Shore field will bear Nancy Williams’ name

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
West Long Branch – With a unanimous vote last Thursday night the Shore Regional High School Board of Education decided to name the natural grass field where the varsity girls play field hockey after its former legendary coach Nancy Williams.

Shore Regional to name field after Field Hockey Coach Nancy Williams.

The announcement was made by Thomas G. Farrell, Superintendent of Schools the following morning. Williams, who is most known as “Coach” retired from teaching at the high school two years ago and announced last month that this past season was her last as head coach of the Blue Devils.

Under her guidance the Blue Devils have won 43 consecutive divisional championships, 19 Shore Conference Tournament Titles, the past 15 straight. They also have 24 NJSIAA State Sectional Titles and 13 overall NJSIAA State Titles. Williams has also produced 16 All-Americans during her 44 years as head coach. A record that is unmatched in the nation.

“I was riding my bike back from Asbury Park when I received a call from Superintendent Farrell asking me to stop in his office on Friday. At first I said what the heck did I do now, I’m not even working and I’m getting called into the boss’s office,” said Williams. When she sat down in Farrell’s office he told her the decision the board had reached. “I tried to change the subject. To be honest it was a little uncomfortable. I never expected anything like this and I was caught off guard and for the first time in my life was at a loss for words.”

Williams, who by all accounts was one of the most intense coaches in any sport, said that is because she is very competitive. When she was in college she played three sports, and when those playing days were over she had to find a new avenue for her to channel that drive. “Coaching was where I took my energy and competitive appetite,” said Williams.

Back in 1970 when Williams first became head coach of the Blue Devils field hockey team only ten high schools had varsity squads. “Ocean County was the power house back then; Central Regional was the team everyone wanted to beat. In Monmouth County it was Raritan High School,” said Williams. Well, she beat Raritan in her first game as a coach and ended her first season with a 2-1 win over Central Regional. “That first season we finished 8-2-1, but that last win was like winning the state championships.”

The very next year was the first of an unbelievable 43 consecutive divisional titles. During her second year the team went 16-0 and had not had a single goal scored on them until the state finals. “We were playing Princeton and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. In the past they had awarded both schools a trophy as co-champions. But not this game,” said Williams. Officials added up the corners and Shore was one less than Princeton, so they gave the title to them. “I can still see the girls on the school bus ride home. How disappointed they were.”

Now that she is no longer coaching she has found time to do things that she could never do. This summer she took a river cruise in Europe with her family. She plays golf and gets to visit with people she has not seen in a long time. “During the summer I would have field hockey three days a week and two nights a week,” said Williams. One thing she does not miss is the constant planning and scheming. “I would go to bed with papers as I would draw up plays and diagrams. But now I have a clear mind. I’m not saying that I still don’t think about the game, because I do. But now I’m not the head coach so it’s a lot different.”

As for the honor of having a field named after her, Williams was very humble. “My name might be on the field, but it is because of the hard work and dedication of all the players who put on a Shore Regional uniform and picked up a stick and played for me. They played and won the games, not me,” said Williams. And what really made her happy was that the board was unanimous in its vote. “The board makes up four sending districts and to have all of those communities endorse the idea was extremely overwhelming.”
Farrell has not yet announced the date or time when the field will be dedicated to Williams. But that shouldn’t matter as she plans on attending every game as a spectator now.