We are excited to announce the hiring of Masanori Toguchi Jr. as the next director of athletics beginning July 1, 2021. After hundreds of applications and hours of interviews, the search committee unanimously voted to recommend Masanori to Mark Reed as our next Director of Athletics. When Mark spoke with Masanori, he was tremendously honored to have the opportunity to join the Country Day community. We are equally excited to have him join our team here at Country Day, taking an already thriving athletics program to continued excellence.
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. An outstanding lineman, both offensive and defensive, on Wake’s teams, Masanori graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in History. Upon graduation, he began his educational career by teaching and coaching.
Masanori has 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, where he currently sits on its Executive Board.
Masanori shares, “My passion is athletics, and those who get to know me will hear about how athletics changed my life. I enjoy mentoring new athletic directors and coaches, and I challenge my coaches to provide our student-athletes with genuine experiences that will prepare them for life after athletics. I am excited to take what I have learned at the national, state, and local level and bring my experience to Country Day.”
Masanori received a master’s degree from Queens University in executive leadership where he also participated in the School Executive Leadership Academy. A member of many associations and actively involved on many state committees, Masanori spends as much time as he can with his family and his wife, who is also an educator.
Thank you to everyone in the community, especially the entire search committee, for all of your efforts during this process. Also, special thanks to Abe Wehmiller for his leadership over the past seven years and his commitment to the success of our athletics program both now and for the future.