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garzola@pnc.edu

Gil Arzola enters his fourth year as head coach at Purdue North Central and 18th year of coaching overall. In his first two years the Panthers competed as a club sport before competing at the intercollegiate level last year in 2004 as an independent. This season PNC softball will join the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and compete only against four year colleges.

The first coach of the women’s program, Arzola's team compiled a record of 19-20 in 2004 competing at the intercollegiate level as an independent against both junior colleges and four year colleges. Arzola laid the foundation his first two seasons when the team competed at the club level. The 2005 season brings a new level of excitement as the team will compete in conference play for the first time and solely against four-year institutions.

Prior to arriving at PNC, Arzola coached three years at Wheeler High School, taking a program that had been 6-17, to a 19-3 record his first year and a three-year record of 48-18.  

Before coaching at Wheeler, Gil founded and coached the South Central High School program for five years. He never had a losing season and won their first ever sectional title before class softball.

A frequent clinician and speaker, Arzola has conducted several clinics throughout the Midwest. In 2003 he was invited to Atlanta, GA with other select coaches to conduct a team camp for over 200 elite players from across the country. Arzola was also a featured speaker for the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports convention in Indianapolis in 2004. 

Arzola has authored a number of articles about coaching and team building including articles in Skills and Drills, Across The Board, Whetstone and Scholastic Coach. 

Arzola is married and has two grown daughters. Jennifer is an English teacher at Washington Township High School (IN) and Christi works in the Human Resources Department for UPS in Evansville.

Denny King enters his fourth year as an assistant coach after helping found the program with Arzola. 

King has been around softball for over 15 years, beginning as a travel coach for some of the best teams in Northwest Indiana.  He was a coach for the Indiana Bulldogs for a number of years and has coached several all-state players, one Miss Softball and two All-Americans. King and coach Arzola joined forces several years ago to coach the 23 and under Bulldogs that finished 5th in the nation in 2002.  

King, age 54 and a retired chemist, is married and has one daughter, Kristen, who is pursuing an education degree at Purdue Calumet. 

Jim Brocksmith begins his fourth year as an assistant coach at PNC after also helping found the Panther program under Arzola

Brocksmith has long been involved in youth athletics and has coached for fifteen years overall.  He was the junior varsity coach at Wheeler High School and assisted Arzola in leading the varsity program to three straight winning seasons, including a sectional championship appearance.  Brocksmith was also very active in beginning youth programs for the Wheeler area.

Brocksmith is co-owner of Katie’s Potato Chips and umpires high school and travel team games.  He is married and has two daughters.