LYFORD — Los Fresnos announced the promotion of first assistant Jesse Garza to be the new head coach for the Lady Falcons’ softball program Tuesday.
Garza has been coaching at Los Fresnos for six years and served four years as the first assistant under Traci Blackman, who stepped down as coach due to health reasons shortly after Los Fresnos’ impressive 2021 season ended. Garza and another assistant were the top candidates for the position.
“It’s exciting. I’m glad I have the opportunity to be the head coach in Los Fresnos,” Garza. “Me and another coach were part of the team, and both wanted to go out for it. We discussed it and said, ‘If you get it, I’m still going to do whatever to help you out.’ We’re backing each other up.”
Los Fresnos decided to keep the coaching search in-house, athletic director David Cantu said. Garza was promoted about three weeks ago, but the decision was just announced Tuesday. Garza’s prior head coaching experience at Port Isabel and the energy he brings to the program were some reasons he was the right choice to lead.
“It’s a successful program already that was able to be successful because of the total leadership that was there. We had a couple of people on the staff that were interested, so that was the approach we took and felt best about,” Cantu said. “Just by observing the team you could see the respect they had for (Garza) and feel at peace knowing the program is in good hands. There’s no doubt that he’ll be a great leader of that program.”
Following a season that resulted in a co-District 32-6A championship and a trip to the Region IV semifinals, Garza said the goal was to not change too much. The Lady Falcons have the majority of their team returning and believe staying the course will keep them on top.
“We already knew what direction we were going. We felt like if we were to go somewhere else a lot of things were going to change, and whether the girls would be able to adapt to that or not, we didn’t want to take that risk,” Garza said. “What we’ve been doing has worked, and we’re going to try to stick to it.”
Garza doesn’t feel any pressure as he transitions to the new role. The players were excited to learn he’s the new head coach, and he’s going to keep things loose while Los Fresnos works to continue building the program.
“I’m a big clown. It’s important to have fun and not be so stressed. It’s just a game, and if they can play stress-free there’s no telling what we can do,” Garza said.
District 32-6A, which is arguably the best in the Rio Grande Valley and one of the toughest in the state, will have several new skippers in the 2022 season. Former Harlingen High softball coach Josh Silva has taken the same position at Sharyland High, and San Benito’s Denise Lira has moved on to be an assistant with San Antonio O’Connor.
