Citrus College Athletics kicked-off Coach Appreciation Week from May 11-15 on its Instagram account, @citrusathletics. Andrew Wheeler, kinesiology, health and athletics faculty member said in an email on May 14 that he along with aquatics Coach Jordan Carmody came up with the idea to show appreciation to the coaches.
Citrus Athletics have been able to focus on athletics through their social media since remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to make sure that we highlighted how hard our coaches work and also show them how their student athletes appreciate them during these times,” Wheeler said.
The Instagram posts consisted of a caption with a paragraph dedicated to a Citrus coach, with student athletes who’ve said how appreciative they are of their coaches.
Each posts’ caption had a paragraph dedicated to a Citrus Coach, with student athletes saying how appreciative they are of their coaches.
“I would like to thank everyone that is a part of the softball staff, they have taught me more about softball than I thought I knew,” says Brianna Poteet in the post about the Citrus Softball coaching staff. The post included Head Softball Coach Jackie Boxley, who guided the Citrus Athletics basketball team in 2013 to their first ever postseason series win.
Sophomore Tobin Kund said the Head Coach Brett Lauerhow for Citrus Men’s Basketball led the 2018-2019 season to the State Championship Final Four and was named WSC East Coach of the Year for the third time.
“I am very appreciative of the coaches at Citrus,” Kund said in the post. “They pushed me to my limits and even beyond that.”
Sophomore Jailene Rosas said she appreciated the women’s basketball coaches for believing in her.
“Coach B and Coach Mel were the first to ever to believe in me and without them, I wouldn’t be where I am right now,” Rosas said about Coach Linnae Barber-Matthews, who helped lead the team to their first postseason appearance for seven years in the 2015-2016 season.
Freshman Jacob Perez said he was appreciative for the Citrus Aquatics since he first joined.
“As soon as you become a member of Citrus Aquatics, the staff does an outstanding job supporting the athletes and showing how much they care,” Perez said.
The aquatics head Coach Jennifer Spalding came to Citrus after spending five years as the head Women’s Water Polo Coach at Chaffey College.
Sophomore Go Hattori said head Coach Steve Gomez for the Citrus baseball team taught him the true meaning of the sport.
“They taught me what real baseball is by using their valuable experience,” Hattori said,
Gomez was working as an assistant pitching coach who was working three seasons as assistant pitching and assistant coach with the team from 2002-2005, who also won the Western State Conference Championship in that time.
Freshman Lunasolee Holloway said the coaches for women’s soccer gave her support. The post said head Coach Tim Tracey spent 17 years as Women’s Head Coach at Citrus.
“Knowing I have the support from amazing coaches like Tim, Doorman and Steve just makes the experience much more memorable,” Holloway said.
For Women’s Volleyball, Freshman Evelyn Enriquez said she appreciated the staff because they influenced her first year of college.
“I appreciate the volleyball staff because they made my first year of college a lot easier.”
Head Coach Shin Jung was shown in the post, and said he’s been coaching at Citrus for over 20 years.
Another post said Head Coach Ron Ponciano who in 2013 took Citrus to their first bowl victory in 25 seasons.
“I appreciate how the coaches care about each of the players, and try to connect with us on a personal level, ” Freshman Jake Urena said.
Freshman Joseph Cruz said the head Coach Alan Waddington, who became the head coach of Citrus Cross Country in 2018 always kept the team motivated.
“What I appreciate about Alan Waddington is no matter how tough a practice or a race can get, his attitude can really cheer up the team and Antonella Curinga is constantly making sure we’re on top of our practices, timing and runs,” Cruz said.
Sophomore Molly Montel said Julian Horton, the head coach of Citrus’s men and women’s golf was one of the most “supportive” and “approachable” coaches in the WSC. Horton became the head men’s golf coach at Citrus in 2015 after coaching the women’s team for two years.
Sophomore Reymundo Orresquieta said assistant Coach Jason Schmelzeisen always made him “feel at home,” and also said he described head Coach Fred Bruce-Oliver as a disciplined coach and always wanted “the best” for the team players. Head Coach Fred Bruce-Oliver and Assistant Coach Jason Schmelzeisen were also featured in the Instagram post.
Students can go to the Citrus College Athletics programs’ Instagram @citrusathletics to show their appreciation to the coaches of Citrus Athletics too.
