USA Baseball announce 2026 Women's National Team coaching staff

USA Baseball on Tuesday announced the coaching staff for the 2026 Women’s National Team. The staff will be led by 2000 Olympic gold medalist Mike Kinkade, and he will be joined by five-time national team gold medalist coaches Jason Sekany and Tanner Vesely along with three-time Women’s National Team medalist Kristin Caldwell.

Kinkade will be making his managerial debut, Sekany will serve as pitching coach, while Vesely and Caldwell will join as assistant coaches. The staff, which owns a combined 12 gold medals with USA Baseball as players and/or coaches, will guide Team USA at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage from July 22-26 in Rockford, Illinois.

“We are excited to welcome Mike, Jason, Kristin, and Tanner to the coaching staff in 2026,” said Women’s National Team Program Director Makenzie Kelly. “All four coaches have proven track records not only with USA Baseball, but within their respective coaching careers. We look forward to them guiding us this summer at the Women’s World Cup Group Stage as Team USA pursues a spot in the Finals in 2027.”

Kinkade returns to USA Baseball in 2026 when he assumes the role of manager for the Women’s National Team, adding another piece to his established resume with the organization. Along with playing for Team USA twice, Kinkade has been involved with USA Baseball in several coaching capacities. Most recently he coached at the Women’s National Team Development Program last fall, his second time doing so after coaching in 2021, as well as the 13U/14U Athlete Development Program for the third straight year in 2025. He also served as a member of the coaching staff at the inaugural MLB Draft Combine, the first-ever Girls Camp in 2021, and the PDP League and Women’s National Team Training Camp in 2022.

Along with his success as a coach and player, Kinkade has been heavily devoted to growing the game and spends time on a year-round basis coaching at development events jointly hosted in partnership with Major League Baseball, including the Elite Development Invitational (EDI), Breakthrough Series, and MLB GRIT: Girls ID Tour over the last three years.

“I am truly humbled and thankful for the opportunity to lead the Women's National Baseball Team,” said Kinkade. “Wearing the USA uniform and getting the chance to

represent my country has always been the most memorable part of my baseball career. I have been incredibly impressed by the dedication and passion that these women have brought to baseball and how the level of play keeps improving in the women’s game. I am now honored to be part of this journey as we look to qualify for the World Cup Finals in 2027!”

Still holding multiple offensive records at Washington State University after playing for the Cougars between 1992-1995, he was drafted in the ninth round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and made his Major League debut in 1998 with the New York Mets. Kinkade is a two-time alum, as he was a part of the 2000 Olympic Team that won gold in Sydney and was an important piece to an important piece of the 2006 Professional Team that qualified the United States for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Following his playing career, Kinkade has spent time at the minor league, collegiate, and high school ranks since 2011, and most recently served as the hitting and catching coach at Arizona Christian University in 2024 and 2025.

A five-time national team coach, Sekany returns to USA Baseball as pitching coach for the Women’s National Team in 2026. The stars and stripes have had much success under Sekany’s direction, as he has helped Team USA claim five gold medals in international competition in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, and most recently in 2022. Since his most recent national team stint, Sekany has served as pitching coach at the 18U National Team Training Camp the past two summers and held the same role last fall at the Women’s National Team Development Program.

Sekany pitched at the University of Virginia before being drafted in the second round of the 1996 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He played three years in Triple-A and spent parts of the 2000 and 2001 seasons on Boston’s big-league roster. Sekany is currently the Northwest Regional Director for the USA Baseball National Team Identification Series (NTIS) and is an assistant coach at Granada High School (Livermore, Calif.). Additionally, he is the founder and lead pitching instructor at TPC Baseball and The Pitching Center in Livermore, California.

Caldwell, a three-time Women’s National Team alumna and three-time medalist, will make her national team coaching debut this summer as an assistant coach for the Women’s National Team. Caldwell was a member of the program’s first-ever national team that won a gold medal at the 2004 International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Women’s World Cup, as well as its 2008 and 2012 teams that won bronze and silver, respectively, in World Cup play. Her most recent touchpoints with USA Baseball were in 2025 when she managed the South Bend Blue Sox at the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic powered by USA Baseball in August and was an assistant coach for the Stars team at the Women’s National Team Development program in October.

Caldwell, who was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, made history in 2023 by becoming the first female high school head baseball coach in the state of Delaware by taking the job at her alma mater, Caravel Academy, after serving as an assistant coach on the staff for 11 years. The Buccaneers have reached the playoffs in each of her first three seasons at the helm of the program and won state Coach of the Year honors in 2023, and as a player she pitched on its 1998 state championship squad.

Vesely, a six-time national team coach, returns to the USA Baseball dugout this summer when he serves as an assistant coach for the Women’s National Team. This will be his fifth time being involved with Women’s National Team programming as he was a coach at Trials in 2019, Training Camp in 2023, and most recently the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic powered by USA Baseball in August and the Women’s National Team Development Program in October.

Vesely has helped the stars and stripes capture a combined five gold medals at the 12U and 14U levels. He won back-to-back gold medals with the 2008 and 2009 14U National Teams and then gold medals with the 2013, 2015, and 2022 12U National Teams. In 2015 he made his managerial debut and was named the 2015 Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year after guiding the stars and stripes to a world championship title at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.

He has been a member of the Task Force at the National Team Championships in Arizona since 2008 and has served as a coach at the 12U National Open. He was also part of the inaugural 2019 13U Athlete Development Program coaching staff and was on the NTIS Task Force in 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018, and 2025. He is in his 21st season as an assistant coach at Corona del Sol High School (Tempe, Ariz.) and has helped lead his team to the USA Baseball National High School Invitational in 2019 and 2025.

The USA Baseball Women’s National Team has medaled in seven of the nine WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cups since the tournament’s inception in 2004. The U.S. earned gold in the first two editions of the event in 2004 and 2006, posting a 10-2 combined record. After winning bronze medals in 2008 and 2010, the stars and stripes claimed silver in 2012 and 2014 and most recently in 2024. Overall, the Women’s National Team owns five gold medals in international competition, most recently earning a first-place finish at the 2019 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier.

The 2026 Women’s National Team Training Camp will take place at the National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, from June 11-15. Team USA will then train in Chicago from July 16-20 before traveling to Rockford for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage from July 22-26. More information on the Training Camp roster, as well as the full schedule, will be announced at a later time. For the most up-to-date information on the Women’s National Team, visit USABaseball.com and follow @USABaseballWNT on Twitter/X and @USABaseball on Instagram.