Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Where Are They Now? – Kim Nicosia-Scott
5/10/2020 6:00:00 PM | Softball
Kim Nicosia-Scott remembers losing a softball game "we were supposed to win" at St. Thomas Aquinas High. She and her Raiders' teammates brushed it off, shifting their attention from the disappointing result to the rest of their spring break.
Her father, former eight-year MLB catcher and 1979 World Series champion Steve Nicosia, had other ideas.
"After the game, my friends were like, 'We're in Florida, we're going to the beach,'" Nicosia-Scott recalled. "And he's like, 'You don't need to go to the beach. You need to go to the batting cages; you need to go hit.'
"He was just very tough and there was no special treatment," she continued, "which turned me into the person I became, I'm thankful for."
That competitive nature was ubiquitous in the Nicosia household. It was "normal" and "what we knew." Nicosia-Scott's three sisters – one a year younger, a pair of twins eight years younger – all played travel softball, and their mother was a four-sport star at North Miami Beach High in the 1970s.
Steve Nicosia practiced with his daughters in their South Florida front yard "almost every day," Kim says, and his efforts proved invaluable: All four advanced to college softball.
"He had a huge influence on us, just always being present and around and just his knowledge of the game helped," Nicosia-Scott said.
Nicosia-Scott became the first of her sisters to accept an athletic scholarship, joining Coach Joan Joyce's Florida Atlantic University squad ahead of the 1998 season. The program was less than a half-decade old but stood out to Nicosia-Scott because it was close to home and employed a "big legend" in Joyce.
The Owls were "young and new" in Nicosia-Scott's freshman season but still impressed, finishing 47-20 en route to their second of eight consecutive conference championships and seven consecutive conference tournament championships.
Year two was even better than the first for Nicosia-Scott, as star recruits like pitcher Nikki Myers joined the squad and helped the team improve by two wins. That year also reunited the Nicosia family: Nicosia-Scott's sister, Kelly, began playing for the team and their father served as an assistant coach.
Once an undersized high school outfielder, Nicosia-Scott wasn't sure she'd get a college scholarship. Then she earned one from FAU, a Joyce-led program that both won and incorporated her family. Nicosia-Scott never took that progression for granted.
"I just felt blessed at the time to be able to play at the collegiate level and play for somebody like [Joyce]," Nicosia-Scott said. "Winning was a bonus."
The Owls continued to dominate the next two seasons, but Kelly Nicosia wasn't a part of it. She transferred to FIU after her freshman year to find more playing time.
Nicosia-Scott says competing against her sister didn't affect their "great" relationship. However, it did affect her parents' stadium attire. When their daughters' teams met, one wore FAU gear and the other FIU to appease both sides.
"I'm sure that was hard on my parents at the time," Nicosia-Scott said with a laugh," "but we just knew they were rooting for both of us."
Nicosia-Scott graduated from FAU in 2001 with four conference championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and a bachelor's degree in education to her name. She then began substitute-teaching in South Florida and coached Olympic Heights High's junior varsity softball team for a season.
The following year Nicosia-Scott married her high school sweetheart, Michael Scott, a former DePaul University quarterback. But marriage wasn't Nicosia-Scott's only life change in 2002. She and Scott moved to Georgia, as required by the latter's banking job.
Like always, though, the Nicosia family stuck together. Kelly moved to Georgia in 2003 and the parents followed in '05 after the birth of Nicosia-Scott's first child. Nicosia-Scott's twin sisters, who played college softball together at Michigan State, are the only core family members who didn't make the move.
For the next 15 years, Nicosia-Scott taught kindergarten and second grade in the Peach State, an experience she "loved." Nicosia-Scott's "passion for kids" served her well through that time. And Joyce's influence helped, too.
"She'll get on you when she needs to get on you, but [Joyce] was pretty patient," Nicosia-Scott said. "And that's definitely something I took with me to the classroom.
"My students always know that I loved them, but when they needed to be tough on them, that's what I was going to be," she added. "And that's Joan. You always knew that she loved you and cared about you, but when you needed to hear she was going to tell you, pretty straight-up."
Nicosia-Scott made the "very hard' decision to leave teaching in 2016 to become a "full-time mom." Her three children needed help with homework and projects, rides to school and athletic events, and it became too difficult for her to juggle those tasks with the many she had in the classroom.
"It was a hard adjustment at first, but at the end of the day I got to a point where I'm like, 'I'm blessed I get to make this choice," Nicosia-Scott said. "I'm blessed that I get to stay home and do this instead of running crazy like I was.' So, it took me a little while but now I embrace it, that this is what I get to do."
What Nicosia-Scott gets to do is see her children enjoy a similar upbringing to hers. Her two oldest, 15-year-old Landon and 12-year-old Logan, play baseball and lacrosse, respectively. Scott Nicosia took a special interest in watching them compete and develop, as he did with his children years ago.
Even Nicosia-Scott's eight-year-old daughter, Leighton, fits the competitive athlete mold – despite her mother's initial efforts to sway her elsewhere. Nicosia-Scott put her daughter into dance when she was younger in hopes of having one non-sports driven family member. The result: Leighton "cried and cried" before Nicosia-Scott put her back into basketball and softball.
Sports was integral to Nicosia-Scott's childhood, competitiveness permeating throughout her family. She's now passing that dynamic onto the next generation.
