{"id":5415,"date":"2012-06-07T15:53:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T19:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=5415"},"modified":"2014-01-25T18:10:11","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T23:10:11","slug":"den-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=5415","title":{"rendered":"Den mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jam-packed with trophies, exultant field hockey and lacrosse teams beaming from photos dotting the walls, Sharon (Goldbrenner) Pfluger<\/strong>\u2019s office radiates the emphatic success of a sports dynasty.<\/p>\n

For Pfluger \u201982, who played on both Lions teams as an undergraduate and has coached them since 1985, the room also functions as a family den of sorts. Point to a photograph and she can name the team and the players, their strengths and challenges still fresh in her mind. Asked this year to nominate a field hockey team for induction into TCNJ\u2019s Athletic Hall of Fame, she went back to her early coaching years, with thoughts of elevating Terry Doyle<\/strong>, a beloved member of the 1990 squad, who died shortly after her team\u2019s championship photo was snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just sensed it was the perfect time for that team to be nominated,\u201d she said, tears brimming in her eyes.<\/p>\n

That sense of connection\u2014to the team, as well as to individual players past and present\u2014continues to be a powerful motivator for Pfluger nearly three decades after she took over the head coaching job from her mentor, Melissa Magee. It\u2019s also what inspires her to work crazy hours managing both teams, something only a handful of Division III coaches still do. Fifteen years ago, when the College\u2019s athletic director considered splitting the programs to reduce her taxing workload, she agonized for weeks over which sport to pick, but could bring herself to choose one over the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really, really love both sports, and feel so connected to our loyal alumnae base. It felt like giving up a child,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

A cheerful workaholic aided by a dedicated, crackerjack staff of assistant coaches, some of them former players, Pfluger sets the tone for her high-performing athletes, who combine hard-driving determination with a sanity-balancing goofiness. They joke around on the field before practice, but then happily settle in for hours of drills and strategy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sharon Pfluger (center) with her 2005 National Champion lacrosse team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGames are fun for us, because we just do what we do in practice and it all clicks,\u201d says Meredith Jeffries<\/strong>, a defender on the field hockey team, which cemented a 3-1 victory over Middlebury College in the National Championship game last November. It was the team\u2019s eighth National Championship under Pfluger, named Coach of the Year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III shortly after, and the first, following several near-misses, since 1999. Extraordinary in its way, the Lions\u2019 success was also a striking illustration of her program\u2019s enduring strength, with its laser-like focus on the team rather than individual glory and on the targeted instruction that enables a range of players to identify and develop skills that ignite their production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they were at all anxious, they just worked harder,\u201d Pfluger says of her scrappy players, who began the season on a rocky note\u2014with two starters sidelined before the first practice\u2014and adapted throughout their schedule to a continually shifting roster.<\/p>\n

Jeffries, a junior credited with key defensive plays in the playoffs, exemplifies the brand of self-starters who excel on Pfluger\u2019s teams. While figuring in just a handful of games her first two years, she describes the strategy and regimen that eventually earned her more playing time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeed, endurance, and work ethic are what I brought to the table. When I arrived, my stick skills were not at the level of some of my teammates,\u201d she says. \u201cThrough coaching, I learned what I needed to work on and what to fine-tune. Coach Pfluger approaches each player as an individual and she\u2019s great about finding strengths. For my part, I didn\u2019t need a whole bag of tricks. I needed to take two or three strengths and really focus on them. A primary one for me is marking the other team\u2019s toughest player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffries says she remained confident in the dry years that her hard work would eventually pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taught that each day is a new day and it\u2019s all about performance. If you\u2019re not a hard worker, even in practice drills, you won\u2019t play,\u201d she says. \u201cCoach always says that no one is guaranteed a position, even as a senior. At the end of each year, every player attends a one-on-one meeting where she\u2019ll say: \u2018We have openings. Where would you like to see yourself and how do you plan to get there?\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n

