Coaches

Christie Novatin

A highly respected coach with championship experience at the University of Connecticut and in the Ivy League, Christie Novatin was named the University of Pennsylvania’s head softball coach in June 2023.


Novatin arrived in University City following four years as the Associate Head Coach at UConn, where she helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back regular-season Big East championships for the first time since 1997.


Novatin began at UConn in 2019, and with head coach Laura Valentino turned around a program that had 10 straight losing seasons into one of the top programs in the region. The Huskies compiled a 110-58 record during her last four seasons, including an impressive 51-18 mark in the Big East. In 2022 and 2023, UConn was 72-33 (39-9 Big East) and won the Big East regular-season titles both seasons.


As the team’s hitting coach, Novatin’s offense broke team records for most runs scored, RBI, stolen bases and walks during her four years. In 2023, UConn was seventh nationally in stolen bases per game and 17th in on-base percentage, and ranked in the top 50 in batting average and doubles per game. She recruited and developed Big East Freshman of the Year Grace Jenkins and coached players who set program marks in RBI, doubles, walks, total bases, and stolen bases.


Off the field, Novatin was responsible for team travel, equipment, and alumnae engagement while working with the head coach on fundraising for a new softball stadium.


Prior to her time at Connecticut, Novatin was an assistant coach at Princeton where she helped lead the Tigers to a pair of Ivy League championships. During her four years, she increased the team’s batting average and slugging percentage. She served as the acting head coach during the fall of 2017, leading all areas of the program.


Novatin also spent two seasons at UAlbany, helping the Great Danes to the 2014 America East championship, and was an assistant at Rider (2012-13) and Georgian Court (2010-12).


The Farmingdale, N.J. native was a four-year letter winner at Hofstra where her teams won four CAA regular-season titles, three CAA Tournament titles, and made three NCAA Regionals under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Edwards. She earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Hofstra in 2010.