Izzi Bautista was hired as an assistant coach for the Cal Poly women’s soccer program in July 2025, and elevated to Assistant Coach & Player Performance Specialist in February 2026 following her first season on the staff.

Bautista comes to Cal Poly after an impressive four-year stint (2021-24) as an assistant coach at Colorado Mesa, where she aided the Mavericks to a 56-18-10 overall record, a 37-10-1 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season play and a berth to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons (2023-24). Under Bautista, Colorado Mesa boasted 11 All-RMAC first team honorees, six second team picks and seven honorable mention selections.

A native of Bristol, England, Bautista played a pivotal role in helping Colorado Mesa achieve one of its most successful seasons in program history in 2023. The Mavericks set a new single-season program record for wins with a 18-4-1 record and secured the program’s second-ever RMAC Tournament Championship and first since 1998 to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II Tournament. In their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, the Mavericks won multiple NCAA Tournament games for the first time in program history, advancing to the Third Round and the South Central Regional final.

In 2024, Colorado Mesa posted a 14-2-4 overall record to finish with its third most wins in a season in program history, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and making it to the Second Round.

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. Bautista’s coaching resume also includes serving as the head coach for Billings United and stints as the technical director for Folsom SC, South Pasadena AYSO and Wheat Ridge Avalanche SC. She spent time as an assistant for Colorado Select, formerly Colorado Olympic Development, for two seasons and served as the head coach for the Colorado Select Mountain Region. In 2024, Bautista was also an assistant coach for the Western Region Olympic Development Program.

Bautista (formerly Howard) graduated from Fairfield High School in Bristol, England, and attended Filton College, earning the opportunity to play for Bristol City FC, formerly known as Bristol Academy WFC. She was a member of the Bristol club in 2011 that earned FA Club of the Year honors and helped Filton win back-to-back English Schools college championship titles (2011-12). 

Bautista received an Extended Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science from South Gloucestershire and Stroud College in 2012 and earned a Bachelor's of Science in History from Montana State University Billings in 2016. In 2020, she obtained a dual-specialization Master of Arts in Athletic Administration and Crime Studies from Regis University. Bautista has her United States Soccer Federation Class D License and earned her National Diploma from the United Soccer Coaches.

Elizabeth "Izzi" Bautista is married to Cal Poly men's soccer assistant coach Brandon Bautista.