Michelle Brander Metiva is ready to lead the next chapter of the Hope College softball program.
The 2003 Mid-American Conference Softball Player of the Year at Central Michigan University and 1999 Miss Softball from Jenison High School has been named the seventh head coach in the Flying Dutch's history, Director of Athletics Tim Schoonveld announced. Brander also will serve as the Dow Center director on campus.
"We are thrilled to be able to welcome Michelle to the team and our Hope College family. She is going to bring strong, steady, and experienced leadership that we think will be perfect for the college and the program," Schoonveld said. "Her experience and skill set will be exactly what our program needs to provide competitive excellence, and who she is as a person will help us continue to transform the lives of our athletes. We look forward to Michelle, Jeremy, Reed and Grant joining the Hope community."
Brander said she is extremely excited and feels blessed to have this opportunity.
"I know Hope Softball has a history of great softball, great kids and great people — everybody in the community involved with it. I'm excited to be a part of that, build on that legacy and work with the girls for competitive excellence in everything they do," Brander said. "Just being part of the Hope community, in general, is amazing."
Watch Instagram interview with Coach Brander
Brander comes to Hope with extensive softball credentials as a student-athlete and a professional coach and trainer.
Since 2020, Brander had served as the varsity softball coach at her alma mater. Last spring, Brander guided Jenison to a 35-4 overall record and a final ranking of seventh in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 1 poll.
Brander is the general manager at Elite Baseball and Softball Training in Grand Rapids. Also, a softball trainer and coach, Brander has been involved with Elite since 2004.
As a player, Brander competed for the Dutch National Team from 2003 to 2004 and helped the Netherlands compete in an Olympic qualifying tournament and take second place at the European Championship Tournament.
At Central Michigan, Brander earned All-MAC honors three times, making the first team in 2003 when the utility player was league MVP and making the second team in 2002 and 2001. Brander played for Holland native and Hall of Fame coach Margo Jonker.
Brander still ranks sixth all-time at CMU with a .394 single-season batting average in 2003.
Brander graduated from Central Michigan with a bachelor's degree in sport management.
As Hope's head coach, Brander follows Chris Blauwkamp (1975), Barb Bassett (1976), Anne Irwin (1977-87), Karla Wolters (1988-2010), Mary VandeHoef (2011-22) and Brittney Harvey (2023).
The Flying Dutch have won 905 games since their inaugural season in 1975. Hope is coming off a 21-17-1 season.
"I'm extremely excited to work with older athletes. Youth sports, obviously, is what I've done my whole life," Brander said. "I am looking forward to being in these young women's lives where they transition to the working world, give them opportunities in this game as it did for me and be another stable person for them."
