Courtesy of Jacksonville Athletics
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Newly appointed Head Softball Coach, Jennifer Steele has announced the hiring of Dan Sperl as an assistant coach. Sperl, who has spent the past four years on staff at George Washington University, previously served at Jacksonville as a volunteer assistant prior to the 2011 campaign.
“Coach Sperl comes with a strong resume, specifically his recruiting experience,” said Steele who took over the JU program earlier this month. “He raised the profile of the GWU athlete and I am looking forward to him doing the same at JU. In addition, his ties to the Jacksonville area and familiarity with the JU Softball program make him the perfect fit as we enter into a new era of Dolphin Softball!”
The recruiting coordinator at George Washington, Sperl had an immediate impact helping the program to a 10 win improvement in 2011. With his assistance the Atlantic 10 team followed with a school record for wins in 2012 and again in 2013.
He first came to JU following a three-year stint as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash.
While with the Vikings, Sperl was responsible for the Viking defense – overseeing a unit that improved its fielding-percentage (.949 to .963) and committed 13 less errors to rank second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2010. He also worked closely with the WWU hitters, who led the conference in walks and fewest strikeouts, while ranking second in the GNAC in on-base percentage each of the past two seasons.
As recruiting coordinator, Sperl’s 2008-09 recruiting classes resulted in eight starters and five all-GNAC performers. He also helped with fundraising off the diamond and was instrumental in helping create the Viking Bullpen Club, the production of Viking Softball media guide and social media ventures on Facebook and WWU Softball ‘Outside the Lines’.
Sperl officially joined the Vikings coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2006 and helped the squad to during the 2007 campaign, the squad won the conference championship with a 34-22 record and earned a spot in the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Prior to coaching, Sperl worked in the sports information realm during the last six years. He began his career as a sports information intern at the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in 2004-05. Sperl was the media relations contact for the nationally-ranked Michigan State ice hockey program during the 2005-06 season. He also was the assistant director of sports information at WWU, while fulfilling his softball coaching duties.
The Center Strafford, N.H. native received bachelor degree in business marketing from Miami University in 2003.
