Bio

Katie Rufo Barksdale joined the Carnegie Mellon University softball coaching staff as the full-time assistant coach in October 2021 following an assistant coaching role at Wellesley College and a playing career at both Division I Elon University and Division III Johnson & Wales University.

Rufo Barksdale's second year with the Tartans saw junior Amanda Smith win the most games in a single season with nine victories, including four of the team's five wins in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.

Rufo Barksdale started her coaching career at the youth fastpitch level in 2013 and served as the assistant coach at Wellesley for two seasons prior to moving to Pittsburgh. During her time at Wellesley, Rufo Barksdale also coached for the Rhode Island Thunder Gold Softball organization where she called pitches during games.

Rufo Barksdale’s other coaching experience includes being a member of the coaching staff at Planet Fastpitch in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, since 2014 and serving as the assistant coach of the Natick High School varsity softball team in 2019. A certified Amateur Softball Association umpire, Rufo Barksdale has also coached with the NE Quicksilver U16 and U18 Travel Teams and interned with the Boston University Women's Basketball Team.

As a player at Elon, Rufo Barksdale saw time as a utility player and appeared in 34 games during her two-year time with the Phoenix. Rufo Barksdale transferred close to her home state of Massachusetts to finish her collegiate career at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. While with the Wildcats, Rufo Barksdale played first base and was twice named to the All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) first team and honored with two National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region selections. As a senior, Rufo Barksdale led the team in RBIs with 42 and hit seven home runs and 12 doubles. She was also a remarkable student-athlete in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors following her senior season. 

Rufo Barksdale played in two NCAA tournaments with Johnson & Wales after twice winning the GNAC Conference tournament and held the role of secretary for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during her senior year. A proponent of giving back, Rufo Barksdale organized multiple fundraising events and was the recipient of the Feinstein “Enriching America” Award in 2018 for self-initiated community service and was recognized with the Johnson & Wales Tom Carmody Award for Character, Spirit, and Community Service.

Rufo Barksdale earned her bachelor’s degree in sports, events, and entertainment management from Johnson & Wales in 2018 and her master’s degree in sports management with a certificate in sports leadership from Lasell University in December 2020.