Last Updated: August 1, 2011
CRYSTAL VARGAS, a former standout at Rutgers University, and a current member of the Puerto Rican National Team since 2003, joined the softball staff of head coach Bridgette Quimpo on June 1, 2007. The 2012 season will be her fifth with the Gothic Knights.
“I feel honored to coach under Bridgette Quimpo,” Vargas said. “I have played with her and I’m very familiar with her coaching philosophy and work ethic as a player. I know I am going to learn a lot. I hope to gain a lot of knowledge from her coaching experiences, and eventually become a head coach myself.”
Perhaps the top softball player ever produced in Hudson County, Vargas played four seasons for the Scarlet Knights as a catcher, centerfielder and third baseman from 2002-05. In 2003, Vargas set a Scarlet Knight single-season record with eight homeruns, before that mark was broken in 2004.
The 23-year-old may participate in the Pan America Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at the end of July for Team Puerto Rico.
Currently, she is in her fourth year with the New York Raiders in the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Women’s Major Fast Pitch League, which will participate in the national tournament in Arizona later this summer.
A 2004 ASA First-Team All-American, Vargas also earned selection to the 2007 Topton Fourth of July Tournament All-Star Team.
“Crystal is a perfect fit for our program and I couldn’t find a better person for this job,” said Quimpo. “She is one of the best—if not the best—softball player to ever come out of Hudson County. I don’t think she realizes how great of an impact she is going to make on this program. She has solid credentials and will make a great head coach someday.”
A 2001 graduate of Marist High School in Bayonne, NJ, she was a four-year, three-sport athlete for the Royal Knights, playing soccer, bowling and baseball. At Marist, she was the first-ever female on the varsity baseball squad, where she also pitched for coach Gene Klumpp, Jr. Vargas held her own on the baseball diamond, earning Honorable Mention All-County honors as a senior in 2001, while being named co-captain of her varsity boys’ team.
In soccer, she was a First-Team All-County goalkeeper in 2000, and earned Honorable Mention All-State distinction in 1999 and 2000. Vargas was also All-County as a bowler in 2000, ranking among the top 10 bowlers in the conference in 2000 and 2001. She graduating sixth in her class at Marist, and was awarded the NCIAA Player of the Year Award, presented for academic and athletic performance.
A May 2005 graduate of Rutgers with a degree in Psychology and a minor in History, she earned a Master’s in Elementary Education from The College of New Jersey in August 2006. Most recently, Vargas was a fifth grade teacher at Cypress Elementary School in Kissimmee, FL.
When not coaching or playing softball, Vargas is a professional percussion musician, who plays the bongos and drums in such genres as salsa and Latin R&B. She has performed with numerous artists, including well-known stars Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. A percussionist since the age of five, she played on Univision as early as the age of six.
Vargas has studied Kenpo Karate for seven years, and currently holds a second degree brown belt in the sport. She resides in Belleville, NJ.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
