Coach Will Thurston has concocted a secret recipe for winning: a pinch of accountability, a spoonful of dedication, a dash of unselfish playing style. Mix it with some hard working players who have the ability to learn and adjust to new strategies and you have your winning team.
This potent recipe has garnered Thurston with a winning reputation and the ability to build the very best athletic programs as he enters his thirty-second consecutive year coaching sports at Moorpark College.
During his long and prolific tenure, he has coached football, softball, men’s and women’s golf and is now ready to rebuild his recipe for success in his second stint as the Raiders’ softball coach.
During his first ten-year stint with the club, from 1984-1993, Thurston posted a 115-12 (.905) record, winning nine Western State Conference championships in six years. The Raiders finished third in the state in 1989 and fifth in the state in 1990.
Thurston recently coached men’s and women’s golf, helping guide the men’s team to a Southern California Championship in 2008, before the program was indefinitely suspended following the 2008 season.
To put it simply, his credentials are off the charts, he knows what it takes to win and he has found a philosophy that works unlike any other.
To add more fuel to the fire, he is ready to build yet another successful athletic program.
“I honestly got a little on the excited side,” Thurston said. “It was just another challenge to encounter in my career.”
Thurston previously left softball with fond memories but now returns to set the stage for new beginnings.
“I left softball and it was great in 1993,” he said.
“The program was at the top ten percent in the state of California. I had just great memories being a part of the program.”
A Moorpark College graduate himself, Thurston has been associated with the college even before he started coaching, playing football at Moorpark in 1975 and 1976, all while earning All-Conference and Most Valuable Player team honors.
A big part of his recipe for success comes from the players.
Brittany Alfino, the Raiders’ starting second baseman and current team captain, has the utmost respect for Coach Thurston.
“He pushes you and really makes you work hard,” she said. “He’s a great coach.”
With support from his teammates, as well as from the Raiders’ current athletic director, Howard Davis, Thurston is ready to revamp his coaching career and winning ways.
“Coach Thurston’s re-taking over the program really sets the stage for Moorpark to be an elite state power in softball for years to come,” Davis said in a statement.
