Pair of Shore Conference coaches headed to the Hall of Fame

It will not be the usual large and lavish luncheon but when the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association inducts the latest class into its Hall of Fame this Sunday it will nonetheless be very special for a pair of longtime Shore Conference coaches.

Louis “Del” Dal Pra and Susan Rogers are among the 33 people who will be inducted in a virtual ceremony which will be viewed by their family members and friends.

Dal Pra recently retired as the athletic director at Red Bank Regional High School where he spent 12 years leading the Bucs’ athletic programs. He is not ready for full retirement yet, however, as he is currently working as a health and physical education teacher at Hebrew Academy of New Jersey. During his tenure at Red Bank he was also the head baseball coach (2012-14) but even before his arrival on Ridge Road he had already built a long coaching resume. A three-sport athlete at Rumson-Fair Haven who played both football and baseball at William Paterson and later Glassboro State (now Rowan University), Dal Pra returned to his high school alma mater as an assistant football and baseball coach in 1991.

He would later serve as head baseball coach at Henry Hudson, Ocean County College and Ocean Township High School and was twice named Asbury Park Press Coach of the Year. While at Ocean Dal Pra was also an assistant football coach for six years.

Rogers will make history when she is inducted into the HOF as she’ll become the first coach in Barnegat High School history to be bestowed that honor. A graduate of James Caldwell High School and later Kean University where she played softball, Rogers began her career at Cedar Grove High School as coach of the junior varsity girls basketball and softball teams. She then moved south to Pinelands Regional in 1987 as the varsity softball coach and also served as JV field hockey coach before taking over both the girls and boys tennis teams.

When Barnegat High School opened in 2004 Rogers moved there to coach the girls tennis team and four years later became the first coach for girls varsity golf, positions she still holds today. The tennis squad has won five Shore Conference division titles under her watch but Rogers’s greatest accomplishment might be as coach of the Special Olympics New Jersey tennis team, which took her to Seattle in 2018 for the USA National Games.

The virtual ceremony is one she is very excited about as she has family members in Germany who will be able to watch it and celebrate along with her.

Kevin Williams is the Director of the Shore Sports Network and can be reached at kevin.williams@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @shoresportsman. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.