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Kara Dill has been UTA softball\u2019s head coach since 2022. Dill is the 10th to hold the position in the program.<\/p>\n
Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n Intercollegiate head coaches juggle long hours, constant travel and relentless pressure, but for UTA softball head coach Kara Dill, the challenge is worth doubling.<\/p>\n In November, Dill assumed her second head coaching role with the Carolina Blaze in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, a professional women\u2019s summer softball league, following her role as associate head coach in the league\u2019s inaugural year.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have the opportunity to stay in the league and continue to grow the league,\u201d Dill said. \u201cWhat this would look like in 10 years is just so exciting to be a part of, that it could be sustainable for these athletes to be professional athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n Athletes Unlimited, co-founded by Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros in 2020, operates as a parent organization for leagues in women\u2019s professional sports including softball, volleyball and basketball. The organization is also the first professional sports league to be organized as a public benefit corporation.<\/p>\n Some of the leagues within the organization foster a unique format in which players are stakeholders, share company profits, help shape policies and compete for individual points rather than strictly on team standings. Those leagues\u2019 teams are formed by the player who accumulated the most points that week, who becomes team captain and makes all the decisions.<\/p>\n This article was featured in the Feb. 4 print<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe premise was to give female athletes empowerment to make the decisions that best fit their career,\u201d said Dana Sorensen, Carolina Blaze general manager. \u201cIt originally was athlete-driven, meaning that when our league first started, before AUSL, it was players drafting players, players selecting teams, captains were selecting the teams out of the draft pool and then they were making all the on-field decisions. There really was no coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the formation of the new softball league in 2025, Athletes Unlimited had one known as the AU Pro Softball Championship Season, now called the AUSL All-Star Cup. It also holds a condensed two-week, 18-game season known as the Athletes Unlimited X. Both have operated under the player-run format.<\/p>\n Sorensen said that while this structure gave power to the athletes, it was difficult for fans to keep track due to a lack of a team mindset. The Athletes Unlimited Softball League opted to run with the traditional formatting, having coaches and managers do the legwork that allows teams to function similarly to college ball, she said.<\/p>\n Memorabilia sits on UTA softball head coach Kara Dill’s office shelf. Dill was formerly an assistant coach for Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n Entering the 2026 season, the league has transitioned to be fully city-based, hosting six teams across the country: the Carolina Blaze, the Chicago Bandits, the Texas Volts, the Utah Talons, along with the newly added Portland Cascade and Oklahoma City Spark.<\/p>\n Dill joined Sorensen with the Blaze in its first season, joining head coach Alisa Goler and the team\u2019s two assistant coaches, Sue Kunkle and Ryan Wondrasek. Now, as head coach, Dill will work alongside Sorensen with a growing roster of 13 athletes in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s incredibly smart, and the one thing I really appreciate about her is she will observe situations before she will step in and speak,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cOn the professional setting, that was really important, because there\u2019s a lot of decisions you have to make.\u201d<\/p>\n Sorensen noted Dill\u2019s coaching background, touching on the four back-to-back Women\u2019s College World Series she\u2019s been part of. She said any of the coaches Dill has been with during those times will tell just how great a coach she is.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re so confident in who she is as a person, so that\u2019s reassuring when you have people that have won as many games as they all have,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cNot a lot of coaches her age are going to have those glowing recommendations from that many Hall of Fame coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Dill laughed while she said being a head coach for two teams wasn\u2019t something she really thought about. Noting the people and opportunities around her, Dill said being a coach is something she was certain she always wanted; now she\u2019s doing it at two of the highest levels.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a very small group of people that I rely on for wisdom in this coaching world and trying to navigate it,\u201d Dill said. \u201cI rely a lot on just a couple of those people who have the vision that I don\u2019t have. They\u2019ve just been around longer. They have more wisdom than I have.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most impactful mentors she has had was her former coach at the University of Kentucky, Rachel Lawson.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s just somebody I continue to go back to. She always has what\u2019s best for me in mind, which, in the coaching world, is hard to do because you\u2019re competitors with everybody,\u201d Dill said. \u201cBut she has just been a rock for me.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of balancing her UTA and pro league coaching duties, the UTA softball team doesn\u2019t feel the absence of their leader since the team isn\u2019t there during the summer, she said. Much of the offseason is dedicated to recruiting, a responsibility largely handled by Hunter Bunch, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.<\/p>\n Memorabilia of all the schools where UTA softball head coach Kara Dill has coached sit on her office shelf. Dill\u2019s alma mater is the University of Kentucky.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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