Glen Cover Named as a National Coach

Glen Cove resident Beth Nugent will soon embark on a new journey in her life as a national football coach.

Nugent was recently named as the defensive line coach of the USA Football 2010 Women's National Team. The squad will compete in football's first full-tackle Women's World Championship in Sweden this summer.

"It was a pretty awesome feeling and a huge honor," Nugent said of being named to the team's coaching staff. "I was pretty excited."

A Queens native and former standout athlete in softball, basketball and judo at St. Francis Preparatory High School in Fresh Meadows, Nugent is the current assistant coach for the New York Sharks, an Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) team that plays out of New York City.

She began gracing the gridiron with the Sharks during the team's inception season in 1999, suiting up at center, guard, tackle and defensive end for nine years. Nugent also played in four championship games and won a league title in 2002 with the team.

After a fine playing career, the Queens College graduate turned to coaching with the Sharks in 2008. And it didn't take Nugent long to adapt to her new position, because of her on-field experience.

"I am seeing it from a completely different angle," she said of coaching as opposed to playing. "I have actually done it. I'm able to show different techniques to the players because I played the game."

As a lifelong athlete, Nugent said, she would have loved to been a part of the national football team's playing roster. She noted, however, that coaching is just as satisfying.

"I have been playing sports forever," said Nugent, who is a Nassau County police detective. "To be able to play on an international level would've been great. There's a piece of me that would've loved to play, but being a coach is just as rewarding."

From June 27 to July 3, the USA Football Women's National squad will represent the United States during the inaugural International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women's World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. Canada, Germany, Austria, Finland and Sweden are also slated to compete. 

The IFAF includes 57 member nations on five continents, with national federations dedicated solely to football. USA Football's team will be assembled and managed in partnership with the IWFL, which is in its 10th season.

The Sharks will kick-off their 12th season on April 12 at home against Eastern Conference Champion D.C. Divas.

For more information on the Women's World Football Championship/IWFL and New York Sharks, visit IWFLSports.com and NYSharksfootball.com, respectively.