The UCLA Bruins Softball team may not have gotten to the championship game as the team had hoped, but the program earned an award this week. Head softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and her staff were named the 2024 NFCA Division I West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
This is the 7th time the UCLA Softball staff has earned this award under Inouye-Perez. The last time they won it was in 2021. When she was an assistant back in 2000, she helped win the award.
The Bruins finished the season with a 43-12 record. UCLA won the Pac-12 regular season and tournament title. It was their 10th trip to the Women’s College World Series in her time as head coach.
Presenting the NFCA West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year! đź‘Ź
"When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I've experienced. Building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight." – @coach_inouye
ℹ️: https://t.co/c9GdtU3moz #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/ucYkDYC0QM
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) June 10, 2024
When she found out about the award, Inouye-Perez had this to say about the 2024 Bruins:
“I’ve never been so proud of a team, I’ve coached a long time. It was hard. This season was hard. Nobody expected us, I was telling the team, not even us, that we were going to get here. Our coaches, our players, our staff, the support, the belief, the trust, the work to get us back here is something that I am proud of. I am proud. … When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I’ve experienced. Man, building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight.”
A total of 10 programs won their region, and those will be eligible to win the National Coaching Staff of the Year award. That will be announced later this month.