Victoria Hayward

Personal: Hayward served as a member of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball’s Player Executive Committee from 2020 to 2022. She was named head softball coach at the University of Nevada on May 22, 2024, following a season as an assistant coach at the University of Washington. In her first year leading the Wolfpack, Hayward guided the team to a 41-14 record and a Mountain West regular season championship, earning 2025 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year honors. Her coaching journey includes two seasons as an assistant coach at San Diego State, a year as director of operations at UCF in 2019, and a season on the staff at Maryland. She also spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts and began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at LSU in 2015. Hayward grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and began playing softball at the age of seven. She has a mini cockapoo named Moose and enjoys hobbies such as exploring coffee shops and breweries, taking her dog to the beach, cooking, and learning new things. As a child, she was also involved in skiing, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. She credits her parents as her greatest inspiration growing up and names Florida State Head Coach Lonni Alameda as someone who has made a meaningful impact on her life. Her proudest athletic moment was qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Team Canada, while her proudest coaching accomplishment is leading Nevada to its first Mountain West title in her debut season. Hayward graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science and earned her master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in 2017. She wears jersey No. 1 because she was the first player to sign with Athletes Unlimited. Her walk-up song is “Wait Your Turn” by Rihanna. If she were not involved in softball, she says she would pursue a career as a leadership coach.

2024 Championship Season: Hayward finished in 12th place on the final leaderboard with 1,386 points. She ranked ninth in the league with 1,100 win points and compiled a 10-5 game record, including a 5-1 mark in her final six outings. Hayward started in 14 games and finished the season with a .341 batting average, accumulating 15 hits. She tied for fifth in the league with four doubles and was one of seven players to record a triple. Additionally, she drove in six runs and stole two bases in four attempts. Hayward registered six multi-hit games and opened the season with at least one hit in five of her first seven games. She earned MVP 3 accolades and 160 leaderboard points after going 2-for-4 with a run scored against Team Kilfoyl on August 3. Hayward also secured MVP 2 distinction to open Week Five with a 2-for-4 performance, three runs batted in, and a season-high 170 leaderboard points against Team Kilfoyl. In the Week Four finale against Team Palacios, she posted a pair of doubles and scored two runs.

2023 Championship Season: Hayward accumulated 740 leaderboard points, including 440 win points and 300 stat points, during the sixth Athletes Unlimited campaign. She was one of 12 players in the league to register 300 or more stat points and started in all 15 games. Hayward authored a .298 batting average to rank eighth in the circuit and was sixth in the league with a .421 on-base percentage. She tied with Bubba Nickles for fourth in the league with nine runs scored and also shared third with Morgan Zerkle after collecting 10 walks. Hayward was the league leader with five stolen bases in five attempts. She hit safely in 11 consecutive games from July 30 to August 25 and recorded two-hit performances against Team Rhodes on July 30 and against Team Denham in the season finale on August 27. Additionally, she posted three games with 100 or more leaderboard points.



2023 AUX Season: Hayward earned a share of 20th place on the leaderboard with 792 points. She achieved this by earning 530 win points. She started in all 10 games and had a batting average of .367. She hit two doubles and drove in four runs. Hayward also led the league with three stolen bases and brought in nine runs. In her final seven games, she hit safely in six of them, including three games with multiple hits. On June 25, she went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a double against Team Leach.

2022 Championship Season: Hayward finished in 20th place with 1,302 leaderboard points. She set a league record with 56 at-bats and tied for fifth in the circuit with 18 hits while scoring 12 runs. Additionally, she stole the league-best five bases in six attempts. Hayward hit two home runs with six runs batted in. She opened the season with a nine-game hitting streak before going 0-for-3 against Team Chidester on August 19. She collected three hits with a run scored against Team Harshman in the Week Two opener to finish with a season-high 180 leaderboard points. She also went 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored, and a pair of runs batted in against Team Chidester on August 13. Hayward closed the season with two hits and two runs scored against Team Chidester, along with driving in two runs.

2022 AUX Season: Hayward closed the season in 13th place on the leaderboard with 1,084 points. She was a starter in 11 games and led the league with a .512 batting average and 22 hits. She hit safely in 10-of-11 appearances and also scored nine runs, which were tied for third in the circuit. Hayward led the league with seven multi-hit games, including four games with three or more hits. She went 4-for-5 with a run scored against Team Chidester on June 14, joining Dejah Mulipola as the only players with a four-hit effort during the season. She opened Series Two with three consecutive multi-hit games, going 8-for-12 with three runs scored during that span. Hayward finished the season with an eight-game hitting streak.

2021 Championship Season: Hayward tallied 1,020 leaderboard points during her second Athletes Unlimited season. She started all 15 games and hit .354 with 17 hits in 48 at-bats. She led AU for the second straight year with seven stolen bases, equaling her own single-season record. She also paced the circuit with seven stolen base attempts. Hayward tied for third in the league with 17 hits, including four doubles, and tied for fourth with two sacrifice hits.

2020 Championship Season: Hayward finished third on the leaderboard with 1,860 points. She also ranked fourth with 1,310 win points and accumulated 470 stat points, good for ninth in Athletes Unlimited. She fashioned a .396 batting average with .459 on-base percentage, tied for the league lead with 53 at-bats, and tied for second with 21 hits. Additionally, she ranked fifth in the league with 15 runs scored, was one of 12 players to record a triple during the inaugural season, and tied for ninth in the league with 31 total bases. Hayward also paced the league with seven stolen bases in seven attempts.

International Experience: Hayward has international experience as the youngest person ever named to the Canadian Senior National Team after joining the team at 16 years old in 2009. In 2019, she was named Softball Canada’s Home Run Sports Female Fast Pitch Athlete of the Year. She led Canada to its first-ever Olympic medal with a bronze medal performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She hit .300 in Tokyo with a team-high seven runs scored, fashioned a tournament-high 10 hits, and seven stolen bases in 2019 WBSC Americas Olympic Qualifier. Hayward helped Team Canada claim a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games and was named to the 2015 Pan American Games team but was unable to compete due to an injury. She hit .353 with two stolen bases in the 2019 Pan American Games as Canada won the silver medal. Additionally, she has competed in five WBSC World Championships and was a member of the Team Canada squad at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. She went 6-for-16 with a triple and two runs batted in during five games and led all players in the tournament with seven stolen bases.

Other Professional Experience: Hayward was selected by the Pennsylvania Rebellion with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2014 NPF Draft. She played the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Rebellion. She was an All-NPF performer with the Canadian Wild in 2019 while earning the Jennie Finch Award. She paced the Wild with 46 hits and a .357 batting average.

College Experience: Hayward was a four-year letter-winner at Washington who played 223 games from 2011-14. She ranks 10th in program history with 176 career runs and stands eighth on Huskies’ career list with 73 stolen bases in 78 attempts. She hit .414 as a senior, which ranks eighth on Washington’s single-season list. Hayward led the Pac-12 Conference with 28 stolen bases during her senior season. She recorded six triples during her junior season to tie for second on UW’s single-season ledger. She paced the Huskies in batting average, at-bats, hits, stolen bases, and runs scored during her junior and senior campaigns. Hayward was a First-Team NFCA All-America selection as a senior and a two-time First-Team All-Region honoree. She earned All-Pac-12 Conference distinction three times, including First-Team notice as a junior and senior. Hayward was also a three-time Academic All-Pac-12 selection and a member of the 2011 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.