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- Hallie Cohen,
the head softball coach at William Paterson University
and one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division
III history, has been named the head coach of the
Israeli National Softball Team that will play its first
games this summer.
Cohen was chosen by the
Israel Baseball League, which is developing the first
Israeli National Softball Team, after a nationwide
search of college coaches.
The goal of the Israel
Baseball League, according to Larry Baras, the
organization’s president, is to develop a softball team
that will qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing, China.
Cohen is currently
choosing a team that will consist of 17 players. Ten
players will be from the United States of Jewish
descent, while the other seven will be Israeli born. The
team will begin training this summer and will debut in
July in the Canadian Cup (July 3-9 in Surrey, British
Columbia, Canada) and the U.S.A. Cup (July 12-16 in
Irvine, CA).
“We were looking for
somebody who could teach the girls and make them better
players, who could relate to them and coach them while
making them into a team. Hallie has all of the qualities
we were looking for,” said Baras.
Cohen has been a head
coach for 27 seasons on the Division III level,
including the last 12 at William Paterson where she has
turned the Wayne, NJ, school into one of the national’s
top Division III programs. Entering her 12th season, she
is the most successful coach in school history with a
record of 292-150-2 (.664 winning percentage). Overall,
she is 485-295-3 in her career (.621) and ranks 12th
all-time in Division III in coaching victories while
rating ninth among active coaches.
She spent the first 15
seasons of her coaching career at Fairleigh Dickinson
University-Florham (1980-94).
“It’s a great honor,”
Cohen said. “It’s an honor to be coaching on the
international level and an honor being a Jewish female
representing Israel. I am proud of my heritage and I
would love to bring national recognition to Israel by
inspiring young female athletes to participate in the
growing sport of softball. I believe we can put together
a team that can compete with the best teams from around
the world.”
In addition, Cohen has
guided the Pioneers to three New Jersey Athletic
Conference championships (1999, 2003, 2005) and NCAA
Division III East Regional titles in 2003 and 2005 that
resulted in trips to the NCAA Division III Softball
Championship Finals those seasons. She has been named
the NJAC Coach of the Year three times (1999, 2001,
2005) and has mentored six All-Americans, 16 All-Region
players, three NJAC Players of the Year and three NJAC
Rookies of the Year. |
