Over the past two decades Pfluger, the field hockey and lacrosse coach at The College of New Jersey in Trenton, N.J. has compiled a truly remarkable record.
She started the 2003 lacrosse season, her 17th as head coach, with a career record of 242-17-1 (.933). Nine of her teams have won NCAA Division III national championships (one was later vacated), while four others have made it to the championship game.

 In 18 seasons of field hockey, Pfluger's teams have won 328 games and seven national titles, while reaching the national title game 10 times.
Those numbers would be envied by many veterans, but at 42, Pfluger is still a young woman. In many ways though, she is a throwback, to a time when coaches, above all else, were role models.

 She grew up in Paramus, N.J., a town made famous in 1930s and '40s because former heavyweight champion Joe Louis trained there. In high school, Pfluger played field hockey, basketball and softball while encountering a woman named Debbie West, who coached her in all three sports.

 She enrolled at what was then Trenton State College (as TCNJ was known at the time) and played field hockey for legendary coach Melissa Magee. She wanted to play softball too, but fall softball tryouts conflicted with field hockey. So Pfluger, who had never played lacrosse before, picked up a stick and joined many of her hockey teammates (and Magee) on the lacrosse field in the spring of her freshman year.

 To this day, Pfluger considers West and Magee her greatest professional influences. "They were great role models," she said. "They made an impact on people in a positive way.

 "I think (coaches) have to be role models, even now. It's important for our athletes to see the type of people that we are. How we handle ourselves under pressure, and how we treat other people. I think being a good teacher is important. I think that's a lot of what coaching is about. Teaching others how to reach out. And on top of that, trying to teach the best skills possible. Teaching the best strategy. Trying to reach people. Motivating people."

 When Pfluger first came to Trenton State, the Lions were not the athletic power they later became. But by the time she graduated in the spring of 1982, the school had won national titles in both hockey and lacrosse and Pfluger was one of the top players in the country.

 After graduation, she started her coaching career as a hockey assistant at Drew University in North Jersey. The next year she was named the head coach at Kean, another Division III school, before moving on to Montclair State in 1984, the same year she was named an assistant lacrosse coach at Drew.

 All the while Pfluger was teacher elementary school health and physical education, while coaching high school basketball in her spare time. It was, to say the least, a hectic schedule, but she somehow kept up with it.
"Which I could do," Pluger said, with a laugh. "I was young and didn't need much sleep."

 By the summer of 1985, Pfluger realized that she had to make a choice; continue teaching at the elementary level, which she loved, and be a high school coach or became a full-time college coach.

 As it turned out, her alma mater helped her make the decision. Magee was stepping down and the school wanted Pfluger to replace her as the hockey and lacrosse coach. "I felt so much pride to come back to my alma mater," she said. "I felt so much pride. Your heart's there. You don't have to learn what the school's about."

 But Pfluger was keenly aware of the magnitude of the task ahead of her. She was 24 when she came back to Trenton State, not much older than some of her players. But she overcame what some might have seen as a lack of experience with enthusiasm—and a strong work ethic. At times it wasn't easy. Unlike many other Division III programs, men's and women's, Trenton State drew considerable attention from the community and the media. Pfluger would be working under considerable scrutinty.

 "I really had to put all that hype aside," she said, "and say to myself 'Sharon, just work hard day by day. And I did that. I stayed in that office until midnight 1 a.m, 2 a.m., whatever it took. I put everything I had into the program.

 Pfluger's first hockey team won 22 games and the national championship. The following spring her first lacrosse team reached the national title game. The next year, the Lions won the first of three straight national titles in lacrosse, going 50-5 in that span. In 1991 they started a string of six more national championships (although they later vacated the 1992 title). The last five of those teams went undefeated; over those six years, Pfluger's lacrosse teams went a combined 91-1.

 The 1990 and '91 hockey teams also won national championships, meaning from the fall of 1991 through the spring of 1992, Pfluger's teams won four straight national championships.

 Pfluger is competitive, to say the least; she coaches to win and is demanding of her players on the practice field and in competition. But providing a positive example for her  student-athletes has been a high priority as well. "I just tried to be fair to the girls," she said. "I didn't try to be their friend, I wanted to be a good role model. That was always a goal of mine, that I've got to be a good role model. There was never a power struggle there was never me trying to overstep my boundaries with them. I just wanted them to know all the time that I cared a lot about them and wanted them to be the best that they could be, and for them to be happy at the end of the season. That's been my philosophy all along."

 Pfluger, who has three children of her own, has seen her relationship with her players evolve with the passage of time. " At first I was more of a big-sister-figure role model to them, I think," she said. "Now, 18 years down the road I'm more like a Mom away from home (but) I feel I can still relate to them and deal with their thinking. If I don't, I'll say, 'What are your thoughts?'"

 Of course, there are always challenges to face, not the least of which is recruiting.

 "It's a big part of the job," Pfluger admitted. "It takes a lot of time out of our day. Coaching is our number-one priority; the second priority is recruiting."

 As competitive as TCNJ is athletically, it is just as competitive academically. Pfluger and her chief assistant, Robin Selbst, must identify prospects that can face the challenges the school offers, on the field and in the classroom. If this sounds like a long, painstaking process, it is, and one that virtually never ends.
"You always think you know what they want," Pfluger said, "but not everybody wants the same thing. (Recruits) have lots of expectations some kids only want a full ride scholarship (which don't exist in Division III), with other kids that's not the major priority; they want to play for a highly competitive program that can meet their needs academically, athletically and in various ways.

 "I've learned over the years never to assume exactly what they want. Better to ask 'What are you looking for?' This is what we have to offer. Expect the unexpected, you never know exactly what decision they're going to make until they've really worked it through in their head and talked to their parents.

 Unlike some coaches, who view prospects who choose other schools with disdain, Pfluger tries to be encouraging when a student-athlete decides to go elsewhere. In fact, she has built close relationships with recruits, and parents of recruits, who have wound up selecting other schools.

 "I'm not upset when they choose another school," Pluger said. I want them to be happy. I want them to pick the school that's right for them. I don't want them to feel pressure and worry about blowing us up if they  I want to go elsewhere. we're going to say 'Best of luck to you.'

 "If they say Yes, I do want to come here, well, great for us. The bottom line is that they're happy. They're making the decision for their lives, it's got to be the right decision for them."

 With 18 years of hindsight, it is clear that in coming back to her alma mater, Sharon Pfluger chose the school that was right for her. Her players won't be signing multimillion dollar contracts when they graduate, but they will go on to marriages, families, and successful careers, having learned lessons from Pluger the way she herself learned from West and Magee during her own tenure as a student athlete.

In short, Sharon Pluger has found her niche. " You're doing this because you enjoy the sport," she said, "and you really love the kids; you want to be a good role model for them. Those are the reasons I still want to coach."