be honest, he’s the only one who asked me to work with a travel ball team! It had to be a good fit and it has been—I’ve felt it was so nice to meet Kevin and see how he coaches. I couldn’t have a better situation and am so thankful he asked me to coach.
Going back to your younger days, you had an outstanding high school career at Deer Valley High (Glendale, AZ) including winning a state championship. What do you remember most about that time in your life?
How much fun it was! I loved high school, it was really fun for me and I played three sports— softball, volleyball and basketball—which were competitive. Our softball team was one of the most fun to play on because the chemistry was so good. The softball coach, Carl Bakemeier, who also coached for the AZ Hotshots, had been there almost my entire life and playing on varsity there was a dream for all of my life growing up because my dad (Fred Haeger) was the football coach at Deer Valley. Two days after I was born, I was taken to the school’s high school football game! My Dad was also a teacher at the school, in Biology and Science, and I had been there so many times before and after school my whole life.
In 2018, you had your jersey retired at Deer Valley… that had to be one of the highlights of your career, yes?
Absolutely. After college, the Athletic Director reached out to me and wanted to honor alumni who played at Deer Valley. It meant a lot to me that he was taking our athletic programs seriously and, me having grown up there and having a lot of people including my former coaches, teachers and friends, come out and be part of it was a really cool experience. It was really fun to see everyone.
*** Scroll down to see more about Lauren including how her recruiting process went (and why she didn’t stay in the West), what her favorite individual accomplishment is and why and why she likes coaching middle school-aged softball players!
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