Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Treated Me Like An All American Even Thought I Wasn’t One

Date: June 14, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

"Thank you so much for being there for me when no one else was. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Loved Watching You Play And We Have Also Loved Watching You Coach

Date: June 7, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Being one of your biggest fans, I always hoped you would follow in Kristalyn’s steps and coach my daughter at Tecumseh. I’ve followed every step of your career. Proud of the woman you have become and the role model you are for my daughter. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Always There For Me And My Biggest Fan

Date: June 1, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Best coach and person I know. I hope you don’t stop coaching. You’re one of a kind and one of the most special people in my life. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

High Achievers Don’t Like Low Achievers, It’s Really That Simple

Date: May 29, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"It’s no surprise that Coach Jackie gravitates toward tough, gritty, never-out-of-the-fight players and teams—who wouldn’t? Her entire playing career was built on that kind of culture, and her teams consistently brought home wins, titles, and rings at every level she’s played at. Watching her grow into a professional coach while remaining deeply caring and committed has been incredibly rewarding. Jackie is an extremely knowledgeable coach, with a resume full of players who have earned outstanding accolades both on the field and in the classroom. She’s passionate, resilient, and genuinely invested in the success and development of her athletes—not just as players, but as people. A great person and an even better leader."

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

If You're Looking For Someone Who Leads With Heart, Pushes For Excellence, And Genuinely Cares About Her Players—Coach Barley Is That Person.

Date: May 29, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Coach Barley is the kind of leader every team hopes for. Her dedication to the sport of softball is unmatched—whether it's early morning practices, late-night game planning (I’ve been there with her), or going the extra mile for her players, she brings 100% every day. More than just a coach, she’s a mentor and a role model. Her work ethic and passion have not only improved players' skills on the field but also shaped their character off it. Many of us can say with confidence: she’s made a lasting difference in our lives. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Fueled My Love For The Game And Made Me Better

Date: May 28, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Best coach I’ve ever had and I still stay in contact with her after 9 years. She fueled the love of the game for me. A great coach, friend and mentor. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Great Coaches. Keep Covering Up All The Wrongdoing In The Athletic Department

Date: May 28, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Professionally speaking it’s sickening the ethic violations Davenport University allows to happen. Even more sickening railroading coaches to hire a friend back. Great coaches that didn’t have a chance at Davenport! "

0

Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Great On Field Coach That Not Only Consistently Displays Professionalism But Lives It

Date: May 28, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Highly regarded, skilled and professional. Ethical, high character and one of the best player development coaches I’ve been around. "

0

Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Love You Coach!! You’re The Best!!

Date: May 21, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Love you Coach!!!! You always had the best van!! I’ll never forget all of our laughs, how fun practice was, van trips to practice at 5am, and our adventures on spring trip in Arizona! Grateful to have played for a coach that allowed us to be US!!! Even though all of us freshies at the time probably annoyed the crap out of you haha! "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Earned Not Given! Our Team Still Uses This Motto! Miss You Coach!

Date: May 21, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Best coach I’ve ever had! I still use the drills I learned from Coach Barley. I’m so happy I got to learn from her at AC. The funnest season I had in my career and the best season I had hitting! "

0

Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

You Get What You Put In! I Still Use The Lessons And Drills Coach Barley With My Players

Date: May 18, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"When I first met Coach Barley I was not tough on the field. I was immature and I was mentally weak. Instead of belittling me and making me feel bad about myself Coach Barley took me under her wing. She believed in me and we put in a lot of work outside of practice. This made the biggest impact on my growth as a player and person. I was not the most talented player on the field but being tougher created the ability to overcome adversity quicker and I soon found myself as one of the best hitters in the conference. Coach Barley creates confident, gritty players but at the end of the day it all starts with the player and the willingness to grow and learn! A relationship isn’t a one way street! I was excited to see Coach Barley post so many drills from her infield group this year. Those were my favorite memories in all the work we put in together. Many laughs and memories made! She makes the game and repetitive reps fun. I’ve used many of the drills with my high school girls and have seen a lot of improvements so far this year!"

0

Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Want To Be A Good Player? Run To This Coach!!

