Stacey McGowan, Head Coach

Coach Stacey enters her second season with the Thunderbirds as the head coach of the 12u team. Although new to the coaching staff of the organization, she is not new to the program as she played her entire travel career with the Thunderbirds between the years 1996 – 2002. After college Coach Stacey spent many years giving pitching lessons to young athletes at various baseball/softball academies until she joined the DeSales University Bulldogs as the pitching coach for 14 seasons. She made a tough decision to retire from that role after the 2025 season to focus on her young family and the Thunderbirds team. Coach Stacey played for Indian Valley Middle School, Indian Crest Middle School, and Souderton Area High School before moving on to play four years at Kutztown University where her team made appearances in the PSAC Conference Championships and NCAA Regionals all four years. Summers during and after her college years were still spent on the ball field as a pitcher for the Topton VIPs Woman’s Major team where she had the opportunity to compete against big team names such as the Stratford Brakettes and the Greek National team in addition to various other local teams. 

Coach Stacey truly loves the game of softball and all the memories and friends that it has brought into her life. Shifting from a player role to a coaching role was an incredible way to stay involved in the sport while sharing her experiences and knowledge with younger players. Her coaching philosophy is to create a safe, supportive, and positive space for her players to develop and grow while instilling confidence both on and off the field. It’s extremely important to focus on fundamentals to learn the skills the right way and teach the game holistically. She considers her team and the broader Thunderbirds team family – and will always go to bat for them!