When recruiting, Pfluger says she looks for players with consistency, motivation, and grit\u2014not just the proven stars\u2014also in part because so many of those athletes will win sports scholarships that academically oriented Division III schools do not offer. For years, as TCNJ built its lacrosse team, she identified field hockey players who could play both sports successfully. The Lions lacrosse teams have won 13 championships under her tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruiters\u2019 eyes tend to go to the kid who has the ball the most, but you\u2019ve got to look deeper into the potential a student-athlete may possess, as well as each individual\u2019s personality. These are kids who may not have reached their full abilities, so we\u2019re looking at everything. And I do check references,\u201d she says, adding, \u201cI also really like it when a girl knows she wants to come here. She\u2019s researched us and she sees herself thriving in this program. That shoots a kid way up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Jeffries, she noted, \u201cWhat a great feeling it gives you to see a player persevere like that. She never got frustrated by her lack of play in her first two years and that positive attitude is what put her on the field.\u201d Jeffries\u2019 tenacity on another front\u2014in the classroom\u2014earned her further distinction this year. She won the NCAA\u2019s coveted Elite 89 award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating in the NCAA Final Four. Jeffries, who majors in English and Deaf Education and currently carries a GPA of just under 4.0, hopes to teach and coach someday.<\/p>\n

\"Pfluger<\/a>That can-do spirit is very a much part of the program\u2019s DNA, says Pfluger, who was a freshman in 1978 when the College created its modern sports program by splitting off team sports from the physical education department and hiring Magee, a member of the U.S. national field hockey team, to coach field hockey and lacrosse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no turf at that point, no Recreation Building, just a bunch of hard-driving girls. There were a handful of us who played all the time and who were determined to win,\u201d she recalls,adding that the combination of skillful coaching and determination quickly paid off. Her junior year, the lacrosse team won the first national lacrosse championship for the College by capturing the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Championship. In 1981, her senior year, women\u2019s sports teams were given the opportunity to join the NCAA. That fall, the field hockey team went 20-0 and won the first-ever NCAA championship for women in any sport.<\/p>\n

Three years after she graduated, Pfluger was stunned to receive a call from Magee, who was leaving to manage a Division I team and asked her to apply for the head coaching job. She had been prepping for a full-time opportunity\u2014managing college teams in the afternoons after putting in a full day as a school teacher\u2014and had made her mark through part-time stints as an assistant coach for Drew University in field hockey and later lacrosse, and as head field hockey coach for Kean University and for Montclair State University. She had always thought she would inherit \u201ca work in progress,\u201d however, not step into the winning program run by her idol. It sent her already formidable work ethic into overdrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike Melissa, I was not a USA team player. I was a hard-working kid who wanted to win and to make an impact on people,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I did know is that I was capable of outworking anybody\u2014even myself!\u201d<\/p>\n

She has retained key lessons from her days under Magee\u2019s tutelage that infuse the team\u2019s culture today.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to be a good teacher\u2014to be able to break lessons down for your players in order to explain them well. In coaching, that means creating the drills that do that and explaining what you\u2019re doing very clearly. Clarity is essential\u2014without it, the relationship breaks down,\u201d she says, adding of Magee, \u201cShe had this incredible ability to relate to us as a person, to be an authority figure who was also able to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since taking over as head coach, Pfluger has emphasized team cohesion, inspiring tight bonds among her players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t skip practice. They\u2019re always on time. They work hard. But most importantly, they really respect each other. A great athlete who\u2019s not in it for the team ends up slowing the team down,\u201d she says. \u201cThe kids who come to play here are joining a family. They fight for each other like sisters, and it\u2019s those bonds that make it okay in a moment of urgency to put pressure on a teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such fierce team loyalty has also engendered a slew of unofficial coaches, she laughs, noting that it\u2019s not unusual to receive unsolicited advice from Lions alumnae. On matters ranging from corner shot selection to defensive formations, they call, text, and sometimes simply shout at a player they\u2019re encouraging from the sidelines. She\u2019s hardly put off. In fact, she loves it. As her former players, they are exercising the passionate and abiding sense of team ownership\u2014and family\u2014she works hard to cultivate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are family and that\u2019s what families do\u2014help each other. Our family extends way beyond the team. When our alumnae and alumnae parents offer us well-respected advice, I feel it is a gift. They live it with us. They get to know the kids. They feel like coaches and they\u2019ve earned that right,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of the first things I tell the new arrivals is that they own stock in this program, and they\u2019ll still have it after they graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she does not forget them. Every player has the initial TD stitched on her uniform to remember Terry Doyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a team that fosters deep friendships,\u201d says Jeffries. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can win without that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top photo (c) Michael Mancuso. Bottom two photos (c) TCNJ’s Sports Information Office.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharon Pfluger \u201982 has built two sports dynasties\u2014and one big, extended family\u2014\u2028at her alma mater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-june-2012"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}