Jessica Lynne Allister (born October 7, 1982) is an American

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

coach and former catcher who is the current head coach at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. Allister played college softball at Stanford and earned second-team All-American honors in her senior season of 2004. After a two-year professional softball career with the

New England Riptide The New England Riptide was a women's professional fastpitch softball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. They began play in the 2004 season as a member of National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball ...

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

, Allister began a coaching career as an assistant coach at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Stanford, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. From 2011 to 2017, Allister was head coach at

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, where she had 290 wins and five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2013 to 2017. The 2017 Minnesota team set new program records, including single season wins with a 56–5 record, for which Allister won Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. Allister then returned to Stanford to become head coach at her alma mater. Inheriting a struggling Stanford program, Allister led Stanford to an NCAA Tournament appearance in her second season in 2019 and won Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors as a result.

Early life and education

Allister was born in 1982, when her father Derek Allister was a graduate student at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

and assistant basketball coach at

Moscow High School Moscow High School (MHS) is a four-year public high school in Moscow, Idaho, United States. The flagship school of the Moscow School District serves grades 9–12. Since 2013, Erik Perryman has served as principal. MHS colors are red, black, and ...

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city and the county seat of Latah County, Idaho. Located in the North Central Idaho, North Central region of the state along the border with Washington (state), Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 United States ...

. Allister spent her childhood in the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, and

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, when her father was an assistant men's college basketball coach at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. At age 11, she moved to

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...

, when Derek became an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin in 1993. Allister attended

Nacogdoches High School Nacogdoches High School is located in north east Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacogdoches High School is the high school of the Nacogdoches Independent School District. The school district (of which this is the sole comprehensive high school) include ...

from 1996 to 2000, when Derek was head coach at Stephen F. Austin. At

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Allister had a stellar playing career for the

Stanford Cardinal softball The Stanford Cardinal softball team represents Stanford University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinal are currently led by head coach Jessica Allister. The team plays its hom ...

team. Allister holds the school record for games played with 266. A three-time all-conference selection, she led her team to four appearances in the NCAA tournament and to two trips to the 2001 Women's College World Series. She was the starter for the Cardinal from day one to the end of her playing career. Allister earned second-team NFCA All-American honors and first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2004, her senior season during which Stanford again made the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

. Allister graduated with her name all throughout the program’s record book, including top-three in many offensive categories (including home runs and RBI) and top-ten in several others. Allister graduated in 2004 with a degree in economics.

Professional playing career

Allister played the 2004 and 2005 summer seasons as a member of the

. In 87 games, Allister had a .197 batting average, 12 RBI, one home run, and a .987 fielding percentage.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (2005–2010)

Allister’s first coaching job was with the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

under coach Lu Harris-Champer in 2005 and 2006, helping lead the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances as well as an SEC championship. Following her stint with the Bulldogs, Allister went back to her alma mater and joined John Rittman’s coaching staff at Stanford. Under Allister’s tutelage, Rosey Neill won back-to-back conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008 and 2009. Allister was also a part of the 2009 West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, as awarded and honored by the NFCA. Allister’s streak of appearances in the NCAA tournament continued, as the Cardinal made the postseason tournament in all three seasons. Allister’s third assistant coaching position was in 2010 at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

as hitting coach, recruiting coordinator, and primary contact for admissions, compliance, and eligibility.

Minnesota (2011–2017)

On August 10, 2010, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

hired Allister hired as the head coach of

Minnesota Golden Gophers softball The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team represents the University of Minnesota in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I competition. College softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate lev ...

. In seven seasons at Minnesota from 2011 to 2017, Allister had a career win–loss record of 290–107 and led Minnesota to a program record five straight NCAA Tournaments from 2013 to 2017. The 2013 Minnesota team went 36–19 (14–6 in

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

games), the first winning record in conference play since 2003. In 2017, Minnesota set numerous records with a 56–5 record and achieved the first no. 1 national ranking in program history. Under Allister, Minnesota pitcher

Sara Groenewegen Sara Angeline Groenewegen (born April 12, 1995) is a Canadian professional softball pitcher. From 2014 to 2017, Groenewegen pitched for the University of Minnesota, where she hold the all-time strikeouts and strikeout ratio records. She also cur ...

earned multiple yearly awards including 2015 Big Ten Player of the Year and three consecutive first-team All-American honors from 2015 to 2017. Allister was the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2017.

Stanford (2018–present)

On July 18, 2017, Allister began her third stint with Stanford softball, this time as head coach. Inheriting a team that went 19–32 (2–22 in

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

play), Allister led the 2018 Stanford team to a 24–31 (3–21 Pac-12) record. In her second season as head coach, Stanford improved to 33–20 (8–13 Pac-12) and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, for which Allister won Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Stanford began the 2020 season 22–4 before the 2019–20 college sports season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Head coaching record

Sources:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allister, Jessica 1982 births Living people American female sports coaches American softball coaches Stanford Cardinal softball players Georgia Bulldogs softball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers softball coaches Oregon Ducks softball coaches Stanford Cardinal softball coaches People from Nacogdoches, Texas Softball players from Texas Softball coaches from Texas