Welcome to the 2023-2024 year!!! As I begin my tenure as the 10th commissioner of the CIF Southern Section, I would like the opportunity to introduce myself to those of you who do not know me. My name is Mike West, and I am honored to have been selected to serve in this position and look forward to working with you in the coming weeks and months in support of Education-Based Athletics.

Please allow me to provide you with a little bit about my background which has led me to where I am today. I was born and raised in San Jose, California and though I played a variety of sports growing up, I discovered I had a talent for distance running in high school. I ran Cross Country and Track for Lynbrook High School and West Valley College in Saratoga.

I then went to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where I earned my bachelor’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in Athletic Training. I was subsequently accepted to the University of Arizona’s Graduate Athletic Training Program where I served as the athletic trainer for Catalina High School during my two years in the program. After graduate school, I returned to California and settled in Riverside with my wife Rhonda and began my career in education in 1994 as the athletic trainer at Ayala High School in Chino Hills. While at Ayala, I taught ROP Sports Medicine and eventually a district approved Sports Medicine class along with World History. In my last year at Ayala, I was asked to be an assistant to the athletic director.

This experience prepared me for when I was selected to be the first athletic director at Chino Hills High School when it opened in 2001. During this early part of my career, I became involved in the leadership of the state, regional and national athletic trainers’ associations starting as a High School Committee Chair and eventually after a variety of other positions becoming the California Athletic Trainers Association State President. In 2005, I was invited by the State CIF to assist in the development and implementation of the Wrestling Weight Management Program and became the first State Master Assessor. In 2013, I also became a member of the CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee where I continue to serve today.

In 2007, I started my tenure as an administrator when I was hired as an assistant principal at Patriot High School in the Jurupa Unified School District. After three years, I was assigned as the principal of Jurupa Unified’s alternative education center which included their expulsion school, adult education, credit recovery and independent study.

In January of 2013, I was selected as the principal of Jurupa Valley High School. The final eight of my 13 years as a high school principal came when I was hired as the principal of Martin Luther King High School in
Riverside in 2015, the same year I began my time on the Southern Section Executive Committee.

Gratitude

As the new commissioner, I would be remiss if I did not recognize and thank my predecessor and friend, Mr. Rob Wigod, for his vision, his leadership, his expertise and his professionalism over his 23-year tenure in the Southern Section office. Rob was able to accomplish a significant number of initiatives for the section.

However, it was not just that he accomplished things, but it is the way in which he accomplished them which has left an indelible mark on high school athletics not just in our section but across the state and in many ways across the country. Though Rob is officially retiring as the Commissioner, I am sure we will keep him involved with section business as time goes on.

I appreciate everyone’s patience and support as I settle into this new position and look forward to meeting and working with all of you in support of CIF Southern Section education-based athletics.

Respectfully,