It was the call Natalie Ramirez didn’t know she needed.
Coming off an injury-riddled senior season with the UCLA Track and Field team, the Granada Hills native was at home mulling a return for a sixth season of NCAA indoor eligibility when her phone lit up.
The call came from an old friend — John Frazier — the same man who had recruited her to UCLA as a student athlete several years prior.
To her surprise, Frazier was calling to recruit her again. Only this time, it was to coach.
Now serving as the head coach at Texas State University (following eight seasons in Westwood, both as the Bruins’ throws coach and as head of the men’s program), Frazier had watched Ramirez’s impressive growth from afar.
During her time as a Bruin, she qualified for the NCAA West Regional three times — competing in both the discus and shot put — and earned four Top-10 finishes at the PAC-12 Championships.
Now, Frazier wanted her on Texas State’s throws staff.
Ramirez, who had just earned her Masters in Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) from UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies, knew she was up to the task.
Guided by her trust-centered leadership philosophy, she shipped off to San Marcos, 40 miles southwest of Austin.
She now serves as the Bobcats’ Director of Operations in addition to her role as a throws coach, managing the 80-member team’s affairs both on and off the track.
“Work on the administrative side of sports was something I got to experience during my time at UCLA,” Ramirez says. As part of her TCL coursework, she interned with Ric Coy, the Bruins’ Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development. During that stint, she assisted in managing the Wooden Academy Champions Program, various student associations, and coordinated athletic department events.
“That exposure to the professional end of (athletics management) helped prepare me for my current role in so many different ways,” Ramirez says.
During her time at UCLA, Ramirez also founded the SALSA club, short for the Student Athlete Latino Spanish Association. Ramirez led the group in building community among Latino student athletes in Westwood while expanding outreach to Latino youth in greater Los Angeles.
“Part of what SALSA wants to do is provide more role models and mentors for young Latino athletes,” Ramirez explained back in 2024, adding how “important it is to be the role models in this space that we didn’t have as kids.”
Along with teammates, Ramirez visited local schools, including Hollywood High School, where she spoke with students about her athletic journey to UCLA.
Now mentoring collegiate athletes, she supports a diverse throws team, including two shot put standouts that competed at the recent NCAA Indoor National Championships.
“We recruit a lot within the state of Texas,” Ramirez adds. “However, on the throws team we have 19 athletes representing seven different nations.”
The Bobcats’ throws room, featuring athletes from the U.S., Australia, South Africa, Iceland, Estonia, Nigeria, and Mexico, might be one of the most eclectic in the nation.
“I learn things from them every day,” Ramirez says. “Coaching is a holistic approach and we talk about so much — everything from self-care to preparation for life beyond their time as student athletes.”
But the best part of her job, Ramirez says, is watching athletes hit new personal bests.
“One of my athletes had a huge PR at our conference meet and I had never felt an adrenaline rush, as a coach, in the way that I did at that moment.
“The pride I have in the work we do and the accomplishments of my athletes makes me want to keep coaching,” she adds. “I’m very proud to be a woman in this space and I hope I can continue to make space for future female coaches in the next generations to come.”
A CIF Division I State Champion in the shot put in 2019, Ramirez was also the CIF Division II champion in the shot put and discus in 2018. She received Academic Scholar recognition as a freshman and senior at West Ranch High and earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UCLA in 2023.
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