The 2023 women’s tennis season at El Camino College has been canceled after a delay in the hiring process for a new coach, leaving the team without enough players to compete.

Last year the program achieved a historic win emerging victorious in the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association State Championship for the first time in El Camino College’s history.

Longtime coach Steven Van Kanegan retired from his position last year after 24 seasons of leading both the women’s and the men’s tennis teams leaving El Camino to find a new coach to take up the position.

El Camino Athletic Director Jeffrey Miera told The Union he was not part of the hiring process but said that the delay in finding a replacement coach led to a delay in player recruitment.

“The delay meant that we couldn’t get a recruitment process for this season,” Miera said. “And not enough players came back from last year, so we are not able to compete this season.”

The new coach, Sergiu Boerica, will be replacing Kanegan as the coach for both teams, however, due to the lack of recruitment for the women’s team, the 2023 season will not commence.

Although the situation has been resolved for next year, Miera acknowledged the program’s shortcomings.

“It is a bummer,” Miera said. “Our goal is to help students grow and achieve their own goals, and that was not possible [this year].”

With a new coach in place, Miera has high expectations for the future of the women’s tennis program.

“We will be back next year,” Miera said. “We hope to achieve great things.”

Sports Editor Greg Fontanilla contributed to this report

Editor’s Note:

• Provided name correction on Feb. 21, 2023, at 11:24 a.m.