De La Rosa returns to WW-P South
Kristen De La Rosa knows about the strong tradition of softball at West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
After all, she was a part of it.
De La Rosa played for the Pirates and graduated in 2006 before going on to play for two years at Kings College. Now she is back with the South softball program as the new head coach.
”When I was in college and doing my student teaching I coached at the school where I was student teaching,” said De La Rosa, who takes over for Nicky Arias, who moved on to become an assistant coach at Princeton University. “When I graduated I coached for two years at Hightstown. When I was in high school I knew I wanted to be a teacher and coaching is something I thought always goes with that. I wanted to stay involved with the sport and it was a natural next step for me.”
De La Rosa was an outfielder for the Pirates and hasn’t forgotten what it was like to play for the team. In fact, having played for the school is one of the major benefits she brings to her new position as head coach.
”I remember all of the quirks from the field,” De La Rosa said. “I still feel like I know the field. It is an interesting feeling to know I have the personal experience of how to play on that field. Because of that I feel like I can bring back some of the traditions from when I was at South and when I was a senior. We’ve also talked about ways to form our own traditions. It great that I know the school as well as I do and I am not coming into a new environment.”
While she’s feeling great about her coaching environment, one area where she has taken some good-natured ribbing is her work environment. While she will be coaching at WW-P South, De La Rosa is a teacher at WW-P North.
”When I am getting ready to head over to South I have to make sure I have something covering the South attire,” she said. “The players at North see me and they’ll say something about me going over the other side. But it’s all been good.”
De La Rosa played in the North-South rivalry during the early years of the split of the high schools. The rivalry may not be now what it was then, but it is still a highlight to the season.
”Some parts are always going to be there,” the new South coach said. “It was so strong in the early years and I think that was because we had all gone to school together and knew each other so well. You were close because you were in school with them and then we were split up and on different teams.”
The Pirates are coming off a season in which they finished 13-11 and reached the second round of the state tournament. They’ll look to build on that success this year.
”I expect to do well,” said De la Rosa, whose team will open the season April 1 against Nottingham. “We have some good girls. I am friends with Nicky and that has helped. She left me with girls that really have the kind of heart you want from a player on your team. So far it has been a great experience. I am a big advocate for spirit and keeping ourselves together and supporting each other. My seniors pick up where I leave off. I want us to all be in sync with each other and we all seem to work nicely together.
”Nicky coaches the way I coach in a lot of respects so they’re used to it.”
