By Bryant Romero —
Vicky Spratford, the greatest bowler in the history of New Jersey City University’s women’s program has returned to her alma mater as head coach. The four-time all American Spratford succeeds former head coach Frank Parisi, who retired after 13 seasons with the second most wins for any coach in NCAA history with 758 victories.
“Bowling is a passion of mine and I’ve always wanted to become a coach,” said Spratford. “Bowling at NJCU were the best four years of my life and I would give anything to be back out on the lanes competing for NJCU. I’m honored to be given the opportunity to coach for my alma mater.”
Spratford knows there is pressure and much adversity to overcome as she takes over a women’s bowling program that has only one returning player from last season. The team has also have fallen dramatically from the national rankings in pres-season polls. However, Spratford has a strong desire to return the bowling program back to prominence and is looking forward to the challenge of replacing her former head coach Parisi.
“Needless to say, I have very big shoes to fill,” said Spratford. “I know it won’t be easy, but I will take all the knowledge I’ve gained through the years to help the program be a national powerhouse again.”
The women’s bowling program accumulated 62 wins last season but is now entering a season where they must focus on rebuilding.
While the team is not stacked with experienced bowlers, the one returning player and team captain Nicole Baginsky, 21, Psychology and Criminal Justice major, from South River, is looking forward to the new season and learning from her new head coach.
“I’m really happy that Vicky is the new head coach,” said Baginsky. “She’s an amazing bowler and coming from the program, she has a lot to teach me and others.”
Baginsky doesn’t expect the program to be a national powerhouse, but she does expect to have a lot of fun with her new teammates and to improve every day.
“Compared to last year, I feel that we’re going to improve a lot in team cohesiveness and morale,” explained Baginsky. “I’m not expecting to win much, but these girls are showing a lot of improvement in the short time that we’ve been together, and I expect nothing more than improvement and for them to have fun. I’m very proud of these girls, regardless of how well they bowl.”
While change at the leadership helm came as a surprise for Baginsky, she’s doing her best to adjust to Spratford’s coaching style and is trying her best to help out the team and her new coach.
“Originally, it was a big shock, but change is imminent in life,” stated Nicole. “Vicky’s style is hard to compare to Frank’s because it’s different in her situation, it’s a brand new team filled with new bowlers and out of five returning players from last year, I’m the only one. I stayed to finish what I started, to do what I love, and to help out Vicky as much as I can.”
Spratford’s career at NJCU as a bowler was sensational. In a career that began in 2004 (and lasted through 2008), she’s arguably one of the most dominant student athletes to ever attend the university. She’s a four-time all American among players in the Division I, II, and III of bowling. Spratford claimed four tournament Most Valuable player honors during her career and was named to two NCAA All-Team Tournaments in 2006 and 2008 respectively. In her senior year (2007-2008) she won six individual titles and was named to 10 All-Tournament Teams.
During her time as bowler at NJCU, the bowling program was a perennial top-five program in the nation, ranking as high as number two in the U.S. in March of 2005.
“This season is definitely a rebuilding year,” said Spratford. “With only one returner and the other girls have never really bowled before, it has been a rough start. However, everyone has been improving in such a short time. The group of girls that I’ve been given have been wonderful, they get along, they cheer each other on, and they have fun, that’s all I can ask for, for my first year.”
