Tatjana Matthews couldn’t think of a better time to come to the Mississippi University for Women.
After being dazzled by the school’s faculty and administration and liking what she saw in the city of Columbus, Matthews knew she wanted to be a part of the re-emergence of intercollegiate athletics at The W.
Matthews role in bringing sport back to The W became official Friday when she was announced as the school’s new softball coach.
“Now is an amazing time for The W,” Matthews said. “The community was awesome. It was absolutely amazing and everybody was super supportive of The W. President (Jim) Borsig and (Director of Athletics) Jason (Trufant) were just amazing. Everybody seemed to be on the same page about the re-introduction of athletics at The W.”
Matthews comes to The W from Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Appalachian Athletic Conference member. As associate head coach of the school’s softball team, Matthews assisted in leading the team to its first winning season in school history and was a part of three winning seasons after joining the staff in 2012. She was named head coach in 2016.
Prior to her time at Columbia College, Matthews spent two years as the head coach at the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie.
“Tatjana is the ‘right fit’ we have been focused on for our softball program,” Trufant said in a statement released by the school. “Her experience as a Division I student-athlete and as a head coach at multiple levels will provide her with the tools necessary to lead our softball program forward in an extremely positive direction. This is a great day for The W.”
Matthews played softball at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, where she was named to the Peach Belt Academic team and an Academic All-American. After graduating from FMU with a bachelor’s degree of science in sociology, Matthews played at Charleston Southern, where she was named to the Scholar Athlete Team, Who’s Who 2009, and 4.0 Buc Athlete Club.
Matthews earned her master’s degree in criminal justice and also served as softball graduate assistant at Charleston Southern.
Matthews said there are similarities in the work she will do at The W and the work she did “revamping” the program at Columbia College. She said her experience as a student-athlete will help her connect with players and allow her to find the right players for her program.
“You gain their trust by teaching them on and off the field,” Matthews said. “You teach them how to be successful. That starts in the classroom. Once you do that, you are able show them that success can resonate and shine in all aspects of their life.”
Matthews said she was able to accomplish those goals at Columbia College and help the softball program record winning seasons in 2012, 2013, and 2014. She hopes to use the same approach to find “the right fits” for The W.
“I am a very big proponent that the idea of a collegiate student-athlete comes first,” Matthews said. “When I did my research, I found that The W has a lot to offer. The school, the community, the athletics, and the support staff made this decision a no-brainer.”
Columbia College, a women’s college related to the United Methodist Church, educates students in the liberal arts tradition. It offers 10 varsity sports. Columbia College Director of Athletics Kellyan Stubblefield said Matthews is a “very upbeat and very supportive coach.” She said Matthews will enjoy the challenge of helping young women grow as leaders and as student-athletes.
“She is a great leader, and she enjoys having fun and being very professional so women can enjoy what they’re doing even though they are working hard,” Stubblefield said. “Her attitude makes her a great leader. She is very passionate about the sport and has a strong desire to do things well and at a high level. With her personality of being outgoing and enjoying that process, I think it lends herself to being effective as a head coach.”
Stubblefield said Matthews helped the softball program with its transition from the Southern States Conference to the Appalachian Athletic Conference. She said Matthews helped the school start a junior varsity program and worked hard to build recruiting ties and connections to ensure the growth of the JV and the varsity programs.
Stubblefield sees similarities in Columbia College and The W. She feels Matthews’ success at Columbia College will help make her transition to life in Mississippi even easier.
“I think she will be very successful there,” Stubblefield said. “She is willing to do whatever she is asked to do. I think she will be a great asset for everything they’re trying to accomplish and it will work out well.”
Taylor Johnson agrees. She played for Matthews for two years at Columbia College before she was hired to be an assistant coach. The former catcher said Matthews is a “fiery” coach who is a great motivator.
“She is great. She worked with us in a way that I have never been coached,” Johnson said. “She connected with us well. She’ll do anything for her players. She works hard for them. She will do anything for the program.”
Johnson said Matthews’ ability to recruit and to find the right players to join the program helped it elevate its stature. She said the graduation rate of the players on the team also has improved, which she said shows Matthews can build relationships and a program.
“She has done wonderful things with recruiting,” Johnson said. “She changed the program here. It has been five years and she basically started from scratch here.”
The hiring of Matthews is The W’s latest step in its process of bringing back a women’s intercollegiate athletic program and creating a men’s program for more than 2,500 undergraduates. The W will compete in baseball, softball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, and women’s volleyball beginning in the 2017-18 school year. It will add more sports for the 2018-19 year as it continues the process to gain NCAA Division III status.
Matthews joins Roxanne Hernandez, who will lead The W’s volleyball program, and Tim Gould, who was hired earlier this month to be the school’s men’s soccer coach.
Matthews was recruiting players Friday. She said she expects to be in Columbus after Thanksgiving to begin laying the foundation for The softball team at The W.
“That challenge is always difficult when a coach moves to a different area,” Matthews said. “The biggest thing I have to do is pound the pavement and meet all of the junior college coaches. I already have been in contact with a couple of coaches in the Columbus area, and I will try to meet them face to face as well as the travel ball coaches. The hardest part is making new contacts, but I don’t think that will be difficult because I am extremely excited to spread to word about The W.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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