Softball coach loves the game
By: Justin Feil
Not much has changed on the West Windsor-Plainsboro South softball field since Nicole Arias graduated in 2001.
There is still a lip into left field. Second base is still a little off and a little crooked. The Pirates have added a fence, but the most notable changes have been the people coaching the players on the field.
Arias played for George Agalias. Agalias was succeeded by Dee Pasternick. Two years ago, Kristen Zenerovitz took over for the Pirates. And now Arias has returned to be the new head coach.
"I wanted to get into coaching in some way or other," said Arias, who played for William Paterson upon graduation from WW-P South. "I did volunteer work with travel programs. I do have a true love for softball. I love helping the kids develop. It’s even sweeter to be back at your old high school. Coming in as a coach, I already know every part of the field."
Arias hit to all parts of the field in her four-year career with the Pirates. She left after an All-Mercer County and All-Colonial Valley Conference season as a senior catcher. She went on to play for William Paterson, where she started from her freshman season on at third base. She had to redshirt in her second year after breaking her hands weeks before the start of the season. As a senior, she started 38 games and had 22 runs batted in. She started 145 games in her career.
Arias continues to stay in shape to compete for the Israeli National Team as it tries to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the European Championships hosted by Italy in June. To do so, she will occasionally jump in drills with the current Pirates.
"It gives them a little more motivation," Arias said. "As a coach, I say I’ll work as hard as I did as a player."
It’s a promise that should help the Pirates remain the thick of the Colonial Valley Conference hunt. Arias remembers fondly her teams at WW-P South as a player, and hoped her current team can share some of those same experiences.
"It was great," she said. "They were exciting seasons every year. My freshman and senior years we did really well. We made the semifinals of states my freshman year. We had great programs. My senior year, we made it to the semifinals of the Mercer County Tournament and lost to Hun in a 2-1 game. We had a big win against Steinert. It was their only loss when I was a senior. We beat Notre Dame. I remember it being a great program with a lot of hard workers."
It was while she was playing at WW-P South that she found a love for coaching. She stuck with it and now ended up back with the Pirates.
"My senior year at West Windsor, I definitely knew I wanted to major in health and phys ed," said Arias, who earned two degrees in five years at William Paterson. "I did this Youth teaches Youth Program. It was for seniors. You pick a school in the district and get a teacher and spend some time team-teaching and learn how to teach. I did it at Community Middle School. I helped do health and phys ed and loved it. I couldn’t do basketball because of an injury when I was a senior so I helped coach every day. I always loved helping my teammates out. Coaching and teaching comes very naturally to me."
She is hoping to stay the Pirates coach for a long time. Arias, who coached freshman field hockey for the Pirates last fall, currently teaches health and physical education at West Windsor-Plainsboro High North. Arias was a senior when the district split into the two schools. The combination of teaching and coaching in the district she grew up in worked out well.
"I couldn’t have asked to fall into a better position," Arias said. "I couldn’t land in a better teaching school. Doing previous teaching at other schools while I was in college, you realize how good a school it is. And right now, we’re blessed with good softball around here. It’s good to be home."
There is also pride for Arias in returning home and having the chance to help the Pirates do some things that eluded her in her playing days. She pointed out a banner from 1984, the last time the Pirates won a crown.
"I always looked at it and said, I want that banner," Arias said. "It’s something we always wanted. We never got that."
It’s something that Arias would like to change as a coach now. Changes haven’t happened quickly for the softball program, except among Pirate coaches. Nicole Arias hopes she can change that while beginning a long tenure where she got her start.