Date: May 18, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Coach Barley’s career in Division 2 at 3 colleges that were not only rebuilding programs but had limited resources: 1. Freshman of the year, First team all Region and increased batting avg. 2. Player of the year, Pitcher of the year, First Team All American, Regional Player of the Year, multiple school records broken, 3 All Region players, including development of a powerhouse SS. 3. Player of the Year (back to back in 2 different conferences) broken d2 conference batting avg, multiple all region players. I’ve followed Coach Barley’s career since the beginning and this doesn’t even state the program records she’s helped break in other divisions she’s coached at. The ultimate student of the game. Watching her coach through the years, her demeanor with her athletes haven’t changed! She treats everyone with respect and treats her players like young adults capable of making their own decisions. Any school would be lucky to have her on their team because she is a difference maker. Coach Barley should be more demanding and honestly meaner in my opinion but I don’t think the level of athlete is capable of handling that type of coaching. I think she should move to a level that has more athletes with the understanding of the complexity of the sport and the willingness to relentlessly work! But she’s a wild card, she loves coaching players and making them better!"

0

Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Coach Barley Is Not Only A Good Coach But She’s A Great Person

Date: May 18, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"The amount of life lessons I’ve learned from Coach Barley that I’ve applied to my military career is abundant. Coach Barley taught me what mental toughness is all about and actually how to enjoy doing hard things and how to have fun doing hard things. This not only helped me on the field but in boot camp as well as I graduated top in my class. I accredit many lessons I learned from Coach Barley with my performance in my career and I’m incredibly grateful that she was my coach. I did not play all the time in my career but I loved being a part of the TEAM! Coach Barley is not mean, I’ve never heard her yell one time or negativity talk to any player on our team. Coach Barley is unique and doesn’t have to be loud or excitable. She is always calm and provides great insight on the mission at hand. All qualities I’ve tried to mimic in my professional career. "

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Women's Softball

Jackie Barley

Women's Softball Assistant Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

I’ve Never Had A Coach Believe In Me As Much As Coach Jackie And I Will Forever Be Grateful For Her

Date: May 17, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Knowledgeable Knows The Game Passionate About Coaching Players Coach Believes In You

"Jackie is the best coach I’ve ever had. It’s hilarious how her retweeting what the best coaches in the country do is so triggering to people that I’ve personally seen not be able to catch or throw and have to be begged to work hard. Being around this program I’ve never heard Coach Jackie talk negatively to any of us. Honestly, I wish she would have said more but I understand why she didn’t because people at this school can not be held accountable for anything they do. She constantly encourages and gave us mental cues that have helped many of us. Idk how anyone can possibly claim Coach Jackie does not care about mental health. She invested out of pocket for mental health training for us. I loved every minute of our defensive groups and learned so much from her. She’s a truly special person and coach and I hope she never has to be around such miserable people again!!! Forever grateful to have learned from such a knowledgeable person. To the people that craved her attention and didn’t want to work hard or do what they were supposed to do I feel sorry for you because you missed out on knowing a special person and coach!!! "

0

Men's Baseball

Kevin Tidey

Men's Baseball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

One Of The Best In The Business!

Date: May 9, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Motivational Dedicated To Players Accessible

"2025 GLIAC Coach of the year… 3 GLIAC championships in 5 years in the conference after transitioning from NAIA to D2… have never met a coach that cares more about his players & helps them develop into not only better players, but better people. I strongly encourage you to talk to any of his current/former players or colleagues about him. One of the best in the business!!!"

0

Men's Baseball

Kevin Tidey

Men's Baseball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Coach Tidey And His Great Impact And Culture He Has Created A Davenport.

Date: May 1, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Motivational Dedicated To Players Accessible

"Coach Tidey is amazing. Kevin has created a great atmosphere with a great coaching staff. Multiple great players who have transferred to davenport have said how amazing it is. If you think Kevin or Davenport baseball is bad then go to there games. "

0

Women's Softball

Kathryn Bzdafka

Former Women's Softball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Davenport Needs To Be Invey

Date: April 27, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Believes In You Dedicated To Players Passionate About Coaching Poor Communication Knows The Game

"Best coaches that cared about players. Brought Batting averages up and GPA’s. Prior coaches recruits complained all the time because they didn’t earn time on the field. "

0

Women's Softball

Ronda Varnesdeel

Head Softball Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | GLIAC

Without A Do Ubt, One Of The Best!

