Jana Fields was hired as IUPUI's Assistant Softball Coach in June 2010. She brings 13 years of NCAA coaching experience to the IUPUI staff, including spending the past six seasons as an assistant at Saint Leo University.
While at Saint Leo, she was worked primarily with the pitchers and was the program’s recruiting coordinator. Administratively, she also helped manage the budget, assisted in scheduling and provided academic oversight. Saint Leo earned a spot in the NCAA South Regional Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and finished third in the region in 2008. All three of those years, the roster was headlined by two NCAA Division II All-Americans. Under Fields’ tutelage, the Saint Leo pitching staff established new school records in earned run average, strikeouts and shutouts. In addition, the Lions maintained a 3.0 team GPA all six seasons that Fields was on staff.
Prior to that, Fields spent four years as the Head Coach at Eckerd College from 2000-04 and saw her squad achieve a team GPA of 3.3 or better each season. Her 2001 squad notched a school record for ERA and the second best record in school history.
Fields began her coaching career as an assistant at Saint Leo in 1997, working primarily with the pitching staff and outfielders and helping oversee the training and conditioning program. The Lions finished at or above .500 from 1998-00 and earned the program’s first-ever NCAA postseason appearance in 2000.
She was the Sunshine State Conference softball chairperson in 2000-01 and served on the NCAA Division II South Region Advisory Committee from 2000-04.
Fields graduated from the University of West Alabama in 1997 with her B.S. in Physical Education/Psychology. During her playing career, she was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference performer and named All-South Region in 1997. She was also pegged to the GCC All-Tournament Team her senior year and holds UWA’s single-season and career strikeout records.
At IUPUI, Fields will assist in all facets of on-field coaching while focusing on developing the pitchers. In addition, she'll assist with budget maintenance, recruiting and academic oversight.
