The coaching situation will most likely be solved by Tuesday when Costa Mesa plays its second match of the season against Orange in the Mustangs’ gym.
Peters and Langley mark the fifth coaching change in as many years at Costa Mesa. The parents dislike the consistency. Yet they were hoping the coaches could’ve at least been hired before the season started.
After Garry Currier resigned as coach in December, Costa Mesa was left in scramble mode, trying to find a replacement before the spring season. Jim Kiefer, the school’s boys’ athletic director, said a selection had been made last month, but the candidate was not cleared. Thus, the season began with an interim coach, Alex Cordoba, who was the boys’ soccer head man and coaches the junior varsity boys’ volleyball team.
Cordoba was the coach on the bench for the Mustangs’ season opener March 10, when Saddleback won in five games at Costa Mesa.
“It’s not fair to the kids,” Bill Metcalfe, a player’s parent, said of the coaching situation. “It’s a big dropping of the ball by the [athletic] administration.”
Costa Mesa finished 15-8 last year and reached the CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinals, showing promise for a bright future. But now uncertainty clouds the program’s hopes.
“I don’t believe we did [drop the ball],” said Kiefer, who is also the coach of the baseball team. “We operated in a timely manner. Our coach resigned in December. We had qualified candidates. We offered it to the most qualified person. The person didn’t get cleared by the district.”