Date: April 24, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Dedicated To Players Direct Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Knows The Game

"I had a difficult time choosing only 5 of the above adjectives to capture how great of a coach and person Ronda is. She cares deeply for her players both on and off the field. She has a competitive spirit that motivates athletes to work hard. Practicing an outdoor sport indoors is challenging. Athletes often struggle to stay motivated during the off season. Ronda kept us engaged by avoiding redundancy. We would have intense conditioning practices, “off hand throws only dodgeball games”, scrimmages, game time scenarios, relay races, combo drills, and much more. Her practices were methodically planned to maximize productivity and always seemed to fly by. My senior year the entire team had an epic “prank war” against the coaching staff (the victors of which remains debatable) and I still laugh when telling those stories. I can undoubtedly say that the years I spent at DU were some my best. Ronda transformed me into a next level athlete, helped me fine tune my leadership skills, and gave me advice that to this day, I still use. She showed me what it means to be a reliable teammate. This has translated to my professional life as well as my personal life. I am extremely grateful that I was able to learn from her as she truly is one of the best around! DU it!!"

0

Women's Softball

Kathryn Bzdafka

Former Women's Softball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Davenport Is A Screwed Up Place

Date: April 17, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Believes In You Dedicated To Players Passionate About Coaching Poor Communication Knows The Game

"Imagine getting jv and not wanting it because honestly it’s mean. The nicest coach and person I’ve ever met, leaning on the assistant AD is the worst mistake this actual nice coach could have made. All the blame gets put on the head coach for decisions the administration was making. Hilarious jv players and players that have had problems don’t/didnt put together that this rule following coach didn’t go rogue on anything. Honestly being a part of this team and knowing this information it hurts my heart this was done to someone who does nothing but care and support everyone. "

0

Women's Softball

Kathryn Bzdafka

Former Women's Softball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Sad To See A Coach That Cares About Her Players Blackballed

Date: April 17, 2025

By Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Believes In You Dedicated To Players Passionate About Coaching Poor Communication Knows The Game

"As an athlete who continues to have a relationship with Kathryn. It’s bizarre what Ronda did to you and what Davenport has allowed to happen."

0

Men's Baseball

Kevin Tidey

Men's Baseball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Excellent College Baseball Coach

Date: April 15, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Motivational Dedicated To Players Accessible

"Excellent college baseball coach. Great leader!"

0

Men's Baseball

Kevin Tidey

Men's Baseball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Top Notch Coach And Baseball Program To Play For

Date: April 12, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Motivational Dedicated To Players Accessible

"Tidey is great! He runs an Amazing culture and program! I recommend him as a coach "

0

Men's Baseball

Kevin Tidey

Men's Baseball Head Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | MIAA

Coach Tidey Is An Excellent Example

Date: April 12, 2025

By Parent

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Motivational Dedicated To Players Accessible

"Coach Tidey know the game of baseball and clearly has the athletes best interest in mind "

0

Women's Softball

Ronda Varnesdeel

Head Softball Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | GLIAC

Bringing Back The Winning Culture

Date: April 11, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Dedicated To Players Direct Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Knows The Game

"This team has been through it all. Ups, downs, and everything in between. The only good thing about the past coaches is they laid the foundation by recruiting good strong talent. The weak links of players realized they couldn’t cut it with this team and quit. The rest have stuck through and now with Ronda at the helm, that hard work is turning into more wins. Thanks Ronda for working to bring back the winning culture."

0

Women's Softball

Ronda Varnesdeel

Head Softball Coach

Davenport University

NCAA DII • Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | GLIAC

Ronda Didn’t Just Step In, She Stepped Up

Date: April 11, 2025

By Other

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Dedicated To Players Direct Creates A Great Team Culture Honest Knows The Game

"When Ronda took over the team mid-season, everything changed. Stepping into a leadership role in the middle of a season is never easy. But Ronda didn’t just step in; she stepped up. She brought clarity, focus, and an unwavering belief in the group’s potential. Her ability to connect with players, adjust strategies on the fly, and instill a culture of accountability sparked an immediate shift. Under her leadership, the team found its identity. That’s the impact of a true leader: turning a challenging time into a turning point."

0

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