Mr. John Kunishima, the new athletic director at Ayala High School, has a decorated career. With 30 years of teaching experience, specializing in science, and coaching aquatics at Ayala, John Burroughs High School, Chino Hills High School, and Mount San Antonio College, Kunishima is well-versed in athletics and understands the classroom as well. Kunishima enjoys being out in the water, with the coaching connection, and for leisure, he and his family enjoy scuba diving, often going on vacation to do so.

While Kunishima understands the importance of winning, having been a coach, teacher, and mentor also grants him the perspective of understanding the importance of player development.

“My biggest focus is on the process. Winning is a byproduct of what you do beforehand — practice, preseason, offseason, summer season, and just doing the little things every single day, which I think is very important overall in everything that we do,” Kunishima said.

Attention to detail is extremely important, and Kunishima wants to emphasize that. He is focused on finding ways to prepare athletes to be in the best possible position for success, and what the staff and coaches can do to get them there.

Four-year varsity basketball athlete Joshua Townsell, a senior, and senior varsity football player Jaden Hernandez have great insight into what it means to be an athlete at Ayala. Townsell is the starting point guard for the basketball team, and Hernandez is the starting quarterback on the football team. Both sports are extremely demanding on the body, and Hernandez and Townsell had only good things to say about the resources and treatment provided at the school.

“Usually, the players have what they need, and if they don’t have something, then they always have extra. [Athletic trainer Kayla Wille] does a really good job of taking care of us, telling us what we need to do, and what we need to rest on,” Hernandez said.

Townsell provided similar insights on Kunishima’s department.

“For our program, it’s really good. Our coach does a really good job of making sure we have the things we need. And I would say for most other programs, I’ve heard that it’s the same. Anytime I’ve had an injury, or my teammates have, they’ve gone to Ms. Kayla’s office, and she does a really good job taking care of us, even during games,” Townsell said.

When informed about how these leaders on campus feel about athletics, Kunishima was pleased with the answer.

“I think it’s empowering to hear the fact that the support that they feel and the health care within the athletic training staff is really good. For me, continuing to build on that legacy is being supportive, making sure that we have the resources that are available for not only student-athletes, but also the coaches, so that they can reach any goals that they have in the athletic realm,” Kunishima said.

Enabling the athletes and giving them the resources they need to reach their goals is the top priority. Turnout and participation within the school’s different programs and teams has been strong. Just recently the varsity football team played a game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, and although the team was not victorious, the school was brought together by the event.

“From my short amount of time here I have been super impressed with the turnout of the events I’ve been at such as girls flag football or football. Our away attendance when we played at SoFi was outstanding, we almost doubled the attendance of the other team,” Kunishima said.

Being able to give people the opportunity to come out to the games, be supportive and cheer on the athletes who work and compete at such a high level for the school is the goal.

It is only the sixth week of school, yet there are multiple programs working hard and competing on campus for the Bulldogs. With much of the year still ahead and many seasons barely beginning or not yet started, it will take time to see the changes in effect with Kunishima at the helm. Still, a positive environment can be expected for student-athletes, who should be able to come to their coaches and mentors about any concerns. There will be more attention to detail, effort put in between both coaches and athletes, and a continuation of the standard of excellence at Ayala High School.