09/18/2026
Now that we've met the players, we may as well meet the coaches too! The girls are the stars of the show but these coaches pour in so much time, effort, and love into these girls and the team wouldn't be a team without them. All 4 of them are happy to take a backseat and have all attention on the girls and this is why all 4 coaches will be in the same post to share the spotlight and there will be no attempts to stop additional introductions š¤£
We also want to recognize that there are tons of other great moms, dads, siblings, family members, friends, and more that truly complete our Wow Factor Family with all of their unique contributions! When extra hands are needed we can always count on someone to step in. Every family cares for their daughter but also genuinely love and care for each and every one of the girls on the team. There is no way to truly recognize every individual but just know that we appreciate ever one of our supporters š¤š©¶š¤!!
Now let's Meet our Coaches!
š„ First up is the guy leading this crew, Head Coach & 3rd Base Coach Dustin Kirby. If youāve met Dustin, you already know he may genuinely be the nicest and most optimistic person youāll ever meet. His optimism speaks volumes to the trust he has in each girl and the team as a whole. We could show up tomorrow to the tournament and somehow find out weāre playing the Lady Vols, and Dustin would be saying, āI feel good about, i believe in what weve got"ā and the thing is... 100% believes it.
Dustin sees potential in every player and doesn't just focus on how a player can contribute now but also how they will help the team in the future. Others may not always see the vision but the end product is a sweet success. He has a heart for giving opportunities to girls who may have been overlooked somewhere else or simply just needed someone to believe in them and give them confidence step to the next level. He looks beyond where a player is today and sees where she could be with some confidence, hard work, and the right opportunity; you just have to trust the process. Make no mistake though, we have a team full of extremely talented and fierce girls that show up and give their full effort and happen to do some winning along the way!
Dustin leads with positivity, patience, faith, and encouragementābut there is one very important exception to all that patience: DO. NOT. STRIKE. OUT. LOOKING. š If you're going down, it better be swinging.
Youāll find him coaching third on tournament days, and giving pep talks before during and after; sometimes the talks can go a LITTLE longer than some might like š¤. But the next time one of them hits a triple or big timely hit, watch his pure excitement when the player arrives at 3rd or the way he sprints towards a player in a walk-off victory.
We also can't forget to honor his commitment to wearing shorts. Many of us have been around for a few years and may have never seen him in pants. It could be 110+Ā° or below freezing outside, doesn't matter he's wearing shorts. The fans can be bundled in winter clothes, gloves, and hats, hand warmers, blankets, and more and then you see Dustin standing at 3rd base in shorts š. Apparently he does owns pants, we just have very little evidence that he uses them.
Weāre incredibly thankful for the time and heart Dustin pours into this team and, most importantly, into these girls! š¤š©¶š¤
š„ Next up is Assistant Coach & 1st Base Coach Brad Rudy, although the girls may know him better as the man controlling the first-base candy supply. The system is simple: get on base, get a candy. Coach Brad carries a rotating selection to 1st every tournament, and you'd be surprised how important that single gummy bear can become. He has girls who have hit doubles or triples and later track him down to remind him that they technically reached first and are therefore still owed compensation. š
Behind the candy and constant joking, Brad has a strong understanding of the game, strategy, and the rules. Heās good at giving the girls quick, simple instruction they can actually use without overcomplicating things in the middle of a game, practice is a better place for big adjustments. He believes in practice hard, play with confidence, and have fun while doing it.
And if you're wondering why our infielders occasionally look like they're preparing for incoming artillery during practice, that's probably because Brad is in charge of the bat during infield drills š. Apparently the philosophy is: if you can field Coach Brad's practice grounders, game-speed should feel easy.
Brad loves teasing the girls and keeping things light, but he also cares deeply about every one of them. He invests as much time as he can into helping them improve, celebrates their successes, and is always one of their biggest supportersāwhether he's coaching first, helping at practice, or handing over a hard-earned candy. Weāre lucky to have him. š¤š©¶š¤
š„ Next up is Coach Matt Rash. Matt expressed interest right away with helping coach but he wasn't sure how much his work schedule would allow him to commit to practices and tournaments. Before long, Matt was jumping in wherever he was needed and fit right in with the rest of the coaching staff. Whether it's helping with warmups, running drills, working on hitting, or sharing some of his experience as a former catcher, Matt is always willing to lend a hand.
Like Brad, Matt also understands that while we're here to compete, the girls should have plenty of fun along the way. He jokes with them, keeps things light when they need it, but also expects them to work hard. One thing about Coach Mattāhe believes these girls are capable of a lot. He sees their potential, sometimes even when they don't see it themselves, and he wants each of them to become the best version of herself on the field. He doesn't expect perfection, but he does expect effort. When he knows a player is capable of more, he's going to push her to show it. Sometimes you can see that little bit of frustration in the player but it comes from genuinely believing in what they can do. He wants them to play with confidence, compete hard, and be proud of the effort they put on the field.
Matt also has the quality of being willing to say what everyone else might only be thinking. Occasionally the thought just arrives at an outdoor volume before the internal volume control has had a chance to review it š¤£. We appreciate the honesty...and maybe just need to continue to work on the sound settings and audience. He also believes why unnecessarily stand when someone invented a bucket of softballs with a lid specifically designed to double as a chair? He has too many aches and pains to be standing all the time š¤.
All jokes aside, Matt genuinely cares about every girl on this team. He believes in them, enjoys helping them grow, celebrates when their hard work pays off, and isn't afraid to push them when he knows they're capable of more. We're very thankful Coach Matt decided he could squeeze a little coaching into that work schedule after all š¤š©¶š¤
š„ Lastābut absolutely not leastāis Coach Wiley Brakebill, our unofficial hype man, dugout dad, mood booster, and whatever-else-needs-to-be-done guy.
Thereās a reason the girls absolutely love Wiley. He is a father to 3 girls and is the sole man in their house; he also works in the school and you can just tell he understands how to connect with kids. He knows when to encourage them, when to joke with them, and sometimes when they simply need someone in their corner. If we must utilize a guess player Wiley takes no time in bringing on the humor with silly things like repeating their name several times with a goofy look on his face. It helps make them feel at ease and more confident coming in as an outsider.
Wiley will also help with LITERALLY anything and somehow seems happy about it every single time. Need someone to run a drill? He's there. Need help in the dugout? Done. Need somebody to walk back and forth across the field in nearly 100Ā° heat carrying buckets of softballs so a drill can keep running without stopping to collect them? Apparently Wiley's response is, āSure!ā š If Dustin asked for something absolutely off the wall to benefit the team there is no doubt he would put the team above himself and do it in a heartbeat.
The funny thing about Wiley is that sometimes he underestimates what he contributes because he may not always be the coach giving the technical instruction. But coaching a team of young athletes requires more than teaching mechanics.
Every team needs someone who brings energy, encouragement, patience, and connection. Someone who can make a kid smile after a rough inning, keep a dugout upbeat, celebrate their successes, and make the girls genuinely enjoy being at the field. And That's Wiley.
He brings something to this coaching staff that the other coaches don'tāand it's something you can't really teach.
We know it also bothers him when he has to miss games to chaperone Prom, attend a dance recital for one of his other girls, his involvement with the Loudon Community and Schools as well as his church, and his commitment with family as well to place others before himself. There may be a video somewhere of Wiley performing a pretty elaborate dance routine with his wife š. We look on this in admiration rather than recording the time he isn't there.
We're incredibly lucky to have Coach Wiley, and judging by how much these girls love having him around, we're pretty sure they'd agree. š¤š©¶š¤
