Sept. 12, 2006
ATLANTA–Sharon Perkins, formerly the associate head coach at Georgia, has been named the head coach of the Georgia Tech softball program, Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich announced Tuesday.
“I’d like to thank Mr. Radakovich for hiring me,” said Perkins. “It’s a great opportunity for me and my family and I am really excited about getting out there and working with the players. It’s a great program, has been a great program, and has come a long way even since when I was a player at Nicholls State.
“The coaches in the past have laid the foundation to keep it going and make it a great program. Now we are to the point where I don’t want to come in here and change everything, I think it’s on the right track and I would like to just keep this thing going and get it to the next level.”
Perkins takes the reins of a program that has made five straight NCAA appearances and captured two Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the last five years. The Yellow Jackets return ACC Freshman of the Year and record-setting home run hitter Whitney Haller and all-ACC outfielder Caitlin Lever.
In six seasons at Georgia, Perkins helped build a strong program that was ranked in the Top 10 the last four years. The team made five straight NCAA appearances, including a Super Regional berth in 2005, won two Southeastern Conference titles and posted a 313-104 record.
“Sharon Perkins is an outstanding young coach who is the right person to guide our softball program, which has been very successful, to even greater heights,” said Radakovich. “She has been a key component in a winning program. She brings a tremendous amount of energy along with a clear vision of what it takes to build a top 10 program.”
Perkins joined the Georgia staff for the 2001 season and was promoted to associate head coach in July of 2004. She previously spent two seasons (1999-2000) as an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi.
Perkins has twice been part of a coaching staff that was honored as the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association (NFCA) regional coaching staff of the year, at Southern Mississippi in 1999 and at Georgia in 2003.
Perkins was a standout player at Nicholls State, where she was a first-team All-Southland Conference shortstop as well as an Academic All-Conference student-athlete. She was named ENTERGY Corporation’s Louisiana Female Athlete of the Year and led the Colonels to their first ever NCAA Regional appearance. In her senior year, Nicholls State climbed to as high as No. 14 in the NFCA/USA Today rankings and finished with a record of 56-9. Perkins batted .357 that season and became one of two athletes in Nicholls State history to play on three Southland Conference championship teams.
Perkins, 33, is a native of Sarasota, Fla., where she attended Riverview High School.
The former Sharon Brander earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Nicholls State in May of 1996 and was married on July 26, 1997, to Cris Perkins. Cris and Sharon have two children: Katie, who will turn six on Oct. 17, and two-and-half year old Nicholas.
-30-
