Full Circle Moment for Van Hulle & PLU Softball
Image: Assistant Softball Coach Cindy Van Hulle smiles as she sits on her tractor at her home/farm on Friday, July 17, 2026, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
By Mark Moschetti
Contributing writer
If you ask Cindy Van Hulle ’76 what’s her favorite sport to coach, don’t be surprised if she replies, “Whatever’s in season.”
And why not? Over the years, Van Hulle seemingly has coached just about every sport in every season. Volleyball and cross country in the fall. Basketball in the winter. Softball and track in the spring.
But keep the conversation going, and she’ll come around to acknowledging that yes, she does have a favorite.
“I’m one of those people who throws myself into whatever I’m doing,” Van Hulle said. “But if I had to choose one over all of them, I would choose softball.”
For eight years, Van Hulle has coached softball at PLU as an assistant coach to head coach Traci Barrett. This wasn’t the first time they connected through sports — Van Hulle coached a teenage Barrett in the 1980s, from junior high through high school
Last spring, Van Hulle’s connection to PLU, to softball, and to Barrett has paid off in a big way.
An Enduring Connection
Though the two met over three decades ago, they still remember their first impressions of each other.
“She was such a great athlete. It was always a pleasure to be able to teach her and to be able to coach her,” Van Hulle said.
Barrett recalls that era just as warmly.
“It was incredible to play for her,” Barrett said. “You would do anything to be on her team. She just commands a room with her presence when she walks in the door.”
"I love coaching softball, I love coaching these athletes, and I love coaching at PLU." –Cindy Van Hulle '76
Over two decades later, Barrett joined PLU softball as an assistant coach and in 2019 became the head coach. The first thing Barrett did as head coach? Reach out to Van Hulle, who by then had retired from teaching and coaching.
“I pretty much said, ‘I’m not going to do this if you don’t do it with me,'” Barrett chuckled.
Van Hulle had her own rather humorous recollection of that same chat.
“I did mention to her that I had just retired recently,” Van Hulle said. “She said, ‘No, no, come back.’ I think I remember saying, ‘How long do I have to consider it? OK, I’ll do it.’ It took, like, two seconds,” she added with a laugh. “There was no doubt in my mind.”
To do all of this every day, the 72-year-old Van Hulle travels up from Tenino, some 40-plus miles south of campus. “I have 20 acres and lots of animals and I pretty much don’t look like I do at PLU – I look like a farmer,” she said, laughing.
Reuniting with a front row seat
Reuniting and competing together again has been the ultimate full-circle moment for Van Hulle and Barrett. For Van Hulle, being back at her alma mater, taking part in a program that didn’t even exist when she had been a PLU student, and working with Barrett, whom she had taught, coached, and mentored, has been nothing short of a dream come true.
“My friendship and coaching time with Traci has exceeded anyone else’s wishes,” Van Hulle said. “I owe her a great deal and never would have traded any of these moments.”
Barrett similarly finds joy in the ways their partnership has evolved over the decades.
“Seeing her as an assistant, older (and working) with a different generation has been really fun,” she said. “She meets them right where they’re at in this world that they’re in. She’s the most humble, hard-working, high-level coach that I’ve been around.”
And there’s certainly no arguing with the results.
Season at a Glance
Northwest Conference (NWC)
🥎 Conference Rank: 1st Place (Regular Season Champions)
🥎 Record: 24-4 NWC | 35-12 Overall
🥎 Highlights: Hosted first NWC Tournament in school history, won first title since 2003, and swept major conference awards (Coach, Pitcher, & Player of the Year).
NCAA Division III
🥎 National Rank: #24 in final NFCA/GoRout Poll
🥎 Postseason: Made NCAA Tournament (first time since 2012)
Van Hulle and Barrett helped lead the Lutes to a first-place finish in the Northwest Conference and a No. 24 national ranking (NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll) this season.
“We have beaten just about every goal we have set for ourselves,” Barrett said.
With a focus on the base paths this past season, Van Hulle enjoyed having a front row seat to a team that finished a successful season, both by record and through camaraderie and teamwork.
“I love coaching softball, I love coaching these athletes, and I love coaching at PLU,” Van Hulle said.
That just might be Cindy Van Hulle’s way of saying that she really does have a favorite sport, regardless of whatever’s in season.
