Winter is right around the corner and winter sports have officially begun, leading to new faces on the horizon, especially for Coach Enriquez Roland. After a long awaited search, a new coach has finally been announced for the Mills wrestling team. For a while, Mills has been co-sharing their gym with Burlingame, along with borrowing their coaches for their wrestling team. As a coach being introduced to Mills, Roland is ready to take on the leadership role to inspire his wrestlers to learn with him. When asked about what he wants his students to be reminded about, Roland mentions, “I would want them to know I’ve prepared them for different things in life.” Taking on a victorious team doesn’t seem to intimidate him, it only motivates him to support his wrestlers in many successful ways, which can lead to more wins and memories.
Being introduced to Mills, Roland describes his excitement for the future with this team. “It is exciting. I’m excited to build a program, rebuild the program, and make wrestling an important program at our school to gain more notoriety. Wrestling is not a sport, it’s a way of life,” Roland emphasized.
Students on the wrestling team have enjoyed having a new coach after previously sharing coaches. Jacob Ramos (12) exclaimed, “I’m excited because now we actually have a coach. I feel like it’s more certainly for the future because I love Burlingame, I love working out, working with them, [and] I love the coaches, but at some point Mills needed an official coach. I hope that our new coach, Coach Roland can be a good coach for this team in the future.” While saying goodbye to Burlingame seems like a bittersweet end, it also signifies Mills finally being independent and having their own coach
The team has welcomed Roland with open arms and has built a strong sense of community. They hope to build a strong foundation together after the switching of coaches. They also hope to form a family that is loving and caring for one another through a bond of friendship. With the past successes of the wrestling team, we hope the new coach will be a perfect fit for the team and that he will enjoy his time here at Mills. As we welcome him to Mills, a new beginning and future for wrestling has opened as he will support our athletes’ wins and motivate them to persevere through the losses.
