UCLA Bruin Professionals is ecstatic to welcome UCLA Softball Head Coach, Kelly Inouye-Perez, and Assistant Coach, Lisa Fernandez, to our Westwood meeting. These impressive coaches led our Bruins to their 13th National Championship and 12th NCAA title. They’ll discuss key moments in their careers, pivotal moments during last year’s season, and what’s next for UCLA Softball. 

About the Speakers

Kelly Inouye-Perez is beginning her 14th season as the Bruins' head coach in 2020 and has an overall record of 600-172-1 (.777) through 13 campaigns.Last year, Inouye-Perez guided the Bruins to their 13th National Championship and 12th NCAA title. The Bruins never trailed at the Women's College World Series, as Inouye-Perez won her 600th career game in the title-clinching victory over Oklahoma. Inouye-Perez and her staff were named the 2019 NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year, the second time in a decade they earned the award (2010), and NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year (fifth time). Over Inouye-Perez's 13 seasons as head coach, the Bruins have earned 32 NFCA All-American awards, 67 All-Region honors and 89 All-Pac-10/12 accolades.

No stranger to the Bruin dugout, Inouye-Perez starts her 32nd straight season in Westwood in 2020. She is a link to five decades of Bruin softball success, joining the UCLA softball program as a freshman in 1989. Inouye-Perez's time is highlighted by eight NCAA Championships and nine Pac-10/12 titles in her previous 31 years, spending five campaigns as a player and 13 as an assistant coach. Inouye-Perez graduated from UCLA in 1993 with a B.A. in psychology and earned her master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2004.

Inouye-Perez and her husband, Gerardo Perez, currently reside in Cerritos. The couple has two children, Michael (20), a sophomore on the UCLA baseball team, and Kylie (15).

One of the most recognizable names in the sport of softball, Lisa Fernandez begins her 22nd season on the Bruin coaching staff in 2020.This is Fernandez's second stint as a full-time assistant coach for UCLA (1997-99, 2007-present), also serving as a volunteer assistant from 2000-04. In 21 previous seasons with Fernandez on staff, the Bruins have posted a 994-262-2 (.791) record and have claimed five NCAA Championships in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010 and 2019. UCLA has also won Pac-10/12 titles in 1999, 2002, 2009 and 2019. The program has been honored as the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year three times in 2004, 2010 and 2019 and NFCA Regional CSOY six times in 2000, '10, '14, '15, '16 and '19. Arguably the greatest pitcher in softball history, Fernandez has coached nine Bruin hurlers to 18 NFCA All-American awards.

In November 2013, Fernandez was inducted into the ASA/USA Softball National Hall of Fame. A decade prior, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. Fernandez is a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, having helped Team USA to victories in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

Fernandez played at UCLA from 1990-93 and completed her psychology degree in 1995. A three-time winner of the sport's Honda Award, Fernandez became the first softball player to win the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup in 1993, given to the most outstanding collegiate female athlete in all sports. A four-time, First Team All-American, Fernandez led the Bruins to two national championships (1990 & 1992) and two runner-up finishes (1991 & 1993). She was also All-Region and All-Pac-10 First Team each season and Pac-10 Player of the Year her final three years.
She ranks second in UCLA history in ERA and sixth in wins and strikeouts and in the UCLA Top 10 in numerous offensive categories, including fifth in hits.

Fernandez and Mike Lujan, who were married in August 2002, have two sons, Antonio (14) and Cruz (7), and reside in Long Beach.

It is essential that you RSVP 24 hours in advance using the link below, so our Membership Coordinator can send you the meeting information promptly. Please watch the training and read the documents on the BP ZOOM Resource Center, so you are prepared for the meeting. 

Cost: Free

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