Isabelle Chiu
Online Sports Editor
Out of every coach in the Bay and Ocean League, the Daily Breeze has chosen to honor Mira Costa’s girls golf coach Thomas Cox as Coach of the Year in the 2015 season.
On Dec. 15, the Daily Breeze that Cox was Coach of the Year through its website. This is the second year in a row that Cox has received the Coach of the Year award for the girls golf season.
“I believe that I received this award due to the success of the girls golf season,” Cox said. “It is a really special and unique compliment because the girls have to have a ton of dedication dedication, commitment, and talent, all at the same time.”
For the second season in a row, the Costa girls golf team finished undefeated in Bay League at 12-0 and at 19-0 overall under Cox. The girls went on to claim the title of Bay League Champions, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Division Champions and Southern Regional Champions and State Champions. Due to the Mustangs’ victory at State, Costa’s girls golf team is ranked the number one varsity golf team in California.
“The team we had this year was a very accomplished team,” Cox said. “The expectation was there that we could win the State title, and the fact that we won was due to the dedication of our girls.”
According to Cox, he shares his award with the players, assistant coaches Scott Roberts and Josh Albert and everyone else who supports the program. Cox feels as though it is more of a “program of the year award” because according to Cox, everyone involved in girls golf contributed to the success of the season.
“I share it with my players, because they are the ones who are out there putting in the time, working and competing,” Cox said. “I am very proud to be the Coach of the Year.”
Senior star golf player Andrea Lee and junior golf player Ashley Kim believe that Cox knows how to run practices efficiently in order allow players to best improve upon their strengths and weaknesses. According to Kim, Cox understood the balance between academics and athletics and made sure the girls had a strong team bond.
“I’m not surprised he got the award and I’m glad he got it,” Ashley Kim said. “Golf is such an independent sport so he’s really understanding about letting us work by ourselves, and during rounds he is motivational.”
This was Cox’s second year as the head coach for girls team. Before that, Cox was an assistant coach for both the girls and the boys team for a year. This year Cox accepted the position of head coach of the boys team and is already preparing them for the upcoming season.
“We’ve got a lot of talent on the boys as well, and we’ll see what they are capable of,” Cox said.
After a hopefully successful boy’s season, Cox looks forward to the next girls golf season and he has high expectations for next year. According to Cox, although many talented girls are graduating, there is still be talent returning next year.
“It’ll be a challenge to live up to the success, but we don’t have to win a State title to live up to that,” Cox said. “We just have to reach our fullest potential each year.”
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