The University Athletic Association decided to create the women's varsity softball program in 1995, and the Florida Gators softball team officially started competing in the Southeastern Conference in 1997 under former head coach Larry Ray. Since the beginning of the program, the Florida Gators have had several notable successes, including two SEC championships and four consecutive appearances in the Women's College World Series in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
The Gators won the SEC regular season championships in 1998, 2008 and 2009, as well as the SEC tournament titles in 2008 and 2009. During the 2009 season, they also played for the NCAA softball championship on the biggest stage in all of college softball, the Women's College World Series, losing to the University of Washington Huskies in the final game.
The current head coach is Tim Walton, who is in his fourth year with the team. He was previously the head coach at Wichita State University and he played baseball for the University of Oklahoma and a minor league team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies.Through the conclusion of the 2009 season, Walton has coached his Gators team to a record of 226–57 in four seasons, and he has an overall win-loss record of 349–121 during his seven seasons as a head coach.[50]
The Gators softball team plays its home games at the Katie Seashole Presley Softball Stadium.