Hampton University Women's Softball

Cat Tarvin enters her second season in charge of the Hampton softball program. With a young team that only included one senior, the Pirates took a series against conference foe Drexel. The pair of wins over the Dragons was Hampton’s third-ever series victory over a Coastal Athletic Association foe. HU had an impressive victory over the Elon Phoenix, who made the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Under Tarvin’s guidance, freshman Amani Johnson received postseason honors, being selected to the All-CAA Rookie Team. Johnson becomes the second-ever Hampton student-athlete to receive a CAA postseason award. Tarvin led the program at North Carolina Central for four years of progress and improvement. She served as interim head coach of the Eagles in 2021 after working as an assistant coach for three seasons. The interim tag was removed in 2022. In her four seasons as head coach, Tarvin led the Eagles to a winning record in league play and ushered in the most successful era in North Carolina Central's Division I era. Her teams showed steady improvement and became a dominant force in the MEAC. North Carolina Central's overall win totals improved from 13 in 2021 to 20 this past season. Her team posted winning conference records in three of her four years at the helm. The Eagles were 14-7 in MEAC play in 2024. Tarvin was named the MEAC Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Eagles 12-7 league record. She earned Most Outstanding Coach honors at the 2023 MEAC Championship as the Eagles won four games to claim their first-ever MEAC Championship. The Eagles earned a bid to the NCAA Softball Regionals in Athens, Ga., another first for the program. The team's improvement can be traced to her successful recruiting efforts and her skill and talent as a teacher of the game in building the program. In her four seasons as head coach, Tarvin has produced 18 All-MEAC honorees, including five in 2024 when the Eagles finished third in the MEAC Championships. She inherited a program that had not posted a winning record in 17 seasons and had an overall record of 136-484 (.219) since 2007. North Carolina Central posted only two winning seasons in league play during that span when Tarvin was an assistant coach (2018 and 2019). She also mentored Makiya Graves, the 2023 MEAC Player of the Year. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native was a successful player in her own right. After spending two years at Kennesaw State, she transferred to Presbyterian, where she finished her career. Tarvin was named team MVP as a senior and second-team All-Big South as a utility player after batting .316 with 10 doubles, nine home runs, and 31 RBI. At Kennesaw State, she was named to the Big South All-Freshman team and was team co-captain as a sophomore. As a pitcher, she won 15 games during her career. Tarvin is spending her summer as head coach of the Texas Smoke in the WPF. She served as an assistant coach last season, helping lead the team to the WPF championship. She also gained professional coaching experience as a player, instructor, and coach of the Georgia Elite Gold Softball travel team. Tarvin has also worked as a camp instructor at both Duke and Tennessee, as a pitching coach at Innocents Episcopal School, and as a private instructor. She graduated from Presbyterian in 2013 with a degree in sociology. She earned a master's degree in Physical Education and Recreation from North Carolina Central with an emphasis in Athletic Administration in 2019 while serving as an assistant coach for the Eagles. Tarvin has a daughter, Charlie Rose.

Khadija Kneely is in her second year as an assistant coach in Coach Cat Tarvin’s staff. Keenly joined as an inaugural member of Tarvin’s staff, starting her tenure with the program in the 2024 offseason. Prior to her becoming an assistant coach at Hampton, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Alabama State.   She came to Alabama State after serving as the head coach of the Charles Henderson High School softball program from August 2020 until May 2022. She was responsible for every aspect of the program, from field maintenance and special events.   Prior to her time at Charles Henderson, Neely was the General Manager/Owner of Scrap Yard Academy from May 2017 to 2020. She facilitated individual and group sessions with athletes ranging from 12 years old to 35 in various sports. She collaborated with professional softball players from the Scrap Yard Dawgs professional team and facilitated their workouts. She also coached the Scrap Yard Dawgs/Internationals Club Team from May 2016 to 2020.   Before her time at Scrap Yard, Neely served as a Student Assistant at Troy from August 2016 to May 2017 with the softball program and was also an intern in the Strength and Conditioning program for the Trojans from January 2017 to May 2017.   She earned her Associate of Behavioral Science degree in Exercise Science from Chattanooga State in 2014 before earning her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science degree from Troy in 2017. Neely went on to earn her Master's in Sport and Fitness Management from Troy in 2020.