By Madyson Montoya
It took the athletic department nearly two months to fill the head cheer coach position. The current team knows nothing of the new coach, except that one exists.
Former head coach Kelvin Lam decided to leave San Jose State to spend more time with his family and pursue a new career at a tech company.
Lam built the program for seven years and created a self-sufficient team that would be ready for his departure.
“It’s bittersweet,” said assistant coach Lanessa Lozano. “We’re all happy for him, but it’s sad because he built a program that is strong in culture.”
The team is open for a change, but it is striving to keep its culture intact because it works.
“Lam was able to make a team with little elite skill,” senior Ryan Hale said. “He created a nationally-ranked cheer team.”
Initially, frustration naturally arose, and because of an absence of no administrative supervision, the team was not allowed to stunt or tumble, two common practices in cheerleading.
“The gymnastics team has gone through the same transition as us, but they have not had nearly as many problems as we’ve had,” said Hale.
With the delay in hiring a new coach and the first football game approaching, the team was forced to start its double-day practices without a leader.
A few days into the team-led practices, Lozano was offered the assistant coach position and stepped in right away, but the team’s comfort level was still in question.
“There’s a lot of uncertainties and it’s very easy to panic,” said Hale, “I’m trying to take all that I learned with Kelvin into my last year.”
Along with the upcoming transition in coaches, the team is also working on getting nine freshmen members up to speed on collegiate cheerleading.
“As veterans, we wanted the rookies to know that they have to work hard to be apart of the team, and they have,” sophomore Alessandra Santiago said. “The new members are progressing faster than any other class.”
Based on how hard the newcomers push themselves early, it will determine how successful the team will be.
“We have a lot of forward-thinking rookies,” said Lozano. “Seeing that they are still here through this transition means so much.”
Lozano doesn’t fear the program will ease up. Aware that a new head coach has the power to change everything, she is confident the attitude of the squad will keep the culture intact.
Lozano said all the changes coming this season will keep the team on their toes and not complacent.
The team is ready for the next chapter, but fear that they won’t be pushed as hard as they were under Lam’s coaching.
“I feel that we are ready for anything,” said Santiago. “Now that know our new coach is coming in, we’ll be ready to adapt.”
Change is inevitable with a transition in coaches, but the team has faith that their traditions will carry on while adding new ones.
It has not been decided whether or not the team will be able to compete this year. All they can do is prepare for the first game, and make the transition seem like it never happened.
“I can’t say this year is going to be better,” said Hale, “ It’s definitely going to be different. I feel San Jose State is going to see things from the cheer team that they’ve never seen before.”
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