Victoria Gran Hayward (born 11 April 1992) is a Canadian Olympic athlete, a professional

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) ...

player for the Talons of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

and the current head coach for the University of

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 ...

softball program. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

at the University of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

from 2011 to 2014, professional softball with the

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 ...

league from 2015 to 2019 and currently competes in the Athletes Unlimited softball league. She is an outfielder who bats and throws left-handed. She has played for the Canadian Senior Women's softball team since June 2009 and was team captain when Canada won the bronze medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Early life

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Victoria grew up in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

and went to Mountain View High School (MVHS). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Political Science from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

Playing career

College

She attended the

from 2011 to 2014 and played outfield for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

softball program. She was a 2014

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and a four-time All-Pac-12 selection. With the University of Washington, she won four NCAA Regional Championships and advanced to the 2013 Women's College World Series.

Professional

Hayward was drafted 19th overall by the

Pennsylvania Rebellion The Pennsylvania Rebellion were a National Pro Fastpitch softball team based in Washington, Pennsylvania. They were added as an expansion team for the 2014 season, receiving the roster and draft position of the recently defunct NY/NJ Comets. The ...

in the 2014 NPF Draft. She played professionally for the Rebellion in 2015 and 2016. and joined the

Canadian Wild The Canadian Wild, officially the Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois, were a professional women's softball team based in Marion, Illinois. They were founded in 2019 as part of National Pro Fastpitch and are partnered with the Canada women's nation ...

in 2019. In 2020, she was the first athlete to sign with Athletes Unlimited, was named Chairperson of the Players Executive Committee for the first two years of the league's existence and currently competes in the Championship Series. On January 29, 2025, Hayward was drafted forty-eighth overall by the Talons in the inaugural

draft.

National Team

Hayward has played with the Canadian Women's Senior National Team since 2009 and at 16, was the youngest player to appear for the Canadian national team. She has won five medals competing for Canada - two Silver at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

and three Bronze medals at the World Championships. She was named to the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

team that won Gold, but was unable to compete due to injury. She represented Canada at the

, where she recorded six hits to hit .300, including two during the bronze medal game to defeat

Team Mexico Team Mexico is a professional wrestling stable that was first formed in 2004 to compete in TNA Wrestling's America's X-Cup Tournament and has since returned to compete in other TNA X Cup Tournaments. History 2004 The original team consisted of ...

3–2.

Coaching career

Upon completion of her college softball playing career, she joined

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, which finished third at the 2015 Women's College World Series, as a graduate assistant. In 2016 and 2017, she was an assistant coach for the

helping them to back-to-back winning seasons. In 2018, she was an assistant coach at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and in 2019, joined

UCF Knights softball The UCF Knights softball program represents the University of Central Florida in the sport of softball. The Knights compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Big 12 Conference. The Knights play their ho ...

team as Director of Operations. On August 26, 2021, after competing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Hayward was named an assistant coach for

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

. The next season, Hayward was promoted to associate head coach as the Aztecs advanced to the super-regionals of the Woman's College World Series. On June 12, 2023, she was named an assistant coach for

. On May 22, 2024, Hayward was named head coach for

Statistics

Head coaching record

College

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Victoria 1992 births Living people Canadian softball players Competitors at the 2022 World Games Softball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Washington Huskies softball players Softball players from Toronto Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists in softball Pan American Games silver medalists in softball Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pennsylvania Rebellion players Softball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic softball players for Canada Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in softball LSU Tigers softball coaches UMass Minutewomen softball coaches Maryland Terrapins softball coaches Nevada Wolf Pack softball coaches San Diego State Aztecs softball coaches Washington Huskies softball coaches Pan American Games softball players for Canada Athletes Unlimited softball players