Coach: Dylan Kuhn (head coach), Chablis Bates (assistant coach), Troy Nelson (assistant coach), Monet Taylor (assistant coach), Christopher Vogt (assistant coach)
Top Players: Krystal Barajas (12), Adeline Garcia (12), Zoe Matthews (12), Michele Lalani Pacheco (12)
Outlook: Although CIF sanctioned girls’ flag football last season, the Fullerton Joint Union High School District didn’t push for each of its schools — including Sunny Hills — to field teams for all levels until last semester.
Athletic director Paul Jones told The Accolade that although two others applied to be the head coach for the inaugural season for the Lady Lancers, the position was given to Kuhn, who didn’t need to be interviewed because the school was already aware of his capabilities, having seen him in action as a baseball coach.
“[Kuhn] has a lot of baseball coaching experience, and leadership experience is extremely important when you’re taking over a program, so that was extremely important,” Jones said. “He also has really good relationships with our students and was able to assemble a really good coaching staff.”
Kuhn, a 2008 SH graduate who also oversees the baseball program here, wanted to add something new to his coaching repertoire.
“I just thought I saw it as an opportunity to get involved in something else on campus and something that is a little out of my comfort zone,” he said. “I’ve never coached girls or football before, but just being a fan and being someone that likes to be involved with things on campus, it just seemed like it would be a good fit.”
Similarly, many of the girls on the team joined for the same reason after they participated in the May 17 seniors vs. juniors powerpuff game at Buena Park High School stadium.
“I decided to join because I did the powderpuff game last year and thought it was a really fun sport,” said co-captain Barajas, who plays inside receiver. “I didn’t really know anything about flag football, so the creation of the new team was something I became interested in since it is new to our school.”
During tryouts on June 26-27 at Sunny Hills, Kuhn said that the athletes ran a 40-yard dash, which allowed the coaches to gauge their sprint speed.
Kuhn and his assistants also held a camp from June 3-25 to introduce the new sport to the athletes interested in joining.
Although many of the girls are already very experienced athletes, they are new to flag football, so Kuhn said the coaches have decided to focus on teaching the basics first, starting with terminology.
The team is part of the century conference, which is made up of three, five team leagues: Crestview, Freeway and North Hills. Flag football will be competing in the North Hills league against Brea Olinda High School, La Habra High School, Sonora High School and Troy High School. During the playoffs, each team in the league will play twice, and the league winner will be crowned based off of the record in their games within the league.
To qualify for the CIF playoffs, the team’s records have to be above .500 and they need to finish within the top 3 in their league.
The Lady Lancers started the season winning their first four games – Long Beach Wilson High School and La Palma’s Kennedy High School, both played in La Palma – away again at La Mirada and at home against Norwalk.
Since then, they have gone 1-3 overall, losing last Wednesday, Sept. 11, to Troy, 28-0, in an away game.
“The loss was against Troy was tough, ” Barajas said. “Something our team can work on is cleaning up little mistakes that add up in the end.”
Her teammate, cornerback junior Elly Sweeney, believes that the game against Troy was not only a loss but also a learning experience.
“I think it was sad to lose against our rivals, but there were a lot of good things in that game as well,” Sweeney said. “I think we just weren’t prepared for the level of athleticism and trick plays they had, and we are going to work on not giving up and getting past those barriers.”
Kuhn said the Warriors and Tribe of Fullerton Union High School are the Lady Lancers’ main competitors.
“We do end our season with what we’re calling the city tournament, and we’re going to play Troy and Fullerton on the same day,” the head coach said, “So I think, of course, just being a school that’s in Fullerton, those two schools are always going to be rivals.”
In the Lady Lancers’ inaugural season, Kuhn said he plans on prioritizing setting a firm foundation for the program in its first year, and hopes to see the girls find a passion for the sport, which includes winning.
“The main goal is to make sure that the girls that are playing enjoy themselves, that the non-seniors have a good enough time that they want to do this long term,” he said. “I want them to want to make flag football something they do while they’re here at Sunny Hills.”
The Lady Lancers are scheduled to compete at home again on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 3 p.m. to take on the La Habra Highlanders who have an overall record of 4-5.
