Barbara Jordan
Head Coach
Cal State Northridge Softball
(818) 677-3854
Email: barbara.jordan@csun.edu

Barbara Jordan begins her sixth year as the head coach for the Matadors in 2007. Last season, Northridge won 10 of its final 12 games to finish above .500 at 22-20, also placing in a tie for fourth in the Big West Conference with an 8-10 league mark. The Matadors recorded a conference win over Big West Champion Cal State Fullerton and a pair of run-rule victories against NCAA Tournament team UC Santa Barbara. Northridge had three separate winning streaks of four and also had a five-game win streak. Five Matadors were named Big West Player of the Week during the season, while Janine Grund, Jan Moshier, Amanda Peek, Selena Salazar and Kelly Zakosek each received All-Big West honors. Peek also earned second-team All-West Region honors, marking the sixth All-Region honor for the Matadors in the last four years.

A member of the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team coaching staff, Jordan helped lead Team USA to the 2006 Junior Women's Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico (Nov. 10-18).

In 2005, Northridge posted a record of 16-23 and placed seventh in the Big West. The Matadors had two separate winning streaks of four games, and at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Georgia, defeated a Nebraska team which was ranked 17th in the nation and reached the NCAA postseason. Three Matadors were named to the All-Big West team, including Moshier, who earned All-West Region accolades. On Mar. 26, 2005, Jordan reached a milestone with her 100th coaching victory in the Matadors' 5-2 win over Pacific.

Jordan helped lead the Matadors to a 35-19 record in 2004, the school's best win total since 1998 (37), as well as a second-place finish in the Big West, a second straight invitation to the NCAA Tournament and two wins during regional play. Eight Matadors earned All-Big West Conference accolades, two received All-West Region honors (Christen Bedwell and Monique Lovell) and Bedwell gave CSUN its second All-American in as many years, earning third-team honors.

In 2003, Jordan guided the Matadors to a 27-23 record, the sport's 1,000th victory against Georgia Southern on March 1 and a trip to the NCAA Regionals in Tucson, Ariz. Northridge, which finished third in the Big West Conference, earned eight all-conference awards and two all-region selections in Bedwell and Kia Fennell. The Matadors also saw their first All-American recipient since 1998 when Fennell won second-team honors as a designated player.

Jordan had a 27-24 record in her first season as coach in 2002 and guided the Matadors to a tie for fourth place in the Big West. She helped lead the Matadors to many impressive wins in her first season, including victories over College World Series participant and second-ranked Arizona, as well as NCAA Tournament teams Fresno State, Notre Dame, Utah and Pacific. Four Matadors earned All-Big West honors, including first-teamers Bedwell and Summer Richardson.

Jordan was named to the post of head coach on Sept. 4, 2001. A 1987 graduate of Cal State Northridge, Jordan had served as the top assistant coach for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In those two years, the Matadors went 58-50-1, which culminated in two regional playoff showings.

Jordan returned to the Matadors in 2000 after being a member of three Northridge NCAA Division II National Championship teams (1984, 1985 and 1987). As an outfielder, Jordan was a three-time All-American (1985-1987) and a two-time Most Valuable Player in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (1985 and 1986). Jordan earned All-West Region honors three seasons (1985-1987) and made first team All-CCAA every year. In her final season as a Matador in 1987, she was honored as the Cal State Northridge Athlete of the Year.

Jordan still tops two Matador career categories; at-bats with 822 and games played with 269. She also ranks second in stolen bases (82), hits (259) and runs (167). Her all-time batting average of .315 ranks her 11th among Northridge career leaders. Jordan is tied for first in most games played in a season with 80 in 1985 and holds the mark for most at-bats in a season when she had 262 that year. She also holds three spots in the season leader charts in stolen bases and two spots in runs scored and led her team in batting average in 1984 (.268), 1985 (.259) and 1986 (.397). Jordan was inducted into the Matador Hall of Fame in 1995.

Following her days at Cal State Northridge, Jordan continued her storied career by becoming a member of various amateur and Olympic teams. Between 1987 and 1999, Jordan was selected to be a member of the U.S. National team eight times. In 1994, she was a member of the World Championship gold medal-winning team and the following year, she was a member of the 1995 gold medal squad at the Pan American Games. Jordan was also an alternate on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal. The following year, Jordan was part of the U.S. Pan Am Qualifier team that won the gold medal in Medellian, Columbia.

Jordan also played a total of 10 years (1988-1998) in the ASA (Amateur Softball Association). For eight of those seasons, she was a member of the three-time national champion Redding Rebels and earned All-American recognition on seven occasions. Following her amateur career, Jordan played one season with the Virginia Roadsters of the Women's Professional Softball League and was a WPSL All-Star in 2000 before being drafted in the third round of the 2000 WPSL/Elite Supplemental Draft by the Tampa Bay FireStix.

In 1999, she began her coaching career and, in her first and only season, led Westlake High School to their first playoff appearance in 10 years.

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Jordan was a two-sport standout at Granada Hills High School. She led the Highlanders to a CIF championship in softball in 1981 and a basketball championship in '83, while being honored as league Most Valuable Player that season. After high school graduation, Jordan played for the 18-under California Raiders, who were two-time national champions.

Roni Sparrey joins the Matador coaching staff after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Cal Poly following an outstanding four-year career with the Mustangs. At Northridge, Sparrey will be supervising the infield and overseeing the defense.

During her four-year career with the Mustangs, Sparrey hit .298 with 203 hits in 682 at-bats. The 203 hits places her first all-time on the Cal Poly career hits list. As a sophomore, Sparrey led the team with 17 runs batted in and nine stolen bases in earning All-Big West Conference second-team honors. She repeated as an all-conference player as a junior, receiving honorable mention accolades after recording a .293 average, six steals and 10 RBI. In her senior campaign, Sparrey led the club with a .373 average, three home runs and 26 runs batted in, earning her first-team All-Big West honors and first-team All-West Region accolades. Along with her .298 career average, Sparrey also posted seven home runs, 68 runs batted in, 29 stolen bases and 32 doubles.

In her two years as an assistant on the Cal Poly staff, Sparrey helped the Mustangs to a 35-16 record and a second-place finish in the Big West in 2005 and a 27-23 mark and a third-place finish in '06.

Sparrey, a native of Vallejo, Calif., graduated from Cal Poly in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in recreation administration.