Tess Soefje is in her sixth season as Sam Houston's hitting coach.
Soefje (Sef-gee) spent the 2019 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Illinois, which made an appearance in the NCAA Kentucky Regionsl, where she worked with the Fighting Illini pitchers and catchers. She is also the Bearkats’ recruiting coordinator.
Before joining the staff at Illinois, Soefje spent two years as a graduate student at Ole Miss. She worked with pitchers and catchers, and as a former collegiate player at UTSA, she helped mentor players with mental preparation for games and off-the-field issues of college softball.
While at Ole Miss, Soefje also coordinated apparel and equipment management, assisted with the director of operations on game day and recruiting events and assisted with managing team travel. Ole Miss won the 2017 SEC Tournament and the NCAA Oxford Regional to advance to the Los Angeles Super Regional. Ole Miss was also a finalist at the 2018 NCAA Tempe Regional.
Soefje was a three-year starter at catcher for the Roadrunners after transferring from Houston. She hit 20 home runs in 152 career starts and ended her career as the NCAA record holder for hits-by-pitch per game.
The Frisco native was a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Scholar and was named to the Conference USA Honor Roll at both UTSA and Houston. She graduated from UTSA with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2016 and also earned a bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications from the University of Mississippi in 2018.
In 2019, Soefje took part in the European Cup in Dupnista Bulgaria. She played for the Denmark National Team the Barracudas, who finished third and became the first Danish team to medal. She tied for third best batting average in the Cuo, hitting .500 with six doubles, which tied for second most, five walks and four hit by pitch. She led the tournament with a .696 on-base percentage and had the third highest slugging percentage at .929.
