Over the past 20 years, the Rowan University softball team has been one of, if not, the most successful sports program at the school. A huge chunk of credit for that belongs to head coach Kim Wilson. Wilson racked up over 700 wins and has just under an 80 percent winning percentage. She has led the Profs to six New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) titles and 15 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Wilson first played softball when she was in fifth grade. However, it surprisingly wasn’t her favorite sport growing up.

“I played a ton of basketball growing up,” Wilson said. “It was by far my favorite sport. But my mom was a college softball and volleyball coach. Those were the two sports I played in college.”

When Wilson finished college, she became a teacher at an elementary school in Virginia, where she coached basketball.

“I was told by the athletic director I didn’t have enough experience to coach the high school softball team,” Wilson said. “So, I went and applied for a softball job and got it, so I thought that was pretty funny since I was told I didn’t have enough experience.”

Before she came to Rowan, Wilson was the softball and soccer coach at Washington & Jefferson College (PA). She ultimately left and came to Rowan because she didn’t want to have to coach both soccer and softball.

“The opportunity to come to Rowan was also very exciting,” Wilson said. “Rowan has always been competitive and it’s a great conference to play in. It’s also great that we can play on a national level.”

Wilson is humble when it comes to the amount of success she has had at Rowan. She credits the school itself for making her job easier.

“Rowan is a great school,” Wilson said. “We’re selling to players a great education, so that allows us to recruit from a better talent pool. We try our best to improve the players over the course of the four years they are here and make the game enjoyable. We try to create a fun atmosphere for the players.”

Rowan’s game at Stockton has been moved to Friday at 3 p.m. Wilson and the Profs come into the game with a 15-4-1 record. Stockton is 10-7.

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