Assistant Athletic Director Lydia Ayala Shares Her Athletic Journey

Aaliyah Sosa & Celso Robles

Lydia Ayala shares her experience as a student-athlete and how it affected her journey towards becoming Assistant Athletic Director at Santa Monica College.

Lydia Ayala, from Cerritos, is the Assistant Athletic Director at Santa Monica College (SMC). Her responsibilities entail working with student-athletes from start to finish, managing every game and athletic event at SMC, and ensuring that the operations of SMC’s 18 collegiate sports teams run efficiently. Her passion for positively affecting the lives of student-athletes originates from a negative experience that almost ended her opportunities as a student-athlete.

Santa Monica College Assistant Atheletic Director Lydia Ayala, outside the SMC Gym on Feb. 15, 2023, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Nicholas McCall | The Corsair)

Ayala’s athletic journey began long before her time at SMC. She considered herself a three sport athlete growing up and was 5 feet 11 inches by the time she was 14. She played basketball at her local high school and later gravitated towards volleyball by her junior year. Ayala was recruited by schools outside of the junior college (JUCO) level when she was a senior, but she wanted to continue her education locally and chose to attend a community college around Cerritos.

In her freshman year at JUCO, she had a triumphant season.

“I was kind of a cocky athlete myself and said, 'Well if I could do really well my freshman year, they better watch out my second year'.” she said.

Ayala unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury and bicep tear in her sophomore year. “The institution didn't do much to help me...I was injured, so they kind of just forgot about me.”

Ayala later found out that the institution, which she left nameless, withheld information from her regarding a scholarship opportunity. By the time she inquired about this, the scholarship was already given to another student.

“It was a very difficult process for me," she said. "I was really involved with my church and my youth pastor was working as my agent.”

Her pastor called schools and persistently worked towards convincing them to give Ayala an opportunity to contribute to their program. Ultimately, Ayala continued her athletic career at Azusa Pacific University (APU). She would finish her remaining two years of volleyball eligibility at APU, but she went on to attend Cal State Long Beach before circling back to APU to acquire a master’s degree and credential in educational counseling.

“As I went through my journey, I had supportive community college counselors, who really spoke into me and said, you should be a counselor.” she said.

Ayala took a job at Cal State Fullerton, working in admissions and records. She worked closely with student-athletes, which reopened the door of athletics for her. After Cal State Fullerton, she joined Compton College as an athletic specialist and ran a thriving program for three years.

“We transferred a lot of kids and that was very fulfilling to me.” said Ayala.

Tragedy struck once again as her mother suffered a stroke, leading Ayala to step away from the demanding world of athletics. Once her mother recovered, she returned to admissions and records with Irvine Valley College.

“It afforded me the opportunity to take a deep breath, regroup after everything that happened with my mom.” said Ayala in regard to her transition back into athletics.

She worked there for about a year before an opportunity at Santa Monica presented itself. For several years, Ayala aspired to make the jump into an athletic director position and she saw SMC as her chance. At this point in Ayala’s career, she is determined to thoroughly educate student-athletes and ensure that they are supported accordingly.

“My true passion really stemmed from a huge adversity in my life so for me the goal now is to make sure that doesn't happen to any other student,” she said. “If I can drop an ounce of knowledge to any student-athlete and change the trajectory of their lives in a positive way, that's what I want to do.”