4/25/2008 - Vergets Announces Retirement after Four Seasons as Head Coach
NEWBERG, Ore. - After six seasons with the George Fox University softball team, the last four as the Bruins’ head coach, Mark Vergets has announced his plans to step down from the program in order to devote more time to his locally-owned business, the Newberg Hardware store.
“My time coaching at George Fox has been a very positive experience,” said Vergets, “but the store is where I make my living and it just needs some more personal direction from me right now. I didn’t want to be so divided that neither job gets the attention they deserve.”
Vergets first came to George Fox in 2003 as an assistant coach for two years under Bob Steenson, then took over the head coaching job in 2005 when Steenson retired. Playing in the highly-competitive Northwest Conference, the Bruins compiled a record of 23-114-1 in Vergets’ four years.
A long-time resident of Newberg, Vergets came to the community in 1964 when his parents purchased a local hardware store and ran it as Coast-to-Coast Hardware. Mark and his wife Roni continued the family business by owning and running the store for the past 14 years as Newberg Hardware.
Vergets has been involved in softball for many years, beginning as a summer Amateur Softball Association coach in 1991. In 1998, he led his girls’ 14-U Oregon ASA Fast Pitch summer team to the state championship. He coached at Newberg High School from 1999-2002, with his final two years as an assistant under head coach Gary Bertrand, for whom he had played during high school.
“Roni and I are grateful to have been a part of George Fox athletics in a hands-on way,” said Vergets, “and we will always be a part of it. We look forward to supporting the University in all that it stands for.”
“We are extremely grateful for all the hard work and effort Mark has put into our softball program these last six years both as an assistant coach and as a head coach,” commented George Fox director of athletics Craig Taylor. “He has been a pleasure to work with, but I understand his reasons for wanting to make this change at this time; it is a very important decision for his business and his family. He will always be a part of the Bruin family.”
The search for a new coach for the George Fox program has already begun.