Christy Ferguson isn’t letting any grass grow under her feet after being named Hartselle High’s new head softball coach on June 18.

“It’s been a whirlwind week,” she said Thursday. “We talked about having a summer fundraiser but backed off after realizing that most of the girls are busy with travel ball and other activities, scheduled tryouts at Calhoun Community College for our three rising seniors—Kayla Faulk, Baylee Holt and Leah Stephenson, met with Principal Jeff Hyche to discuss plans for the softball program and began putting a schedule together for next season.”

She also plans to accompany Holt to Montgomery on July 10, where she will play in the Alabama Softball All-Star Game.

Previously scheduled varsity tryouts were delayed due to an impending coaching change and will be held after school starts in August.

“I did that because I want every girl who is interested in softball to have an equal opportunity to make the team, Ferguson said. “As of now we have three seniors, six juniors and eight sophomores on the roster and I’m looking for about a dozen girls from the freshman class to try out.”

Ferguson assumed the head coaching job after serving as a Hartselle assistant for 10 years. She left the program three years ago to take an assistant’s job at UAH and a year later assumed the head coaching job at Falkville High. While there, her teams compiled winning records and the 2012 team advanced to the regional tournament where it finished in fourth place.

“It’s a dream job for me,” Ferguson said, “because I know most of the players and their families from having them in PE classes or as members of the 7th and 8th grade girl’s basketball teams at the junior high. “They know that my burning desire is for them to be winners and realize that lots of hard work is what it takes for them to reach their goals.”

She said she would meet with her team in a couple of weeksand begin making plans for next year. “Of course, there will be lots of things going on when the next school term begins,” she pointed out.

Ferguson said her goal for the team is to work hard, play hard, win the small battles and be positioned to compete for a state championship every year.

“I’m going to put my touch on the program,” she added. “We’re stepping up the level of competition and we’ll do some fine tuning but we should be in pretty good shape with the talent we have coming back.”

Ferguson said she expects to have former head coach Robin Riley and assistant coach Kathy Cheatham as her assistant coaches.