Citrus’ women’s softball team has performed well since Jackie Boxley came to be head coach.
Boxley helped the Citrus women’s softball team turn a complete 180 in the first year she was appointed.
Boxley has coached collectively for 14 years, but stepped back from the team in 2018 to escalate to the role of Assistant Athletic Director.
During her break from the field, Boxley gave the role of head coach to Terry Paredez, her assistant coach at the time.
Due to personal conflict, Paredez decided to resign from the head coach position, which left it open.
“It was a late departure from him, and it would have been really difficult to find an outsider to come in and take over,” Boxley said. “I felt like I was the best person to try to keep some flow going.”
Boxley entered the role of head coach this season and is now the coach of Citrus’ softball team once more, however things are different this time around.
The start of the season took a turn with the team racking up six losses in the first six games.
“We definitely got a slow start, but we play a really tough schedule,” Boxley said. “We just need time to play together.”
The difference from last season and this season is that from the 14 women playing on last season’s team, only one is returning to play this season — Melanie Barba.
The rest of the women on this season’s team are complete newcomers and Boxley needs to get them acclimated to the flow.
After Boxley stepped back into the coaching light, the women played their first games against Southwestern and El Camino.
“In the fall you typically play about 10 games and we played two,” Boxley said. “The first one was a week after I got out here, so we were just crazy chaotic.”
The women have a hard road in front of them, they must find their stride soon, else risk being left in the dust by their highly-skilled competitors.
Most of the teams facing the Owls are within the top 10 teams in Southern California. The pressure will either make or break this season of Owls.
The pressure does not deter Boxley from her and the teams’ goal. In fact, it excites her to see what the team will do against opponents of such a high tier.
“I really do think that playing some of these tough teams ahead is going to help us get to conference, but honestly that’s just what we need,” Boxley said.
Despite the oncoming storm of tough opponents, Boxley said she stays focused on the task at hand which is adapting her team to play at a dominating level.
She said she stays steady and tells the women that if they “come every day, play hard and do the little things” then the women will have a wonderful experience to reminisce at the season’s close.
The team knows that communication and trust are a necessity in a high-level team.
“We’re like sisters,” Alexandra Banuelos, second baseman said. “We see each other more than our own families. We push each other to be better.”
Boxley said that academics come before the sport and ensures that each of her players excels in the classroom and on the field.
Despite the years of coaching various different teams of owls, Boxley believes in one concept above all else — fun.
“I know it sounds silly, but they’re college athletes,” Boxley said. “They need to have fun, they need to enjoy and be involved.”
Cierra Carreon catches and prepares to throw a ball during practice on Thursday, Jan. 30 at the softball field. Photo by Stephanie Nicosia. She said she believes athletes will perform at their peak if they enjoy what they’re doing and she hones this in during every practice.
Since the beginning of Boxley’s reign at Citrus, she has continually produced stellar athletes and does not plan on slowing down in the near future.
The team will encounter tenacious adversaries and daunting odds this season.
Not to mention the team’s internal struggle of finding more women to play with the return of Boxley. Be that as it may, Boxley only had one thing to say.
“We got this,” Boxley said. “Ultimately if you ask them at the end of the season what their experience was like, I bet you they’ll say they had a good experience. Pretty simple right?”
So far this season is not a reflection of Boxley’s dominating legacy and only time will tell if Boxley’s words ring true for this season.
