As a freshman at Aurora University, Tristan Wilcox asked herself, “What is my passion? What do I love?” and realized the clear answer was softball. After graduating and spending two years as a graduate assistant, Wilcox accepted the position as the new Hillsdale softball assistant coach to continue pursuing her ultimate passion.
“I realized softball is the thing I really enjoy doing, I just love being around the sport whether it’s lessons, coaching, playing, anything,” Wilcox said, remembering her pivotal decision. “I said, ‘Alright, I want to coach,’ because it’s the next best thing to playing.”
When she was nine years old, Wilcox bought a pair of cleats and volunteered as a pick-up player for her first travel team. Ten softball-filled summers later, Wilcox ended her career as a travel player and began her career as both a travel softball coach and a collegiate player.
During her impressive four years playing catcher, first base, and third base for Aurora, Wilcox was named the Northern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2013 and was twice named the Aurora University Female Athlete of the Year (2012, 2013). She was also named First-Team All-Conference four times and First-Team All-Region three times.
Wilcox was offered the Aurora softball program’s first graduate assistant position during her senior year and decided it was an opportunity she could not turn down.
“I was pretty much a full-time coach,” Wilcox said. “I was in the office for 40 plus hours a week, I did all the behind the scenes work, the compliance, and the budget. Basically, I did all of the things a normal graduate assistant wouldn’t do.”
It was this experience that landed Wilcox the initial phone interview for the assistant position at Hillsdale, said head coach Joe Abraham.
“She had the perfect background for the position,” Abraham said. “She was a catcher, she has some experience with pitchers, and she had two years of basically being in the assistant coach’s role.”
In combination with her noteworthy resume, Wilcox’s personality sealed the deal.
“We thought that she was really just the the overall package: she has the maturity, she’s articulate, and was the most prepared for the interview,” Abraham said. “And she was also just friendly, it was really nothing complicated.”
Abraham said that when looking for an assistant coach, it ultimately comes down to finding someone who he will get along with.
As an assistant coach at Hillsdale, Wilcox will be an overall coach, working with players in all aspects of the game as well as aiding Abraham in all of the behind the scenes work.
Wilcox identifies her age as one of her strengths as a collegiate coach, and junior center fielder Bekah Kastning agrees.
“My first impression of Tristan was that she looked confident, knowledgeable, and would fit in really well with our team,” Kastning said. “She was in college just a few years ago, so she knows exactly what we’re going through and understands our mindsets.”
Wilcox graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in fitness and health promotion and then went on to earn her masters in business, with a specialization in leadership. Wilcox said that the leadership courses she took during her masters have helped with her coaching technique tremendously.
Hillsdale’s location and unique ideology were the factors that stood out to Wilcox after researching the college. Only three hours away from her family in Lafayette, Indiana, Wilcox said she will be able to visit them with ease. In addition, Wilcox said she appreciated the school’s overall philosophy.
Wilcox said she admires the success Abraham has had in his five years at Hillsdale, and comes to the program with goals of her own.
“Everyone wants to get a national title, but in the short-term we would love to finish first in the conference,” Wilcox said. “With us switching conferences in the next couple of years it would be great to go out on a high note.”
