Athletics Team

Career Highlight: It was during my first year coaching at Country Day, at our first competition of the season. I wanted our girls to do their best after all their hard work. The team ended up coming out with a first-place trophy and a bid to nationals. Seeing my athletes so happy after their success was very rewarding.

Favorite quote: "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible." --Audrey Hepburn

After a brilliant college career at Wake Forest University, where Masanori excelled as a student/athlete, it was almost fated that he would help children in the same way he was influenced by athletic involvement in his own childhood.

Prior to joining Country Day, Masanori spent his entire 17-year career in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system, first as an Exceptional Children’s Teacher and Football and Wrestling Coach at Harding High School for three years, before accepting his first administrative role as Athletic Director at West Charlotte High School. 

In 2010, Masanori became the founding Athletic Director at William Amos Hough High School, where he continues to serve today. He also served as Assistant Principal for a brief period in 2014. While at Hough, Masanori has received many awards, including Athletic Director of the Year twice, and won the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Additionally, he served as President of the North Carolina Athletic Directors’ Association from 2018–2021.

Masanori spends as much time as he can with his family and his wife, who is also an educator.