In 2016, Coach Roger Perez took over the lacrosse program at Marymount California University, a Catholic university in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The program was on its last leg, and the University agreed to bring Perez on as an Interim Head Coach.
Perez quickly went to work, despite the unusual challenges he faced. The administration took away fields, as the University’s president divested real estate, among other assets. Perez fought for the program to be reinstated in the MCLA and succeeded. He regained NAIA status, and recruited. But the athletic director would go behind his back and cancel games, including their season highlight in Westwood at UCLA. Then all of a sudden, one of his Latino players was unenrolled with no scholarship funds. When Perez inquired, he discovered his player was accused of misconduct.
After stepping down, Perez discovered the direction was coming from the University’s president, Lucas Lamadrid, whom Perez says has made racist comments to him. Lamadrid was then dismissed for “inappropriate behavior, exorbitant spending and discriminatory conduct that have swirled around campus for months,” according to the Daily Breeze.
“I have always been looked down on by people like this guy,” says Perez. “Every interaction I had with him was very uncomfortable, and was never included in meetings that he would have with my immediate supervisors… All because I am Latino and reside in South Central Los Angeles.”
“These are some of the things that just get tiring and would eventually get you tired as an individual.”
