Heather Tarr

Heather Robyn Tarr (born October 5, 1974) is an American former collegiate softball third baseman, and is the current head coach at Washington. Tarr become one of five coaches/athletes to have played and coached in the Women's College World Series, playing in the 1996 Women's College World Series as well the 1997 Women's College World Series, and coaching the Huskies at the 2009 Women's College World Series. She was the first coach to win a title with her alma mater when the Huskies won the national championship in 2009. Tarr has also assisted Team USA and helped coach the team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Tarr is the winningest coach of any sport in University of Washington history. Her record as of May 2026 is 744-283-1.

Early life and education Born in Kirkland, Washington, Tarr graduated from Redmond High School and played at infielder on the Washington Huskies softball team from 1994 to 1997 while attending the University of Washington. Tarr was an honorable mention all-Pac-10 honoree from 1995 to 1997 and second-team NFCA All-Pacific Region honoree in 1997. As a senior in 1997, Tarr batted .283 with 53 hits and 32 RBI.

Coaching career

College assistant (1998–2004) In 1998, Tarr was an undergraduate assistant at Washington while completing her geography degree.

From 1999 to 2004, Tarr was an assistant coach for the University of the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California under head coach Brian Kolze. She later became associate head coach during the 2004 season. With Tarr on staff, UOP went 232–124 and 90–44 mark in the Big West Conference. In 2001, Tarr and Pacific head coach Brian Kolze were named 2001 NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Tigers to within one win of the Women's College World Series and finished the year at No. 18 in the final national ranking.

Washington (2005–present) After the 2004 season UOP as an assistant, Heather Tarr was named head coach of the Washington Huskies softball team. In her first UE season, Tarr led the Huskies to a 35–22 overall record and to the NCAA Super Regionals where they lost to eventual national champion Michigan. In 2009, Tarr led Washington 51–12 overall record and won the 2009 Women's College World Series, Washington's first title in program history. She became the first coach to win a title with her alma mater.

As of May 2026, Tarr is the winningest coach of any sport in University of Washington history. Her record is currently 744-283-1 and she has coached UW Softball in seven Women’s College World Series appearances.

Tarr led the Huskies to a runner-up finish in the 2018 Women's College World Series. Tarr has been a mentor to athletes Danielle Lawrie, Ali Aguilar and Taran Alvelo and is head coach of the U.S. Under-19 National Softball Team.

Team USA Tarr was named as an assistant coach for the United States women's softball team in 2019. On October 25, 2021, Tarr became the head coach for Team USA. As head coach of Team USA, Tarr led the team to win a gold medal in 2022 at the World Games. As assistant coach, she led the team to a silver medal win at the WBSC Softball World Cup and another silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Statistics

Head coaching record Sources: