Kelly Inouye-Perez
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | UCLA |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Record | 895–225–1 (.799) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 2, 1970 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1989–1993 | UCLA |
| Position | Catcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1994–2006 | UCLA (asst.) |
| 2007–present | UCLA |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 895–225–1 (.799)[1] |
| Tournaments | NCAA Division I: 84–32 (.724) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
As coach:
As player:
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Kelly Keiko Inouye-Perez (born January 2, 1970)[3] is an American former softball player who is the current head coach at UCLA Bruins softball.[2]
She is the only person to have ever won an NCAA Softball Championship as a coach and as a player.[2]
Playing career
As a player, she was a catcher for UCLA and helped her team to three National Championships (1989, 1990 and 1992) and a finish as National Runner-Up in her four playing seasons. She missed the 1991 season due to shoulder surgery.[4][5][6]
Coaching career
She is the current head coach at UCLA Bruins softball, having assumed that position prior to the 2007 season. She has led the Bruins to five appearances in the Women's College World Series, including the 2010 National Championship and 2019 National Championship, and led them to an appearance in the NCAA Division I softball tournament each year of her tenure.[4] In 2026 she became the all-time winningest coach of the Bruins, themselves the all-time winningest NCAA Division I softball program.[7]
Personal life
Inouye-Perez is of Japanese and Hawaiian descent.[8][9] She is married to Gerardo Perez, a current baseball coach who played at Cerritos College and Loyola Marymount University. The couple has two children, Mikey Perez, a former UCLA Bruins baseball player who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2021, and Kylie Perez, a soccer player who played at Long Beach State and the University of San Diego.[4]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (2007–2024) | |||||||||
| 2007 | UCLA | 37–18 | 12–9 | T–3rd | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2008 | UCLA | 51–9 | 17–4 | 2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2009 | UCLA | 45–11 | 16–5 | 1st | NCAA Super Regionals | ||||
| 2010 | UCLA | 50–11 | 14–7 | 2nd | WCWS Champions | ||||
| 2011 | UCLA | 36–19 | 9–12 | T–6th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2012 | UCLA | 36–20 | 12–12 | T–4th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2013 | UCLA | 40–20 | 10–14 | T–5th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2014 | UCLA | 52–8 | 19–5 | 2nd | NCAA Super Regionals | ||||
| 2015 | UCLA | 51–12 | 19–5 | 2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2016 | UCLA | 40–16–1 | 16–5–1 | 2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2017 | UCLA | 48–15 | 16–8 | T–3rd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2018 | UCLA | 58–7 | 20–4 | T–3rd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2019 | UCLA | 56–6 | 20–4 | T–1st | WCWS Champions | ||||
| 2020 | UCLA | 25–1 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | UCLA | 47–7 | 19–2 | 1st | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2022 | UCLA | 51–10 | 19–5 | 2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2023 | UCLA | 52–7 | 21–3 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2024 | UCLA | 43–12 | 17–4 | 1st | Women's College World Series | ||||
| UCLA (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference): | 787–202–1 (.795) | 259–103–1 (.715) | |||||||
| UCLA Bruins (Big Ten Conference) (2025–Present) | |||||||||
| 2025 | UCLA | 55–13 | 17–5 | T–2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| 2026 | UCLA | 53–10 | 20–4 | T–2nd | Women's College World Series | ||||
| UCLA (Big Ten Conference): | 108–23 (.824) | 37–9 (.804) | |||||||
| Total: | 895–225–1 (.799) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ↑ "NCAA Statistics".
- 1 2 3 https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/kelly-inouyeperez/337
- ↑ "Kelly Inouye Gallery | Trading Card Database". www.tcdb.com.
- 1 2 3 "Kelly Inouye-Perez". UCLA Bruins. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Q&A with UCLA's Kelly Inouye-Perez". Flosoftball. December 23, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Kelly Inouye-Perez". Pitching Summit. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ↑ Adelson, Andrea (March 26, 2026). "UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez breaking records amid changing landscape". ESPN.com.
- ↑ Fukuzaki, Rob. "UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez inspiring new generation of AAPI athletes". abc7.com. KABC-TV. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ↑ "Let's take a look at coach Kelly Inouye-Perez's decorated career". X.com (formerly Twitter). Big Ten Softball. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ↑ 2018 UCLA Softball Information Guide (PDF), University of California, Los Angeles, 2018, pp. 39–42
- ↑ "2018 Softball Schedule".
- 1970 births
- Living people
- American female sports coaches
- American softball coaches
- American people of Japanese descent
- Sportspeople of Japanese descent
- Native Hawaiian sportspeople
- UCLA Bruins softball players
- UCLA Bruins softball coaches
- Softball coaches from California
- Softball players from California
- Sportspeople from Los Angeles
- Sportspeople from Cerritos, California