Home UVA Softball: Coach Joanna Hardin signs three-year contract extension
UVA Olympic Sports

UVA Softball: Coach Joanna Hardin signs three-year contract extension

joanna hardin uva softball
Photo: UVA Athletics

UVA Softball coach Joanna Hardin has signed a three-year contract extension, it was announced today, by UVA Athletics.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but we’re working on that, of course.

Her most recent three-year extension, which was set to expire this month, was paying her $127,365 in salary and supplemental compensation annually.

“We are fortunate to have Joanna Hardin leading our softball program,” Athletics Director Carla Williams said, per a release from UVA Athletics. “She has a clear vision for where she wants Virginia Softball to be and has continued to push our program toward those goals each season. She understands the landscape of college softball and how Virginia can successfully establish its place nationally as collegiate athletics continues to evolve.”

In her first seven seasons at Virginia, Hardin’s teams were a cumulative 139-197, with only two winning seasons among the seven, in 2022 (28-26) and 2023 (30-22).

Her three teams since have gone 34-20, 37-17 and 40-15, and each made it to the NCAA Regionals.

I wrote earlier in the week that I had been paying closer attention to Hardin’s status because of an anonymous letter regarding Hardin and the UVA Softball program that I received last week, which included a copy of a lengthy letter about Hardin and her program that was sent to UVA President Scott Beardsley in April.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Carla Williams, President Beardsley and the University of Virginia for the privilege of leading the softball program,” Hardin said, per the UVA Athletics release. “It’s truly a gift that our staff can continue to build on the momentum of the last three seasons, recruiting talented women of high character that value the Virginia degree and want to compete for a national championship. Our athletes, support staff, fans, donors and families make Virginia such a wonderful place to work. The people really do make the place, and in Charlottesville you can really have it all.”

Multimedia

 




Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

Latest News

michael vick
UVA Football

Tony Elliott fanboys over dogkiller Michael Vick: Shame ain’t even the word here

usps united states post office mail carrier mailbox
Trump's America

Warner, Kaine sign on to effort to challenge USPS takeover of mail-in ballots

Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have joined a large group of lawmakers in the filing of a legal brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging the legality of a U.S. Postal Service effort to control the flow of mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterms.

school classroom
Local

Waynesboro gets small, almost nothing, grant from state for school security

Before you get too upset about how little Waynesboro is set to get from the 2026-27 School Security Equipment Grant program, keep in mind, the applications would have been filed weeks ago.

beth macy ben cline
Trump's America

Ben Cline goes solo, as planned, at Salem Rotary Club event: Where’s the beef?

uva football entrance
UVA Football

UVA Football: Breakdown of the depth chart for Week 2 game with Norfolk State

Isiah D. Crawford
Local

Waynesboro: Teen held on charges related to shooting at Sunset Park

Old Order Mennonite
Region/State

Old Order Mennonite families from the Valley have begun an exodus to Esmont