Baseball is a sport built around both teamwork and individual performance as players must buy into a coach’s philosophy as a unit but must execute batting and pitching on their own. These lessons carried on with Paul Schropfer ’02 after his playing days and graduation from the State University of New York at New Paltz.
During his time as a member of the Hawk baseball team from 1999-2002, Schropfer helped lead New Paltz to three consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournaments under the guidance of then-head coach Mike Juhl.
“What I took away from my time at New Paltz would be that a team must work together to achieve their goal. Coach Juhl created a vision for the season and planned out how we would achieve it,” Schropfer explained. “The team really pushed each other and worked together in order to contribute to the overall goal.”
A native of Glen Oaks, N.Y., Schropfer played second base and pitched for the Hawks, accruing a career batting average of .347 with 95 hits and 49 runs batted in (RBI) in 98 games. On the mound as a right-hander, both starting and relieving, Schropfer earned five victories in 66 2/3 innings.
Schropfer graduated with an organizational communication degree from New Paltz and continued his education at Long Island University-CW Post for his master’s in childhood education in 2009. Schropfer most recently earned his master’s in educational administration from the College of Saint Rose in 2014.
But surprisingly, Schropfer did not have New Paltz on his radar early on coming out of high school. “I didn't know about New Paltz until Juhl contacted me during the recruiting process. I decided to attend New Paltz because I wanted to go away to school but not too far and New Paltz was only two hours from Queens,” Schropfer explained. “My family and I really trusted Coach Juhl and he made my decision really easy.”
Schropfer and his parents visited New Paltz on a Saturday and spent the entire day with Juhl visiting the facilities, dorms, cafeteria, and the town.
“Juhl had me spend time with the some of the players in the dorms and was really honest and open about the change he wanted to make to the program from the bottom of the SUNYAC to the top. Being a part of his first recruiting class, I was a part of a major turnaround for New Paltz baseball,” Schropfer stated.
After graduation from New Paltz, Schropfer began working in sales for an athletic performance training company before moving on to Wells Fargo as a mortgage consultant. Today, Schropfer works at a special education school in the New York City Department of Education, located in the Bronx. On a daily basis, he works with as many as 20 teachers at a time in order to improve students’ outcomes.
“I started as a teacher for students with autism and I am currently the school coordinator,” Schropfer explained. “My future goal is to become a principal and bring the lessons that I learned at New Paltz in the classroom and on the field to my students. My experience being a member of a great team helps me work with my colleagues.”
Schropfer continued to state how grateful he was for his experience as a Hawk and how Juhl provided guidance to himself and his teammates.
“What I remember most about my playing days were all of my teammates,” Schropfer explained. “The good times we had on and off the field are memories I will never forget. The 1999-2000 and 2000-01 teams were very special and I learned a lot from the older guys what it meant to be a New Paltz baseball player and leader.”
“Juhl really brought back the baseball program at New Paltz and the field would not look the way it does without the changes he made. He really molded and shaped the lives of many New Paltz baseball players.”
Schropfer married his wife Rebecca in July 2010, who is also a teacher and future school administrator. Today, the couple has two sons -Ryan (three years old) and Mason (eight months old)- and currently reside on Long Island.
