NAUGATUCK — For more than 20 years, Ron Plasky has been a teacher and a coach to the young men and women of Naugatuck. However, that chapter of Plasky’s life closed this past spring after he was hired as athletic director for Pomperaug High School in Middlebury.
Plasky will leave a void in Naugatuck sports that spans across three seasons. Plasky was an assistant coach for the Naugatuck High School baseball team, the Naugy girls basketball head coach, and the head girls soccer coach at City Hill Middle School.
Plasky said the decision to leave coaching was a difficult one.
“What made the decision difficult was just coaching,” Plasky said. “The relationships that you build and the moments that you have. That is the hardest thing. Obviously, I will still be around sports and everything, but you won’t have that in-depth experience. There is nothing like it to me.”
Plasky’s coaching career in Naugatuck began over 20 years ago after he was hired to teach at Hillside Middle School as well as coach the basketball and baseball teams. He coached the Hillside basketball team for seven years, before coaching as an assistant for the Naugy girls basketball team for six years.
Plasky then returned to coach basketball at the middle school level, winning five league titles between Hillside and City Hill before being hired as the Naugy girls basketball head coach in 2016.
Plasky also took over the City Hill girls soccer program after it was started five years ago. He won two league titles, including winning it all in the program’s first year.
“It is kind of hard to say which coaching position I enjoyed the most because they each kind of took a life of their own,” Plasky said. “I could go through memorable moments for each team. To me, it was always about giving the kids the best experience no matter what level or what sport I was coaching.”
Plasky’s longest coaching tenure in Naugatuck has been on the Greyhounds’ baseball staff under head coach Tom Deller. Since coming into the program together in 1996, the duo compiled over 200 wins, four Naugatuck Valley League titles, reached the state semifinals, and coached two players who went on to pitch professionally.
“It’s going to be difficult, not having him around,” Deller said. “He is intense, he is competitive, he wants to win, and he is knowledgeable about the game. When you have been around as long as Coach Plasky has, you don’t just coach to coach. You coach because you enjoy doing it.”
The now former coach already has a lot on his plate in his new position. Plasky has the task of hiring nine new head coaches at Pomperaug for the upcoming school year.
“In this new position, I kind of look at it as instead of coaching 15 to 20 kids, now I am coaching a team of 15 to 20 coaches and trying to make their experiences as good and as easy as possible,” Plasky said. “It is going to be a learning experience just like when you are starting your first job or your first coaching experience. I am already diving in and got my foot in the door, so I’m getting ready to move in that direction.”
