Former Steinert field hockey coach Alyson Setzer (left) and former Nottingham coach/Athletic Director Dee “The Wizard” Taylor display the portrait given to Setzer Sunday night after she was honored at the 45th Annual Trenton Select Committee dinner at Mercer Oaks (Photo by Rick “The Voice” Taylor).
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Nov. 12: Throughout her 40 years of giving tirelessly to the sport of field hockey, Alyson Setzer has adeptly avoided the spotlight.
Fame and recognition is not her thing. Love of the sport and helping young athletes is what she’s all about.
Try as she might, however, the former Steinert High player and coach could no longer hide from the acclaim she so richly deserves. The spotlight finally found Setzer at Mercer Oaks on Sunday night, as she was the female honoree at the 45th Annual Trenton Select Committee (TSC) Dinner.
Other Hamiltonians honored on the evening were Vince Ardery, who received the Jim Carlin Memorial Distinguished Service Award, and Steinert grad/Yale freshman Giana Pittaro, one of three Gilbert P. Rossi Memorial Scholarship Award winners.
Setzer’s recognition completed a TSC hat trick for the Pfeiffer College field hockey team of the late 1970s-early 1980s. Other members of those teams were Steinert softball coach Jean Ruppert and former Nottingham field hockey coach/Athletic Director Dee “The Wizard” Taylor, who both received TSC’s highest honor within the past five years.
Taylor was flattered to introduce Setzer on Sunday, but admitted it was a struggle to find the right words.
“For her to get this is very well deserved,” Taylor said. “But what I know about Alyson is she’s a very private person and this is not easy for her because it’s going to have her reflect on and talk about herself. You only know things about Alyson that she wants you to know, so writing a speech for her was very difficult.”
But not impossible, as Taylor gave a heart-warming talk that touched on their days as teammates and beyond; about how Setzer got the nickname “Bam Bam” during a game in which she slid along the turf and her butt kept going “Bam! Bam!” along the ground. She recalled the story of when Setzer was in Georgia and challenged former NFL star Herschel Walker – then playing for University of Georgia – to a racquetball game and later told folks “I let him win.”
Prior to Taylor’s introduction, former Steinert player/assistant coach Nicole Caruso gave a drop-dead hilarious speech that both honored and poked fun at Setzer. The speech was highlighted when Setzer yelled from her seat at the head table “Tell them where you slept one night.” To which Caruso admitted that she and some teammates camped out on Setzer’s front lawn their last day of school in a show of love for their coach.
“When I became a teacher it hit me, and I was like “Ohhhhh, did I really do that!” Caruso told the crowd, which was in hysterics.
While presenting an award on behalf of the TSC, former Athletic Director Rich Giallella talked about his respect for Setzer and his misunderstanding of her sport. He recalled one conversation on the field where he was puzzled that left-handers could not play field hockey and peppered her with questions. Setzer’s response was “Go sit in the car!”
When Setzer’s turn came, she was as classy as would be expected, discussing friends, family and peers, talking about their influences. The most telling part of her speech came when she said “Field hockey was always the best part of my day.”
Anyone who knows Setzer knows that. Prior to the start of the dinner, she discussed what the sport meant to her.
“I’ve been involved for 40 years and been able to meet a lot of nice people and fun people and make lifelong friends and just share a passion for a sport I love too,” she said. “I enjoyed that. I knew Debra (Taylor) was coming tonight. It’s a nice surprise that Jean is here. I never thought we’d still have this same connection from 40 years ago. I’m very happy to have friends like Jean and Debra.”
Taylor agreed that the trio never would have dreamt all three would be honored at one of Mercer County’s most prestigious events four decades after they stopped being teammates.
“It’s cool,” she said. “I think our college coach would probably be amazed. Not about those two, but probably about me. Alyson went down to Georgia after school, Jean was rummaging around in North Carolina and I came back here because I couldn’t find a job. It’s funny how it all brings us back here.”
All three have made a positive mark in Mercer County field hockey (and Ruppert in softball as well), as have all the other Trenton Select honorees. During the cocktail hour, Setzer reflected on the company she was joining.
“This is really an amazing event that the Trenton Select Committee puts on,” she said. “When I was doing my research for my speech, I was struck at how all of the honorees were just amazing athletes or coaches and I’m just honored to be put in amongst them.”
An honor she well deserves.
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Former Hightstown soccer star and current Princeton University coach Jim Barlow was the male honoree, while Bob Pugh received the Nick Gusz Memorial Special Recognition award. The other scholarship winners were Allentown graduate Ryan Weise and Bordentown grad Devon Fitzpatrick.
