BERKELEY – Bridget Ballard has been named an assistant coach with the Cal lacrosse program, head coach Jennifer Wong announced Wednesday. Ballard will be in her first campaign as a collegiate coach in 2023 after previously working as a club coach for Building Blocks Lacrosse. She also served as an assistant coach for one season at Chatham High School, where she helped lead her alma mater to the 2017 New Jersey state finals after being a two-time US Lacrosse All-American as a prep.

Ballard spent four seasons as a collegiate lacrosse student-athlete at Loyola University Maryland (2017-20), where her four teams racked up a combined 48-18 record and made a pair of second-round appearances in the NCAA Tournament in her final two full campaigns in 2018 and 2019. The Greyhounds' 2020 season was ended by COVID after a 5-0 start.

"We are incredibly excited to have Bridget join us here at Cal," Wong said. "Her experience at Loyola, playing for Jen Adams, has prepared her to make an immediate impact with our program. She brings a wealth of lacrosse knowledge as well as passion for the game. Caroline Corzel and I look forward to working with her as she joins the college coaching profession."

"I am extremely excited to work alongside coach Wong and coach Corzel," Ballard said. "We share so much passion for this sport and for the development of our talented players, not just as athletes but as people. I look forward to bringing my experience and knowledge of the game to the practice field and sideline, and I am looking forward to seeing our program at Cal become stronger and stronger."

Ballard also spent one month in July of 2015 as a volunteer, coach and mentor with the South African Lacrosse Project that worked in conjunction with the Waterberg Welfare Society to provide meals to orphans and at-risk children in Limpopo, South Africa.

Ballard received her bachelor's degree from Loyola University in PR/Advertising in 2020 and has worked in the field since her graduation most recently as an account executive in New York City for Nike Communications, Inc.