Samo welcomes new athletic director Evan Fujinaga

New athletic director Evan Fujinaga’s life is the perfect example of a career immensely devoted to sports, from his experience as a baseball player to his newly acquired Samo position. Raised in Palos Verdes, Fujinaga alway stuck to the same sport, baseball, throughout high school and in community college until his efforts paid off in the form of a scholarship at one of the top colleges for baseball: the University of Florida.  “After high school, I played baseball at [Los Angeles] Harbor College which served as a trampoline to the scholarship I was given by the University of Florida to continue my career,” Fujinaga said. “Some years later I got my BA at Loyola Marymount University to start coaching baseball there as a grad assistant and then made the jump to Loyola High School as a coach, though most of my coaching years have been spent at Palos Verdes High School.”Throughout his 15 years in Palos Verdes, Fujinaga’s professional life evolved from coach to combining coaching and classroom teaching. This year, he was promoted to baseball coach and athletic director at Samo.His previous job before joining Samo was not in the education sector. After many years working at Palos Verdes High School, he wanted to prove himself in a different career.“After so many years in the educational sector, I tried a different type of job that had nothing to do with my previous background but it turned out to be less gratifying than the daily interaction with students I had before,” Fujinaga said. “Therefore, I decided to come back to my territory when Samo provided me the opportunity of doing so.” The daily life of an athletic director at Samo is usually spent contacting different coaches and asking about their players. Fujinaga does whatever can be done to support all athletes enrolled in a sport and improve the quality of sport equipment.“My job is to figure out what the sports programs’ needs are,” Fujinaga said. “I meet with different coaches to talk about things they consider can be improved and from there we try to come up with solutions to whatever we are facing. I would say that my position more accurately is to support the financial needs of all Samo sports programs and coordinate schedules for officials and transportation.”Off to a good start, Fujinaga is looking forward his future at Samo.  “I’m really glad to have an opportunity here.”Fujinaga said. “With my dual experience as both a player in my early years and a coach for the past years, I’m looking forward to a productive year in which all the coaches and I will cooperate together to maintain all the athletic programs going.”