“I’m so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to join coach Silva’s staff,” Bautista said. “I love the sport and being around it, and there’s never a moment where I’m not thinking or doing something related to the game. I can’t wait to share that passion with the team.”
Bautista, who helped the Mavericks claim a share of the RMAC regular season conference title during her first season with the team in 2021, played at Arkansas State from 2012-13, making 31 appearances across the two seasons and helping the Red Wolves record seven shutouts during her freshman season, a school record at the time. She spent her last two seasons on the pitch at Division II Montana State University Billings from 2014-15, starting at holding midfielder in all 17 matches during her senior season and playing 1,429 total minutes. Before graduating from MSUB with her bachelor’s degree, Bautista spent the spring of 2016 as a volunteer assistant on the Yellowjackets’ women’s soccer staff.
Prior to her time at Colorado Mesa, Bautista got her first taste of the RMAC when she served as a graduate assistant and interim head coach at Division II Regis University in Denver, Colorado, between the 2018 and 2020 seasons while earning a dual-specialization master’s in athletic administration and crime studies.
Bautista will replace Paige Johnson, who left in June to take over as the head women’s soccer coach at nearby Cuesta College after serving as an assistant coach for the Mustangs for eight years across a pair of stints.
Silva said he included the team’s three captains in the interview process for the open position and it was evident right away how much Bautista fit in with the team’s culture. Silva said Bautista’s Division II coaching experience will bring a lot of value to the program.
“Coaching in Division II, you have to wear a multitude of hats and touch every aspect and piece of a program,” Silva said. “As a result, you develop a do-more-with-less mentality, and for me it’s important that all our coaches have that mindset in their DNA. We want our players to be a direct reflection of our leadership, so when they see Izzi going the extra mile and doing whatever it takes to win, our players will follow suit.”
When Bautista interviewed for the position, it wasn’t her first time interacting with the players and Cal Poly coaching staff. Her husband, Brandon Bautista, was hired as an assistant coach on the Cal Poly men’s soccer team during the winter and soon after his appointment she began communicating with Silva and the rest of the coaching staff. Once she arrived in San Luis Obispo from Colorado, Bautista attended one of the Mustangs’ trainings during the spring and saw the makings of something special. Silva felt an immediate connection with Bautista thanks to a shared enthusiasm for the game and he let her know that if an opportunity opened up to join the program, she would be at the top of his list.
“I wanted to be really intentional about how I returned to the game,” Bautista said about moving to San Luis Obispo. “I wanted to be part of something with a clear vision and direction, so when I got the chance to be around the program in the spring, I loved what big picture looked like and where the program was heading. At the time, I already knew if a position became available, I wanted to pursue it, so when I got that call, I was pretty happy.”
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