Athletic Director Kyle Allison and the Marian University Ancilla Chargers are thrilled to announce the hiring of Gilbert Arzola as the new Softball Head Coach, effective immediately. Coach Arzola brings nearly 40 years of coaching experience to the Chargers, including a wide range of experience that includes something as simple as Tee-Ball, all the way up to coaching at the NCAA Division-I level.

"We are excited to add someone with such a diverse expertise at the collegiate level," exlaimed Athletic Director Allison. "To be able to not only bring Coach Arzola's background to our program for the benefit of our student-athletes, but also to add such an experienced coach to the MCCAA (Michigan Community College Athletic Association), it is very exciting for us as we continue to move forward and increase our competitiveness as an athletics program."

Speaking on that experience, as a collegiate coach, Mr. Arzola was the Head Coach at the now defunct *Purdue University North Central (NCAA Division-II), where he was tasked with beginning the softball program. Coach Arzola was able to establish a successful environment quickly, posting a winning record and qualifying for the conference tournament in just his third season at the helm. Coach Arzola has additional collegiate experience, as he fulfilled the role of pitching coach at both Valparaiso Univeristy (NCAA Division-I) and Goshen College (NAIA). *In 2016, Purdue University North Central and Purdue University Calumet combined to form what is now known as Purdue University Northwest.

Coach Arzola has also spent a great deal of his time in Northwest Indiana as a high school coach, where he has been the Head Coach at Wheeler High School (Valparaiso, IN), South Central High School (Union Mills, IN), Portage High School (Portage, IN), and River Forest High School (Hobart, IN). Like at Purdue North Central, Coach was in charge of building a program while at South Central High School.

For 20 years, Coach Arzola spent time as the Head Coach of the Indiana Bulldogs...a highly competitive travel softball program who has also seen a great deal of success. During one specific season, as the Head Coach of the U23 group, Coach Arzola helped the Bulldogs to a 5th place National finish.

Additionally, Mr. Arzola has authored a number of articles on skills and team building that have been published in periodicals and on websites like "Across the Board", "Fastpitch Delivery", as well as "Coach & Athletic Director". He has also authored a book about fastpitch pitching instruction titled, "The Plate Don't Move". Finally, he is a frequent guest speaker and clinician, and he has participated in clinics throughout the Midwest, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, and in 2003 he was a featured speaker for softball at the ICGSA (Indiana Coaches for Girls Sports Association) statewide convention.