Marc Narducci: Changing her true colors

The colors. That is what Nancy O'Neill's family will first have to get used to as she wears the red and black of Rutgers-Camden.

O'Neill is a graduate of Collingswood and the current girls' basketball coach. She wears the Collingswood blue and gold proudly.

Now, she'll have to wear some different colors because O'Neill is the head coach of the Rutgers-Camden women's lacrosse team, which debuts next season after being a club sport this year.

O'Neill is now putting the players in the program through workouts, getting ready for next season.

While many South Jersey fans associate O'Neill with basketball, as an athlete she was a much more accomplished lacrosse player.

A 1990 graduate of the College of New Jersey, she played on two NCAA Division III championship lacrosse teams and was a two-time all-American defender.

She has the credentials, now O'Neill must convince her children that her red-and-black Rutgers-Camden sweatshirt goes just as well as blue and gold.

A mother of five daughters ranging in ages from 7 to 14, O'Neill has been razzed by her children for her new Rutgers-Camden gear.

"My kids are having a problem with the colors," she said laughing. "They say the red and black reminds them of Haddonfield."

Haddonfield is, of course, a Colonial Conference rival of Collingswood. Up until now, O'Neill has been true to the blue and gold of Collingswood, but she is willing to dress in a different color to finally achieve her dream of being a head lacrosse coach.

"I love the sport and wanted to do something like this for so long," she said.

And now the opportunity has arrived, and O'Neill has been attending high school games this spring, spreading the word about her new program.

She said one of the reasons she took the job was that South Jersey is such a hotbed for lacrosse. A local coach can find quite a bit of talent within a one-hour drive.

Rutgers-Camden won't be easing into its first season. The Scarlet Raptors will compete in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, a league in which teams such as the College of New Jersey and Rowan have established quality programs.

O'Neill realizes there will be some overlapping of her seasons next year. The basketball season ends in late February and an extended playoff run could make it past mid-March. That would be a pleasant problem for O'Neill, who is assisted at Rutgers-Camden by former Collingswood and Temple standout Allie Frengs.

Despite her busy schedule O'Neill said her husband, Jamie, was very supportive of the situation.

So, for the rest of the spring, O'Neill will be attending plenty of high school games, wearing her Rutgers apparel, and handing out literature to coaches and prospective recruits.

O'Neill realizes an important part is getting the word out so high school athletes know that there is now one more lacrosse option.

She knows that it will be a formidable challenge, but O'Neill is up to the task of building a program from the bottom up. Convincing her children that her new colors are fashionable could pose an even bigger challenge.