By Lookout Staff

July 2, 2010 -- Daniel Escalera was recently appointed as the new athletic director for Santa Monica High School. He will also serve as the high school’s California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) representative.

Escalera is the replacement for Norm Lacy, who died in May at age 56 from a heart attack. Lacy had been the athletic director since 2003 and was a fixture on the local sports scene, having coached football teams at Samohi and St. Monica to CIF titles. Lacy was also considered a mentor and friend by many in the community. His funeral was well-attended.

Escalera has 36 years of coaching experience, mainly in football at all levels, in baseball at Samohi, as well as Little League baseball at Los Amigos and Santa Monica Girls Softball. He has served as the head coach for football at St. Monica and Samohi and as an assistant coach at several schools. Escalera has additional coaching experience from Cal State Northridge and Santa Monica College.

“Athletics can enrich a student’s experience and provide an additional set of mentoring eyes for the student athlete,” Escalera said. “Students learn things such as discipline, hard work, perseverance, goal setting, team work, sacrifice and school pride – all things that translate into the classroom, thereby enhancing their academic success.”

He continued, "We are blessed with an amazing coaching staff, one that is supported by the District, community, faculty and parents. My goals include maintaining and exceeding the current level of athletic success at Samohi, allowing student athletes to be proud of their contributions, experiences and legacy to Samohi and SMMUSD.”