Former University of Illinois associate head softball coach and 2010 Women's College World Series shortstop at Georgia
Laura Trout spent 11 seasons on the University of Illinois softball coaching staff, including five as associate head coach after being promoted in August 2021. She served as hitting coach and worked primarily with infielders. During her tenure, Illinois reached four NCAA Tournaments, including back-to-back regional appearances in 2016 and 2017, the program's first since 2010, and a third-place Big Ten finish in 2022. In 2023, Illinois hosted the Big Ten Tournament for the first time and opened with an 8-4 win over Wisconsin, becoming the first 12-seed to beat a five-seed on its home field. Fifteen Illinois players earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association recognition while she was on staff. Before Illinois, Trout was an assistant coach at George Washington University in 2015, where she directed hitting and infield defense for a team that ranked in the top 10 nationally in double plays turned. She spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant at South Carolina, helping the Gamecocks reach their first NCAA Tournament in six years in 2013, and she was head coach of the Southern Force 18U Gold club program in 2012, where seven of her players went on to Division I softball.
Trout was the starting shortstop at the University of Georgia in 2010 and 2011, helping the Bulldogs reach the 2010 Women's College World Series and a No. 3 national finish, and she was named the team's Best Defensive Player. She hit .348 as a senior. At Spartanburg Methodist College she was a two-time NJCAA All-American and the 2009 Region X Most Valuable Player. She earned a B.A. in journalism from Georgia in 2012 and an associate degree, magna cum laude, from Spartanburg Methodist in 2009.
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