With the 16th NJ Pride Super 36 All-Star Game fast approaching with the 2026 contest set for 6 p.m., Monday, June 15, at Ivy Hill Park, the deadline for coaches to nominate their seniors is fast approaching with the cutoff being this Friday, May 22.
“Every coach in the state has the opportunity to nominate their senior,” said NJ Pride President and Mount St. Dominic head coach Rob Stern. “If the player is not nominated then she can’t play in the game, and we want to remind all coaches who haven’t yet to make their nominations to do so now because we want as many deserving seniors to be a part of this great, annual game as possible.”
To nominate a player and to learn more about the process log on to https://njpridesoftball.com/ and just click on ‘Super 36’ in the top navigation bar.
Stern and his late friend, former Immaculate Heart coach Anthony LaRezza were prime movers for the start of the Super 36 All-Star Game and the annual list of seniors who have played in the contest include many top college players.
In last June’s game alone, several players in that contest, won by the North, 13-8, have gone on to have superb freshmen seasons in college, such as Livingston’s Allie Nankivell at the University of Delaware, IHA’s Gabby Shadek at Duke, Cedar Grove’s Gia Fernandez at St. John’s and Montclair’s Brooklyn Awad at Wellesley.
The Super 36 All-Star Game experience serves as a great final high school sendoff.
It’s so amazing and such an honor to play with the best seniors in the state in the Super 36 all-star game,” said Nankivell, Livingston’s all-state slap hitter who entered recent action enjoying an outstanding freshman year as a starting outfielder and as one of the top hitters and leader in runs scored for the Delaware Blue Hens. “While it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to all your high school teammates who you grow up with and love, it’s also nice to feel ready for bigger things ahead as we all move on to the next stage in our individual journeys.”
Shadek has been a freshman sensation for Duke in the highly-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, while Fernandez hit over .300 during her time in the lineup as a freshman third baseman for St. John’s, and Awad has had a terrific freshman season of her own as a starting outfielder and one of the leading hitters for Wellesley, a very high academic Division III program in Massachusetts.
What current high school seniors in the Garden State make their final high school appearances on Essex County Mike Sheppard Sr. Field at ivy Hill Park remains to be seen, but one can rest assured that several of the state’s very best seniors from the 2026 scholastic softball campaign will be on hand once again.