The British Softball Federation and Great Britain Women’s Fastpitch Olympic Head Coach Tara Henry today announced that Pattie Ruth Taylor has joined the Great Britain Women’s Softball coaching staff. Taylor will work with pitchers across the Great Britain Women’s Fastpitch programme.
“Great Britain is one of the most exciting young national teams today, and I’m really excited for the chance to work with the pitching staff, especially as the journey to the LA 2028 games gets started,” said Taylor. “Thank you to Coach Henry and [Head of Performance] Gary Anderson for the opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started!”
Taylor joins the Great Britain coaching staff in addition to her role at the University of Texas, where she is in her first season as an assistant coach. Prior to joining Texas’ staff this year, Taylor spent two seasons with Lehigh University from 2022-23. In 2022, Lehigh’s pitching staff helped the team secure their 15th Patriot League tournament championship, and first since 2017, with Lehigh pitcher Gabriella Nori named as tournament MVP.
Before joining Lehigh, Taylor served as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Connecticut from 2020-21. During her two-year tenure at UConn, Taylor’s pitching staff registered a 2.01 ERA, .208 opponent batting average, six shutouts, a no-hitter and a combined no-hitter during the 2020 campaign and registered 247 strikeouts in 42 games the following season.
“It’s an exciting time for Great Britain Softball and we are thrilled to welcome Pattie Ruth Taylor to our coaching staff, said Head Coach Tara Henry. “Pattie is a bright young pitching mind and the kind of person we wanted as a coach and mentor to complete our staff.”
Taylor is a native of Russellville, Tennessee, and played softball at Middle Tennessee State University from 2015-2018, while earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a Master’s in leisure and sport management. Her addition to the coaching staff is part of Great Britain’s efforts to assemble a coaching network to support GBR athletes as they prepare for competition around the world.
“Olympic Head Coach Tara Henry has been tasked to put together a World Class Coaching Network that supports Great Britain’s ambitions to qualify for the LA2028 Olympic Games. To recruit someone of the standing of Pattie illustrates the direction of travel of the programme,” said Head of Performance Gary Anderson. “In the short period of time I have been speaking with Pattie she has shown she is fully aligned with our strategy, and I cannot wait to work with her through this very busy summer.”
Specific coaching roles for each of Great Britain’s 2024 tournament teams will be announced at a later date.
Great Britain Women’s Fastpitch teams will play in competitions across the world in 2024, with the Senior Women kicking off the schedule on 27-28 June with the Second Annual Royal Spark Challenge exhibition against the Oklahoma City Spark at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Tickets are available via the OK City Spark’s website, okcspark.com.
Follow the Great Britain Women’s Team on social media @GBWomenSoftball on X, Instagram, and TikTok, at facebook.com/GBWomenSoftball, and on the British Softball Federation website, britishsoftball.org.