Meet Head Coach Sharon De Kleine
Sharon De Kleine is in her third year as Calvin’s head softball coach.
A 1985 Calvin College graduate, DeKleine was a standout student-athlete for the Knights in both softball, as a pitcher and a shortstop, and basketball, where she played point guard.
A native of Holland, Mich., De Kleine was a three-sport athlete at Holland Christian High School, participating in volleyball, basketball and softball. At Calvin she earned All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors in softball and basketball, including league MVP awards in softball in 1983 and 1984, and in basketball in 1983.
Also in 1983 she became the first NCAA III softball All-American in Calvin history. And she was part of three Calvin softball teams that advanced to the NCAA III Tournament with Calvin’s 1984 team advancing all the way to the NCAA World Series.
As a senior she was honored with Calvin’s Kay Tiemersma Award – given to the senior female student-athlete who most exemplifies athletic and academic excellent along with Christian leadership.
De Kleine graduated in 1985 with a major in physical education and a minor in English. In 1992, She earned her master’s degree in secondary education at Grand Valley State University.
After graduating from Calvin, De Kleine accepted a teaching position at Hudsonville Unity Christian High School where she remained for the next 23 years. While at Unity, she coached girls tennis, volleyball and softball. She was the varsity softball coach at Unity Christian from 1986-1995, leading the Crusaders to a Class B state title in 1992 along with a state runner-up finish in 1990 and a berth in the 1993 state quarterfinals. Despite choosing to step away from her position as a head coach in 1995, DeKleine continued to stay involved in the game over the 14 years on a volunteer basis. Prior to accepting the head coaching position at Calvin. DeKleine served one year as pitching coach with the Hope softball program.
In the fall of 2008, De Kleine joined the Calvin Kinesiology department as an instructor. She is now an assistant professor in the department along with her softball coaching duties.
Meet Assistant Coach Tara Sipperley
Tara Sipperley 
is heading into her first year as Calvin’s assistant softball coach. She is a native of Newaygo, Michigan, and a 2007 graduate of Newaygo High School. She was a three-sport athlete at Newaygo receiving honors on the field as a middle infielder in softball. She furthered her education at Muskegon Community College and continued her love for softball under the 2010 National Champion head coach Matthew Houseman. There she received all conference honors by playing left field and having a dominating bat. After her two years were finished at MCC, she traveled to Angola, Indiana, to play for Donnie Danklefsen at Trine University. While there, she established her major in Exercise Science. She was a captain of her team and a very self-motivated leader. She helped bring the Thunder to a pair of MIAA conference tournament championships where she earned all-conference honors. She is in the process of completing bachelor's degree in exercise science at Grand Valley State University.
MEET ASSISTANT COACH KRISTEN HULST
Kristen begins her first season as an assistant coach at Calvin College. A 2005 graduate of Aquinas College, Hulst pitched for the Saints and helped lead her teams to two WHAC conference championships and a trip to the NAIA National tournament in 2005.
Kristen has joined the Calvin coaching staff after completing three years as the pitching coach at Davenport University. Hulst has also had experience coaching a high school rec league for five years along with giving pitching lessons to aspiring athletes.
Kristen works full time as a sales rep at Notions Marketing and will be taking on this position part time working mainly with the pitchers.
She looks forward to this new opportunity at Calvin College and the exciting year ahead.
