By Josh Lee, Staff Writer
Coach Angel Castillo tosses his flag up, making long arcs through the air. As the flag circles down coach Jason Viera watches through his screen, giving tips to the onlooking Zoom call. The flag falls to Castillo’s hand and the observing colorguard members nod confidently, ready to try the toss for themselves.
Castillo and Viera are the new colorguard coaches brought on after the departures of former coaches Kelly Morrison and Sandee Kidd. The coaches bring prior experience—Castillo having 10 years of experience and Viera with 19. Colorguard adviser Lisa Kidd and alumna Sydney Taylor support them during practices.
“We all work together really well,” Viera said. “I think there’s a great process in place as far as structure, our schedules and our goals for the team that are really in tune. We’re always looking for what we can do differently to continue the success of the program. I’m excited to take us from where it was and then accelerate it to the next level.”
The coaches first began working with the POTC colorguard at the beginning of the school year.
After seeing its growing size, Castillo and Viera decided to split the colorguard into two performance groups: Gold for varsity and Green for JV.
The coaches currently help out in afterschool practices but appear in class whenever possible.
“Virtual learning definitely has its challenges, since we are not there in person to really correct a mistake,” Castillo said. “However, we have been watching and correcting through virtual practices as much as possible. We are hoping to build a strong team so when time allows to return, we are prepared and stronger as a group.”
The new coaches help Kidd and team captains, as well as varsity, organize virtual practices to prepare for the short video compilations and projects with the marching band.
They plan on preparing the colorguard to perform and submit a video to Winter Guard International eShowcase, or WGI an American performing arts association for colorguard and marching band, in March.
“Both coaches are very skilled, especially since they have backgrounds in WGI,” colorguard captain and senior Amelia Nguyen said. “Having them come in with their unique styles and large tosses has pushed us as a group to improve.”