Bellevue West High School announced Josie Chronic Rasmussen as their new softball coach. Rasmussen was an assistant coach for Gretna last year. She’s excited to come and get started with the Thunderbirds. “It’s a good opportunity to come in and I look forward to making the team competitive,” said Rasmussen.
Bellevue West finished 11-18 last year, losing in the District A-7 tournament to Westside and Grand Island. The Thunderbirds will return a lot of young talent including Brooklyn Phephles and Jaycee Woodard. Phephles led the team in batting average and on-base percentage as a freshman. Woodard was second in on-base percentage and home runs.
According to Rasmussen she plans to continue to develop the young talent. “There is a lot of young talent on the team. We need to let those young girls get more varsity experience and see what their talent is worth.”
The top priority for Rasmussen is building a culture and providing consistency. “The team has gone through multiple head coaches, giving consistency is going to be the biggest thing. I want to build a culture and let the girls learn to lead on their own,” said Rasmussen.
Prior to being an assistant coach at Gretna, Rasmussen played college softball at Briar Cliff, where she was a First Team All-Conference player and two-time captain. Prior to college, Rasmussen earned All-State honors at Ralston. She currently coaches and gives lessons at UBA while coaching a NE Thunder team.
