MATTAWA — Wahluke High School athletics will have a pair of new head coaches stepping into the fold next season. Anfernee Cortez will take over as head coach of the Warriors’ football program this fall, while Jeffrey McClelland will take over as the head coach of the girls basketball team.

Cortez, an assistant with the football program for two years, said he’s enjoyed the community since he arrived, and felt Mattawa would be a good place to start to his coaching career. Having already spent a few seasons with these players makes this transition easier than stepping into a completely new program.

“It makes it a lot easier,” Cortez said. “I know who we have, I know who’s coming up. Even though I’m the new head coach, I’ve been here with these guys and it kind of makes it easier, for me anyway.”

Cortez, who also teaches fifth grade in the district, said typically he’d be meeting up with players and getting set for the summer. Assuming the social distancing measures affect summer football camps, Cortez said, it will be tough to get a lot of the work he wants to in before the season begins. Teams across the state may still be getting up to game speed in early September.

“I think there’ll be a curve in the beginning,” Cortez said. “There’s going to be some new things we’re going to be doing different than the past few seasons, so I do expect there to be a slow start and some challenges for us. But those are things that, as a first-year head coach coming in and starting your own program the way you want it, I think that’s something that’s going to be there no matter what.”

Cortez said instilling his system begins with ensuring the Warriors are fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball, doing all of the little things right. His main goal as head coach, Cortez said, remains building character in these young athletes.

“I don’t put too much in the wins and losses, but relationships, building the character traits of honor, discipline, those kind of things that are going to carry on after football; that’s what I’m focused on,” Cortez said.

Starting out in Mattawa two years ago, Cortez said he’s loved it ever since he arrived. For him, Cortez said “it’s the perfect spot to be in.”

McClelland started out with the Warriors girls basketball program six years ago as an assistant coach, making his way up the coaching ladder from freshmen team all the way up to varsity.

The seniors on the girls basketball team have seen four head coaches in four years, McClelland said. He said he hopes he can reintroduce a bit of familiarity for the group by building off what he ran with them as their junior varsity coach.

“I think that was probably one of the reasons I was hired was just that idea of the same person, they know who I am, they know what to expect,” McClelland said.

McClelland said he’s looking to create a new culture around the program, one grounded in hard work and dedication. Many of their student-athletes, McClelland said, didn’t start playing basketball until around seventh grade.

Any extra time spent playing, watching or studying the game before the season starts will be beneficial.

“We have a lot of kids that work, and a lot of kids that play multiple sports,” McClelland said. “Soccer is a huge thing in our town, too, so a lot of them will play that over basketball in the summer.”

McClelland said he looks at teams that were successful last season, such as Warden and Zillah, and understands that those teams were showing up every day in the summer, doing extra stuff on their own.

For the program, McClelland said it’s a matter of understanding that additional work is necessary if they want to reach that next level.

McClelland’s goals for the program extend beyond just next season. McClelland said he plans to work with the junior high coach, in addition to some of the AAU coaches, giving them booklets on his system so the younger players will already be familiar with the offensive plan when they arrive.

A three-sport athlete at Mt. Vernon Christian before attending college in Iowa, McClelland found his way to Mattawa by way of his sister, who coached and taught in the district already.

A special education teacher, McClelland said he came to Mattawa to teach, but knew he wanted to coach. McClelland, in addition to his new position as head coach, is also the head junior high girls soccer coach and an assistant coach with the high school’s boys soccer team.

“I’m excited to start my program, my philosophy and everything,” McClelland said.