Mandi Chaiyabhat begins her fourth season as an assistant coach with the Hood College softball program. She brings a wealth of coaching experience at the high school and travel ball levels.

Chaiyabhat is the co-founder and co-president of WM Fastpitch Camps and Clinics, which provides instruction for baseball and softball hitting and softball pitching. She is also a guest camp instructor and clinic staff member with Tony Dello Baseball located in Arizona. She provides fastpitch softball instruction in partnership with Tony Dello, the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondback Class AA affiliate Tennessee Smokies and a staff member for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

Chaiyabhat also co-founded the Maryland Xplosion Fastpitch softball program and served as co-president and U14 manager from July 2004 to September 2005. She led the U14 team to NSA, Pony and AAA World Series berths and guided the team to a seventh-place finish at the 2005 AAA Nationals in Orlando, Fla.

Chaiyabhat served as the varsity pitching and catching coach at Gaithersburg High School in 2005 and was the junior varsity head coach for the three previous seasons. Additionally, she has served as an assistant coach for the U18 Montgomery Village (Md.) Sports Association Storm, the U16 Crystal Lake (Ill.) Tital Waves and the Crystal Lake (Ill.) South High School freshman program.

As a player, Chaiyabhat enjoyed a stellar two-year career at McHenry County (Ill.) College. Each year, she was named team MVP and NJCAA Region IV All-Skyway Conference. As a sophomore, she earned MVP honors at the Regional All-Star Game and Disney Wide World of Sports Spring Training Tournament and set a single-season school record with a 0.41 earned run average.

After earning an associate degree from McHenry County, she moved on to Illinois State University, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in teacher education and athletic training in 2001.

Chaiyabhat currently serves as a health and physical education teacher at Neelsville Middle School in Germantown, Md. She and her husband, Whit, have two children, Mackenzie Anne and Carter.