The winningest coach in Valpo softball history, Randy Schneider guides Valparaiso into the 2010 campaign for his seventh season on the Crusader bench.

The 2009 Crusaders were an offensive juggernaut, as ten team single-season records and six individual single-season marks were set by the squad.  Schneider’s players hit .312 on the season while scoring better than five runs per game.  Schneider guided the Crusaders to 25 wins last year, increasing his record tally to 137, and their third straight season above the .500 mark.

Schneider earned Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading Valpo to a school-record 30 wins and a second place finish in the league standings.  Included among the 30 wins was the Crusaders’ first-ever victory over a ranked squad, a 7-5 win over #23 Maryland.  Valpo also ended the season atop the nation in stolen bases/game, swiping 2.57 bases/contest.

Schneider got the 2007 Crusader team off to a 9-3 start, the best 12-game record in school history, en route to a then-program record tying 27 victories.  Schneider’s 2006 campaign was the most successful of his Valpo coaching career to that point, as he guided Valpo to 22 victories.  With his 21st win of the season, Schneider moved into first among Crusader head coaches in victories.

Schneider’s arrival on campus brought a 14-game turnaround in 2004, when the Brown and Gold won 21 games and earned a spot in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament for the first time in five seasons.  The 2004 Crusaders even picked up a win at the conference tournament before falling in the championship game to Centenary.  Four players from that team received Mid-Con All-Tournament honors.

Schneider has coached 21 All-League players in his six years at the helm.  Five of his players were honored following the 2006 campaign, matching the most by any team in the Mid-Con, and five more received All-Conference notice in 2007.  During his tenure, the Crusaders have broken 21 team single-season records and 34 individual single-season and career records.

Schneider has also made sure his student-athletes have been successes not only on the field, but also in the classroom and in the community.  Eight of his players have earned CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors during his tenure, including Valpo Softball’s first ever Academic All-American last year in Karen Korb.  In the community, the Crusaders’ “I Need a Hug” program, which he helped to start upon his arrival at Valpo, is continuing to grow to even greater heights.

Schneider arrived at Valpo from Wartburg College in Iowa where he led the Knights to a 100-37-1 record in four seasons.  Wartburg won an Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 2001, the first in the school’s history.  That same year he guided the Knights to the NCAA Division III Tournament where they finished as Central Region runner-up, and Schneider was named IIAC and Region Coach of the Year.

Schneider earned his bachelor’s degree from Wartburg in 1988 with a degree in physical education.  He and his wife Kristy have three children, Karli (9), Alec (6) and Bryn (4).