Bio

Coach Debbie Huntze-Rooney is entering her 33rd year as the Head Softball Coach for the Jaguars, guiding the Jags to a winning season in each of those years. Coach Huntze-Rooney has led the Jaguars to ten Coast Conference Championships and has taken her teams to the State Regional playoffs 27 times. She has also led the Jags to the Elite Eight State Playoffs in 2007, 2008, 2019, 2022, and 2023.

On March 14, 2024, Coach Huntze-Rooney reached the 900th win milestone, making her the winningest active female California Community College Softball Coach. In 2019, she received the Northern California Coach of the Year and the South Coast Conference Coach of the Year awards. The coaching staff was selected as the Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.

Coach Huntze-Rooney believes in academics first, and SJCC teams have been ranked nationally among Community Colleges and have oftentimes been ranked #1 or #2 in California with outstanding team GPAs. In 2012, the Jags were ranked #6 in the Nation and one of the top 10 NFCA Academic Teams. In 2018, the SJCC softball team was selected as the All-Time CCCAA Scholar Team with a GPA of 3.43. The Jaguars have a high transfer rate to various universities throughout the nation. Many of the Jags have moved on to four-year institutions with academic or athletic scholarships and have earned their degrees.

Coach Huntze-Rooney competed in both Softball and Basketball at West Valley College, then transferred to Chico State where she played Softball and Field Hockey. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and a minor in English. She also had the opportunity to be an assistant coach at Chico State in both Softball and Field Hockey. She then moved to Southern California where she taught Physical Education and coached Softball and Basketball at Serrano High School. Additionally, she completed her master's degree at Azusa Pacific University in Administration of Education.