EC athletic director returns to LBCC

By Maria Alcoser • September 15, 2015

Athletic Director Randy Totorp has left El Camino for Long Beach City College as of Sept. 11. Totorp was with EC for a year. In this file photo from Sept. 2014, Totorp visits a football practice before the Warriors first game of the season. Photo credit: Tristan Bellisimo

Randy Totorp left his position as Director of Athletics and Kinesiology at El Camino College on Friday, Sept.11 and will be going back to Long Beach City College (LBCC) to be its new athletic director, he said.

“(EC) has been a fantastic place to work with great people and great student athletes,” Totorp said.

Totorp, who took over the position of EC Athletic Director in May 2014, left after only working with the Warriors for 15 months.

“We were a good match. We had common core believes and that match is sometimes difficult to find,” Rory Natividad, division dean of health science and athletics said. “He was passionate about making our athletic program the best.”

Totorp’s decision to leave EC was largely influenced by his proximity to LBCC.

“I live about 10 minutes away from LBCC, I drive past the school every day,” Totorp said.

“I never thought about going back to LBCC,” Totorp said. “This past summer when they opened up the position of athletic director, I had to think about all the possibilities.”

The position of athletics director is very demanding and takes a lot of his time, Totorp said. As a family man with two kids, he needed to think about spending more time with his family and moving closer to home.

“It was a very hard decision for him to make, but family always comes first and he did a great job while he was here,” Athletic Specialist Carolyn Biedler, said.

Totorp is very proud of all that the student-athletes have accomplished.

“This year, the Athletics Department had 171 Scholar Ballers, that is more than half of the student-athletes who are not only enrolled in 12 or more units but have gone above and beyond the expectations by having a 3.0 or higher GPA,” Totorp said.

“I’m going to miss the people the most; the administration has been very supportive of the athletic department,” Totorp said.

Rory Natividad, currently the Dean of Health Science and Athletics, will step in as acting athletic director while the EC finds a permanent replacement.

“I like challenges, I like to be kept busy, this is just another opportunity for me to be better,” Natividad said.