From the Desk of Athletics Director Ron Prettyman
Perspectives on the Toros Athletic Department
August 28, 2004

Ron Prettyman began his tenure as Athletics Director at Cal State Dominguez Hills in April, 1995, coming to the Toros from Vanguard University. During his administration, Prettyman has expanded the department from eight to eleven sponsored sports, and he oversaw and coordinated the acquisition of the Hughes Education and Athletic Center. Ron is a graduate of Southern California College and has a master's degree from Cal State Stanislaus.

From the 2004-05 Desk, Issue #1 From the 2004-05 Desk, Issue #2 From the 2004-05 Desk, Issue #3 From the 2004-05 Desk, Farewell Issue Issues From the 2003-04 Desk

Welcome back to a school year full of excitement and high expectations.

While it has been a good summer, I was very excited (as I am every summer) when about 80 of our student-athletes showed up to begin their preseason training in early August. It is always more exciting when our students and student-athletes are on campus preparing for competition, training hard and competing. We have a lot of new student-athletes and some new coaches who are ready for action.

It is my hope that many of the positive things that took place last year will carry over to this school year. Last year we ended the year with representatives from track & field and golf competing in the post season. We also had our softball team advancing to the NCAA West Regional Tournament for the second year in a row and winning the school's first-ever postseason softball game. In all, we had five of our teams represented in NCAA postseason competition. This is something that we can all be very proud of and something that we can all build on to progress even further this year.

It is a pleasure to introduce to you the new men's head basketball coach, Damaine Powell. Coach Powell brings a history of excellence as a coach at Compton College, where he won several conference championships and two state championships, and also will bring a renewed commitment to academic excellence for the men's basketball program. I also want to welcome back our head baseball coach, George Wing, who will rejoin the staff after a season off due to illness. He is excited to be back and is looking forward to a breakout year with the baseball program. I would like to recognize coach Murphy Su'a for his commitment and excellent leadership for the baseball program in the '04 season.

This is a transition year for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). UC Davis will not be on most of our schedules this year, nor will Grand Canyon University. UC Davis will be moving to the Big West Conference and Grand Canyon had a change in leadership and will be making a decision soon regarding their future conference affiliation. We will welcome Cal State Monterey Bay and will be competing against them in most sports this season. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of these changes in the CCAA will impact our conference.

As you can see, the summer has been a busy one for our coaches and the Athletics Department staff and professionals. The coaches have recruited well and prepared their teams for competition with pride, hard work and high expectations. I can't wait to start competing.

"Let the games begin."

I look forward to seeing you in the stands.

Ron Prettyman
Athletics Director
GO TOROS