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Shore Regional's Nancy Williams (front left) leads the Blue Devils into the 2008 season as the nation's all-time winningest coach with 700 career victories under her belt.
Digital Sports field hockey correspondent
Thirty-seven straight division titles. Nine straight Shore Conference Tournament titles in a row, 15 total. Twenty-two NJSIAA Central Jersey state sectional titles. The nation’s all-time winningest field hockey coach, who is now 700-60-54 in her career. And those are just the numbers.
The Shore Regional field hockey team epitomizes not only what it means to be top dog, but what it takes to maintain that No. 1 spot year in and year out. The Blue Devils have mastered the art of consistency. They know that the target on their back gets bigger with each passing game as teams continue to bite at their heels in hopes of feeling the glory and everything that goes with it, of winning a championship. But year after year, the Blue Devils meet expectations and perhaps it’s safe to say that they surpass them as well. With numbers like that, it’s hard to imagine anyone predicting where they stand today. I guess the proof is in the pudding.
“I don’t think there’s a secret other than we build the program, we don’t just build a team,” said head coach Nancy Williams. “We spend a lot of time with our younger kids when they come into the ninth grade. I have good coaches and I have kids who are willing to work hard. We spend a lot of time on the basics. It’s like anything else, if you’re going to be successful at something, you’re going to do the basics right.”
With four seniors lost to graduation, the Blue
Devils return a bulk of their weapons for the 2008 season, including seven
starters and last year’s DigitalSports Player of the Year in senior defender Kim Pobutkiewicz. Junior Brenna Rescigno, another
DigitalSports first-team selection last year returns as a key cog in Shore’s
attack. Over the summer, Rescigno won the AAU Joel Ferrel Outstanding
Performance Memorial Award at the Junior Olympics, which were held at the
“It’s a big deal,” said Williams. “It’s one thing for people to recognize your talent as a hockey player, but it’s a whole other thing when they recognize that you’re a great sportsman and your contribution to the game goes beyond just skill level.”
Despite the
Blue Devils dominating the league in the past, the great thing about sports and
the great thing about the Shore Conference in particular, is that any team can
win on any given day. The level of competition within the conference has
increased over the past five years and this year looks to be no different. Last
year, Freehold won a state sectional title and made it to the Group III state
finals before losing to the hands of 11-time champ
Middletown
North has won two straight Class A North division titles and is looking to make
it three in a row. Southern Regional, which is coming off of a very successful
year, is looking to get some revenge on Toms River South, who won the Class A
South division. In Class B Central, Rumson tied Shore twice during the regular
season. Since 2004, Rumson, Henry Hudson and St. Rose all had shots at the
division title, but every time the Blue Devils came out on top. In Class B
South, Central dominated the division, but with the arrival of Jackson Liberty,
who finished
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about it,” Williams said. “When I got to 700, it’s just a reflection on the consistency of the program. As far as I’m concerned, it wasn’t that important to me as a milestone. It did make me reflect back on all the kids who have been through the program and I have been very fortunate to have some great kids and have some great assistant coaches. Part of the fun of coaching hockey is watching kids develop not only as field hockey players but as people.”
Win. Lose. Draw. Whatever the outcome, this season of Shore Conference field hockey promises to be filled with competitive spirit, even if a lot of the motivation comes from knocking Shore Regional off the block. Everyone has a shot at the title. Everyone has a shot at the glory.