Head coach Sharon Pfluger prides herself on keeping her mind in the present, however as she stepped through the doors of Room 202 in Brower Student Center last Friday, Oct. 21, it was as if she’d hopped in a flying DeLorean.
Pfluger couldn’t help but journey into the past as she glanced around and saw several members of her 1990 field hockey team waiting to be inducted into the TCNJ Hall of Fame.
“I just want to hang onto the memories and not forget about this season or that season,” Pfluger says. “We live in the present, but as I get older I really start to think about it.”
Pfluger’s mind already had a head start before the Hall of Fame festivities even began as she was asked to record a video opening for her team.
In her opening, Pfluger talked about all the emotion that surrounded that year with her mother becoming ill before it began and the tragic death of one of her players, Terry Doyle, after it concluded.
“I was really going through a tough time because my mom got sick in May of ’90,” Pfluger explains. “It was a really tough time and the team just rallied around me. I didn’t talk about it, but they just knew and they were there for me and I was there for them.”
Pfluger also told a tale about how one morning during the season she decided to run the Loop with her team. She explained that she wanted to be at the head of the group since, after all, she was the head coach.
After establishing her spot in the front of the pack, Pfluger wanted to slow down her pace, but when she looked back, Doyle was right behind her, stride for stride.
“Here I am, trying to lead by example by being in front of the group and I’ve got Terry Doyle right on my heels. So what happened was I ended up basically sprinting the entire Loop just to stay out in front,” Pfluger recalled with a smile.
Pfluger tried to fight off the tears as she remembered the moments from that season, but ultimately they got the best of her.
“It was solid team from top to bottom,” Pfluger said. “They demanded of each other, yet they were best friends and that’s the perfect combination. You could probably pick any player on that team and make them a Hall of Famer, no joke. They all are Hall of Famers to me.”
That 1990 team is just one of the many success stories at TCNJ that Pfluger can pick from her brain. Pfluger has coached seven National Championship teams in field hockey and 11 National Championship teams in lacrosse on top of playing on two teams of distinction, which have been recognized by the TCNJ Hall of Fame — the 1981 field hockey and lacrosse teams.
During her time instructing players at TCNJ, Pfluger has become known as one of the best female coaches in all of college sports. She is one of just two female coaches, along with Pat Summit of the University of Tennessee, who is featured in the NCAA Hall of Champions’ Legends of the Game display located in Indianapolis, IN.
However, even more important than the countless accolades that Pfluger has compiled since becoming the field hockey and lacrosse head coach at TCNJ in 1985 is the admiration she has received from her players.
“It’s unbelievable to play for her, even coming here my senior year of high school to meet the coaches and see the campus, going into her office and seeing all the trophies and accolades,” senior goalkeeper Shannon Syciarz says. “It’s awesome to play in such a prestigious program and under such a prestigious coach. She’s really made her mark in the field hockey world and it’s a pleasure to play for her.”
Despite all of her accomplishments and the constant praise, Pfluger insists that she is blessed to have been put in such a fortunate position at TCNJ.
“I’m just really lucky to have been surrounded by these great kids and great coaches,” Pfluger says. “I’m a lucky person and I just want to hang onto the memories.”
In the coming weeks, Pfluger will come back to the future and focus on the present 2011 field hockey team and their chances in the national tournament, but, waiting in the back of her mind, will be all those other memories, whether they’re from last season or all the way back from 1985.
Photos Courtesy of TCNJ Athletics