Title: Head coach, Georgia Tech University
Sport: Fastpitch Softball
Career Record: 228-85

In just five years, Sharon Perkins has turned the Georgia Tech Softball program into a fixture on the national scene. The three-time ACC Coach of the Year has led the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Tournament in each season she has been here and continues to lead Tech to new heights. She has more wins in ACC play than any other coach in that stretch and has seen Tech break over a dozen school and ACC records. Perkins has led the Jackets to three straight ACC regular season titles and is the first coach in league history to be named Coach of the Year three straight times in softball. Since moving into the cozy Mewborn Field, Tech has hosted two NCAA regionals, a Super Regional and the 2011 ACC Championship. The Jackets have been on ESPN several times, ranked in the top 25 for all but three weeks the last three years and been a national seed for the first time in school history.

In 2010, Perkins helped lead the Yellow Jackets to their second straight ACC regular season and tournament title while being named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight year. Tech hosted its second consecutive NCAA Regional and was a national seed (No. for the first time in program history. The Yellow Jackets spent the entire season ranked in the NFCA top 25 poll for the first time ever, including several weeks in the top 10. Georgia Tech finished the regular season with its highest ever national ranking at No. 7.  Perkins coached two All-Americans that year, including senior Jen Yee who was a finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year award. Hope Rush was the other All-American and was also named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Perkins helped produce six All-ACC picks and had a hand in the Jackets breaking several school and conference records.

In 2009, Perkins led the Yellow Jackets to a 46-15 record as they advanced to the schools’ first-ever Super Regional before falling to eventual national champion Washington. Tech finished 13th in both final NFCA and ESPN.com top 25 polls as well as 12th in the RPI, all school bests as well. Georgia Tech was a national seed (No. 14) for the first time in program history and hosted a Regional and Super Regional for the first time as well.

Named the ACC Coach of the Year, Perkins’ squad won the league’s regular season and tournament championship for just the second time ever. The Yellow Jackets went 17-3 in ACC play in 2009 and won all seven series’ they played and 10 in a row dating back to 2008.

Prior to arriving at Tech, Perkins spent six seasons at the University of Georgia where she 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.

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, where the Eagles made consecutive College World Series appearances and finished third in 2000, falling to UCLA 6-0 in the semifinals. 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 September of 2009, Perkins was inducted into the Nicholls State Athletic Hall of Fame.

The former Sharon Brander earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Nicholls State (La.) in May of 1996 and was married on July 26, 1997, to Cris Perkins. Cris and Sharon have two children: Katie, who turned nine on Oct. 17th, and Nicholas who will turn six on March 13th. They reside in Suwanee, Ga.