Kaleigh Rafter Named Assistant Softball Coach
7/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BUFFALO, NY – Third-year head coach Trena Peel has announced the hiring of longtime Canadian National Team member Kaleigh Rafter as assistant coach. Rafter has been a member of the Canadian National Team since 2007.
Since joining the Women's National Team, Rafter has been one of Canada's biggest homerun threats. She was a member of the 2010 ISF World Championship team that won a Bronze medal in Venezuela, and also won two Silver medals at the Pan American Games (2007 and 2011). Rafter also competed with the 2012 ISF World Championship team that finished fourth in Whitehorse, Yukon and led Canada with a pair of homeruns and seven runs batted in as Canada again finished fourth at the 2014 ISF Women's World Championship in Haarlem, Netherlands. She has also played professionally for Honda in the Japanese Professional Softball League.
"I am very excited to begin working with Coach Rafter," said Peel. "She is a very well rounded coach that will bring a lot of knowledge to all areas of the game. I believe that she will connect well with our players and her experiences, both collegiately and internationally, will help us build a championship mentality."
Rafter completed her collegiate career at Florida State where she was named a first-team NFCA All-Region selection as well as an All-ACC First Team performer. Prior to joining the Seminoles, Rafter played at Detroit-Mercy where she was twice named the Horizon League Player of the Year. Following her two seasons at Detroit, Rafter took a redshirt to compete with the Canadian Olympic team before finishing at Florida State.
She continued to remain active with the Florida State softball program following the end of her collegiate career, serving as both a student assistant and a volunteer coach in 2012-13, specializing in the catching position.
Rafter played her minor softball in Guelph and competed in a total six Canadian Championships with the Guelph Gators and Brampton Blazers, winning four gold medals between 2000 and 2005. She was named to the tournament All-Star team at the Peewee (U14) Girl's Canadian Championship in 2000, while earning the Most Valuable Player award of the Qualifying Round at the Bantam (U16) Girl's Canadian Championship in 2001. She also won a Gold medal at the 1999 Canadian Girls Baseball Championship.
Rafter received a Bachelor's of Science in Criminology as well as Master's Degrees in Criminology and Sports Management.
