New Woodbridge softball coach Jerry Rose is not a stranger to the program he inherits from longtime coach Alan Dugard.
Rose, 51, has coached at Woodbridge for 10 years, the last three years as the varsity assistant under Dugard, who announced his retirement last month after 24 years.
“I’m very excited after nine years there to even be considered for the job. It’s an accomplishment and a privilege; there were some really good candidates that they had,” Rose said Monday.
“I love coaching softball. I’ve been doing it for a long time now, and to be able to continue on at Woodbridge and to be able to take over for Alan, who has built an incredible program, is just an honor and a privilege.”
Rose realizes he has some big shoes to fill.
“I got to know him (Dugard) when I came in as the JV coach nine years ago,” Rose said. “Over the last three or four years, we’ve become friends off the field. He’s kind of taken me under his wings. I think it helps him knowing the program is under somebody who has been there and knows the tradition and proceed according to what he built, and I plan on doing that.”
Rose said the basic goal will be to lead Woodbridge to the Pacific Coast League championship.
“We’ve gotten to CIF playoffs the last few years, but we haven’t been able to kind of get out of that second round,” Rose said. “So that will be our next goal, to see if we can’t break through that barrier and get a little further and keep the expectations high.”
Rose was Woodbridge’s junior varsity coach for six years starting in 2006. He started working full time at the school in campus security two years ago.
“It’s a very rewarding job,” Rose said. “My ultimate goal was to get on at Woodbridge, and it worked out beautifully three years ago. Even though I didn’t grow up here, I feel very attached to it, like it’s my hometown school. It’s home for me; I live right across the street.”
Rose and his wife, Cindy, have three children: a son, Andrew, 26, and two daughters, Evann, 22, and Haley, a catcher on the Woodbridge softball team who will be entering her sophomore year in the coming school year.
“That’s something I’ve been blessed to do – I’ve been able to coach all of my kids in all their sports,” Rose said. “I coached AYSO soccer, PONY baseball and boys and girls club basketball.”
Rose also has coached in the Irvine Girls Softball Association for 15 years and has been pleased to see the growth of the league over the years.
“I’ve been able to stay on the board and continue to train our coaches,” Rose said.
Rose said he is looking forward to his new assignment at Woodbridge.
“There are times when I feel like I’m living a dream,” Rose said.
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com
