Year in Review

New soccer coach
Jesus Fernandez was named the first head coach for the Cashmere High School Boys Soccer Team Glenn Johnson, superintendent of Cashmere schools, announced the historic appointment during the last board meeting June 23. Fernandez, a soccer coach and player since age 15, said he has been waiting for years for the chance to coach high school soccer. "I feel very proud and happy," Fernandez said in Spanish. "I feel certain that even though it's going to be our first year and the others will have that advantage over us, we're going to do very well." Fernandez, 44, who is a player-coach for a Cashmere team in a 34-and-older league and a coach for a youth soccer team, describes his coaching philosophy in one word, or rather three. "I like to attack, attack, attack," he said. "A team that defends from the start is a team that doesn't think it can win.". A native of Michoacan, Mexico, Fernandez has been living in Cashmere since 1982. He works as a school bus driver and just three months ago, he became an American citizen. English should not be a barrier between him and his players, Fernandez said. The language of soccer is universal. The Bulldogs initial season has not even started and the trash-talk has already begun between two U.S. Highway 2 rivals. "The coach from Leavenworth (Colin Powers) and I have a good relationship," Fernandez said. "And he's told me that he's gonna fill us with goals and I've told him we'll do the same thing. We'll see on the field."
Pool inequalities
Bianca and Carolina Rodriguez are splashing about under the watchful eye of their mother, Maribel. Hours later, Alexis Stephens, dries off in the back of an SUV while her mom Jeri, a former lifeguard, sits in the front seat. The Rodriguez sisters are two of the five Hispanics on the city's summer swim team, and Alexis, the only black child. There are a total of 72 swimmers on the team. The three represent Cashmere's exception to a nationwide problem:A recent survey taken of 1,772 children in six U.S. cities by USA Swimming and the University of Memphis revealed that six out of every 10 black or Hispanic children couldn't swim. The survey also found minority children are six times more likely to come from a family where one or both parent haven't learned to swim. Maribel Rodriguez can't swim. Neither can Alexis Stephens' dad. "Since I don't know how to swim, I don't want them to go through what I go through," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "Having to go to a pool and having to stay out because it scares me." A family's history, and not perceived stereotypes is a bigger factor when trying to determine why most minorities chose not to swim, the survey found. Jonathan Cruz, 13, is Hispanic and has been a member of the swim team for four years. He believes the lack of Hispanic role models and coaches keep parents from taking their kids swimming. "The parents probably think 'oh, the coaches talk English... there's no Spanish coach to coach them, nobody bilingual." he said. In Cashmere none of the coaches are Hispanic or black. Kim Radke, 25 and Kelsey Quinn 20, are two of the coaches of Cashmere's Summer Swim Team. . "I love to swim and I would love to see more Hispanics and African Americans swim for our league," Quinn says. "A lot of time, if their friends do it, they're going to do it. They come together. And if they're Hispanic, and they don't have other friends to feel comfortable around, they're not going to be a part of it." None of Cruz' Hispanic friends swim with him. They prefer soccer. Still, neither Cruz nor Stephens made a big deal of their status when asked. "I don't care about skin color," Stephens said. "I just like to swim."