Brenda Holaday

Brenda Holaday grew up just north of Holton, Kansas and graduated from Jackson Height High School. While there, her basketball team won a State and Grand State Championship and was later placed in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Holaday attended Highland CC for one year, playing basketball and softball before finishing her last three years as a member of the softball team at Kansas State University where she earned three letters as a catcher while also earning her Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education. Her professional career started at Wabaunsee High School in 1983 as a teacher and coach. She taught English, journalism, and speech while serving as the head basketball coach and assistant volleyball and track coach. In her ten years there, her basketball teams went to four state tournaments while she compiled over 200 victories.

After earning her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kansas, Holaday accepted a job as counselor at Washburn Rural High School in 1992 and became the head of the department in 1994. She remained in that position for 20+ years while also serving as the head softball coach and sponsor of Student Council. Holaday was responsible for overseeing a growing counseling department where the student population more than doubled in size during her tenure. Holaday estimates she served as counselor to over 9,000 students during her time at Rural.

The Student Council group at Rural was comprised of student leaders who worked to offer opportunities for the student body to be involved. This group welcomed new students, planning Homecoming events, Winter Formal, recognized outstanding student and staff achievement, planned various student activities, and served as ambassadors for the school. Holaday worked with over 1,000 students in this capacity.

As the head softball coach, Holaday comprised an overall record of 351-93, a .790 winning percentage. They won three 6A State Championships, 14 Centennial League titles, and they qualified for the 6A State Tournament 16 times in the span of 20 years, finishing in the top four 11 times. She was named the Centennial League Coach of the Year and City Coach of the Year nine different times earning the Midwest Sectional Coach of the Year in 2011 and the 6A Kansas Coach of the year two times in 2008 and 2011 and was named the overall Kansas Coach of the Year in 2011.

While at Washburn Rural, Holaday coached more than 40 players who went on to play college softball including three at the NCAA Division I level. Her teams received the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Academic Team Award eight different times and finished with the top 10 GPA in the country three times. Holaday served on the NFCA All American, All Region, and Hall of Fame committees. She coached four High School All Americans as well as a Gatorade Player of the Year.

In 2016, Holaday took the position of head softball coach at Washburn University. She took over a program that was 163-218 over the previous 8 seasons. In year one, Holaday's team went 25-30 and finished 9th in the MIAA Conference. Last season, her team was picked to finish 10th in the conference. Instead, they went from 9th to 1st in the span of one year and won the MIAA Conference Championship by a margin of four games. Her team advanced to the NCAA tournament and finished with a record of 39-14. Holaday's team led the nation in Division II fielding percentage at .980. She was named the MIAA Coach of the Year in just her second year of college coaching.

Holaday was recognized last week by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association for earning over 400 career victories as a head coach, with a current record of 415-137.

Holaday has a son, Mitch, who graduated from Washburn Rural in 2013 and recently graduated from Kansas State University.