Nicole Thomas was named the head coach of Vanguard softball in June of 2025, becoming the seventh coach in program history. Thomas comes to VU after three years of coaching not too far away at Mater Dei High School. She guided the varsity team to a second-place finish in the Trinity league in 2025 and got the Monarchs up to 26th in the state rankings, concluding her stint at MDHS with a XX record. Her 2024 squad made the semifinals of the CIF Tournament and qualified for the first round of the state tournament. She also skippered Northwood High School for two seasons and got the program to the CIF Tournament for the first time in four seasons.
Outside of her Mater Dei experience, Thomas brings softball knowledge ranging from her time as an NCAA DI athlete to international coaching around the globe. Thomas joined Maddy Grimm in 2021 to form the So Cal Sting Thoms/Grimm youth and travel ball and the organization has grown since then. The program has six teams across various age levels and has seen over 25 athletes sign to play in college, with three recent graduates going to DI programs. Her global reach has seen her take on coaching roles with professional and developmental teams across four continents and six countries, Malta, Italy, Taiwan, New Zealand, Austria and Puerto Rico.
As a player at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Thomas played four years and had a career batting average of .362. She had 157 hits and had over 40 knocks in each of her final three seasons. With 29 doubles, 31 home runs, and 147 RBI, she placed fourth in program history in career batting average, walks, and RBI, while placing fifth in home runs upon graduation. In addition to some high-end marks from the plate, Thomas worked from the circle in 86 games and finished sixth all-time with three saves. She went 22-17 as a pitcher and posted a career ERA of 5.41 with 109 strikeouts. The team had a winning record each of her four seasons and made three runs at the Southern Conference Championship Tournament crown, finishing as the runners-up in 2014. With three SoCon First-Team All-Conference nods, her success in the classroom meshed with her on-field qualities in 2016, as she was named an Academic All-American Second Team selection for CoSIDA (now College Sports Communicators).