"My whole family laughed, because they're like, 'You wanted this little girl dancer,' and I have a really good athlete for a daughter," Nicosia-Scott said. "It's just in her blood."
Her father, former eight-year MLB catcher and 1979 World Series champion Steve Nicosia, had other ideas.
"After the game, my friends were like, 'We're in Florida, we're going to the beach,'" Nicosia-Scott recalled. "And he's like, 'You don't need to go to the beach. You need to go to the batting cages; you need to go hit.'
"He was just very tough and there was no special treatment," she continued, "which turned me into the person I became, I'm thankful for."
That competitive nature was ubiquitous in the Nicosia household. It was "normal" and "what we knew." Nicosia-Scott's three sisters – one a year younger, a pair of twins eight years younger – all played travel softball, and their mother was a four-sport star at North Miami Beach High in the 1970s.
Steve Nicosia practiced with his daughters in their South Florida front yard "almost every day," Kim says, and his efforts proved invaluable: All four advanced to college softball.
"He had a huge influence on us, just always being present and around and just his knowledge of the game helped," Nicosia-Scott said.
Nicosia-Scott became the first of her sisters to accept an athletic scholarship, joining Coach Joan Joyce's Florida Atlantic University squad ahead of the 1998 season. The program was less than a half-decade old but stood out to Nicosia-Scott because it was close to home and employed a "big legend" in Joyce.
The Owls were "young and new" in Nicosia-Scott's freshman season but still impressed, finishing 47-20 en route to their second of eight consecutive conference championships and seven consecutive conference tournament championships.
Year two was even better than the first for Nicosia-Scott, as star recruits like pitcher Nikki Myers joined the squad and helped the team improve by two wins. That year also reunited the Nicosia family: Nicosia-Scott's sister, Kelly, began playing for the team and their father served as an assistant coach.
Once an undersized high school outfielder, Nicosia-Scott wasn't sure she'd get a college scholarship. Then she earned one from FAU, a Joyce-led program that both won and incorporated her family. Nicosia-Scott never took that progression for granted.
"I just felt blessed at the time to be able to play at the collegiate level and play for somebody like [Joyce]," Nicosia-Scott said. "Winning was a bonus."
The Owls continued to dominate the next two seasons, but Kelly Nicosia wasn't a part of it. She transferred to FIU after her freshman year to find more playing time.
Nicosia-Scott says competing against her sister didn't affect their "great" relationship. However, it did affect her parents' stadium attire. When their daughters' teams met, one wore FAU gear and the other FIU to appease both sides.
"I'm sure that was hard on my parents at the time," Nicosia-Scott said with a laugh," "but we just knew they were rooting for both of us."
Nicosia-Scott graduated from FAU in 2001 with four conference championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and a bachelor's degree in education to her name. She then began substitute-teaching in South Florida and coached Olympic Heights High's junior varsity softball team for a season.
The following year Nicosia-Scott married her high school sweetheart, Michael Scott, a former DePaul University quarterback. But marriage wasn't Nicosia-Scott's only life change in 2002. She and Scott moved to Georgia, as required by the latter's banking job.
Like always, though, the Nicosia family stuck together. Kelly moved to Georgia in 2003 and the parents followed in '05 after the birth of Nicosia-Scott's first child. Nicosia-Scott's twin sisters, who played college softball together at Michigan State, are the only core family members who didn't make the move.
For the next 15 years, Nicosia-Scott taught kindergarten and second grade in the Peach State, an experience she "loved." Nicosia-Scott's "passion for kids" served her well through that time. And Joyce's influence helped, too.
"She'll get on you when she needs to get on you, but [Joyce] was pretty patient," Nicosia-Scott said. "And that's definitely something I took with me to the classroom.
"My students always know that I loved them, but when they needed to be tough on them, that's what I was going to be," she added. "And that's Joan. You always knew that she loved you and cared about you, but when you needed to hear she was going to tell you, pretty straight-up."
Nicosia-Scott made the "very hard' decision to leave teaching in 2016 to become a "full-time mom." Her three children needed help with homework and projects, rides to school and athletic events, and it became too difficult for her to juggle those tasks with the many she had in the classroom.
"It was a hard adjustment at first, but at the end of the day I got to a point where I'm like, 'I'm blessed I get to make this choice," Nicosia-Scott said. "I'm blessed that I get to stay home and do this instead of running crazy like I was.' So, it took me a little while but now I embrace it, that this is what I get to do."
What Nicosia-Scott gets to do is see her children enjoy a similar upbringing to hers. Her two oldest, 15-year-old Landon and 12-year-old Logan, play baseball and lacrosse, respectively. Scott Nicosia took a special interest in watching them compete and develop, as he did with his children years ago.
Even Nicosia-Scott's eight-year-old daughter, Leighton, fits the competitive athlete mold – despite her mother's initial efforts to sway her elsewhere. Nicosia-Scott put her daughter into dance when she was younger in hopes of having one non-sports driven family member. The result: Leighton "cried and cried" before Nicosia-Scott put her back into basketball and softball.
Sports was integral to Nicosia-Scott's childhood, competitiveness permeating throughout her family. She's now passing that dynamic onto the next generation.
"My whole family laughed, because they're like, 'You wanted this little girl dancer,' and I have a really good athlete for a daughter," Nicosia-Scott said. "It's just in her blood."
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