Stephanie Tracey Simmons, a 1993 Indian Lake graduate and a sports administrator at the University of Kentucky, has been named to the NCAA Softball Selection Committee.
Simmons, who has been UK’s sports administrator for softball for the last seven years while also serving as the Associate Athletic Director for Life Performances, will work along with nine other NCAA softball committee members to assign and select the 64 teams that will compete for the national tournament each year. She will report to Indianapolis the week of the conference championships and help bracket the tourney.
“I am extremely humbled and honored to serve on such a prestigious committee,” said Simmons in a press release. “The sport of softball continues to gain national traction, and I look forward to working with my fellow committee members on giving attention and respect that the game of softball and the Road to the Women’s College World Series has earned. I want to thank (UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart) and the Southeastern Conference for putting me in a position to serve on a distinguished platform. I am excited to get started.”
Simmons’ term will last four years.
At UK, Simmons has worked her way up the ladder. Prior to moving into a role with the administration in 2013, she was the director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports. She and her staff oversaw the development of a majority of the school’s student athletes for 10 years.
Before working at Kentucky, Simmons was an associate head strength and conditioning coach at UCLA.
A graduate of Ohio University, she was a member of the volleyball team and later served as a graduate assistant coach for the Bobcats.