The Austin softball team has a new head coach.

The Packers will turn to Cindy Owen, who has been the head softball coach at Southwest Star Concept High school in southwestern Minnesota for the past two seasons.

Owen, who has coached on an off for the past 30 years, was just hired Monday morning so she hasn’t had a chance to meet her players yet, but she’s excited to take over.

“I’m looking to build a program,” Owen said. “I’ve heard Austin has a rich softball tradition and I’m willing to work to make it a notable softball program.”Owen said her team will play aggressive and she wants her players to work hard and leave it all out on the field.

“I expect my players to work hard day in and day out,” she said. “I want them to feel good about what they did after a game, whether we won or lost.”

Austin is the biggest school district that Owen has ever coached at and she’s looking forward to having more players to coach. While at Southwest Star Concept, Owen had a limited amount of players.

“We didn’t have a lot of position battles, and I’m looking forward to having that in

Austin,” Owen said. “I think that’s healthy.”

Owen graduated from Ellendale Geneva High School. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Education as well as Special Education from Winona State University; she also has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Southwest State University. She has coached and taught in the Preston–Fountain School district as before moving to Southwest Star Concept.

Coach Owen will also be teaching Special Education at Austin High School.

Owen replaces Tina Strauss, who resigned June.