Castaic High School will have a new name as the head coach for the softball program in the upcoming 2027 season.
Jenae Coleman, a 2013 graduate of Hart High School, is returning to the Santa Clarita Valley softball scene but as the head coach of Coyotes softball.
For Coleman, the return to the SCV presents an exciting opportunity as she expects to bring what she’s learned over the years to Castaic High School.
“The girls and the experiences I have had so far with the program as an assistant coach are priceless to me, so to have the opportunity to continue working on the development of this program means the world,” Coleman said in an interview with The Signal.
Coleman, who’s from the Castaic area, said it’s a homecoming to return to the area and an honor to be the head coach of the softball team.
She added that Castaic High School has been a name she’s heard for years but never had the opportunity to attend as the school wasn’t built yet when she attended Hart High.
“There have been talks about opening Castaic High School since I was super young,” she said. “It feels like a true honor to represent the town I grew up in.”
After Coleman’s time with Hart High, the new coach played collegiate softball at California State University, Monterey Bay, and was a part of three conference championship teams.
Within the past four years, Coleman was with the Castaic softball program as an assistant on the varsity team under former head coach GarrettLeon.
Coleman said she learned the most about being a coach during her time as an assistant on Leon’s staff and is excited to continue supporting the program and its players.
“I have had the honor of being the assistant varsity coach for the Castaic softball program, where my passion for coaching ignited,” she said. “I learned a lot working alongside coach Leon and am excited to continue supporting the program with its growth and being the best coach I can be because the girls deserve nothing but the best.”
Coleman wasted no time since her appointment and has already begun conversations with returners about setting goals for 2027.
“We have always created an environment where our team is super close to each other, so it’s been a continuous conversation about goals since we wrapped up our season last year,” she said. “We want to continue that close unit feeling we have established in our team culture but continue to increase our competitive nature to keep moving our program towards success.”
Last season, the Coyotes ended the season 9-9 overall and fifth in Foothill League play along with an all-CIF selection in Tatum McAfee, who wrapped up her sophomore campaign with a 2.31 earned run average.
The Coyotes graduated three seniors and will feature multiple returners next season, according to Coleman.
She’s looking forward to having a successful first year as head coach regardless of who’s on the roster.
“One of my favorite parts about Castaic is the ‘small town’ feel, so my goal is to lean in on that more,” she said. “As a program, we want to get into the community more and give back to our town … I would love to expose the team to opportunities to remind them of the reason we all started playing this wonderful game in the first place.”
