April 18, 2018 - The 56th Annual Associated Students of Grossmont College, and Inter-Club Council Academic/Service Awards Ceremony has awarded Bryce Parsons and Yukari Naono Athlete of the Year. The event took place Wednesday, April 18th, 2018.
Head coach of the men's basketball team at Grossmont College, Doug Weber, nominated and honored Bryce Parsons at the ceremony.
"As the youngest of three boys, Parsons has always had opportunities to play with older kids, following his brothers' lead and testing his own limits. How high can you climb that tree? Who will jump into the lake first? Who can catch the biggest fish, or do that next trick on the skateboard? Taking on challenges is (and has been) normal for Parsons; he has never been the tallest, the fastest, or the strongest, but he has always been the best.
Parsons is very goal oriented, and once he sets his mind to achieving a goal he does not stop until he has conquered it, using natural talent and his fantastic work ethic. He has a drive in him that propels him to be better in every aspect of his life, not just on the court - at a tournament in Santa Barbara, Parsons catalyst his teammates to find an area to study for finals prior to the tournament's championship game. Usually the team sits in the stands to watch the game prior, but Parsons asked where he and his teammates could go to study, and so two hours before the championship game that day, Parsons and his teammates were sitting in the second floor hallway of the Sports Pavilion studying for finals.
As our best player, Parsons rose to the challenge of mentoring the freshman, pushing the sophomores and leading the team each and every day on the court. Even though he is our leading scorer, he is also an outstanding defender and has regularly guarded the best player on the opposing team in each game.
The past two years Parsons has been on the team he has been a great teammate in every aspect, the perfect teammate; full of encouragement, passion and really high performance standards in which he leads by example. He is never too high or too low. He is ultra-competitive and very chill. Unique is one word that describes Bryce, "one-of-a-kind" is another way to describe him – the way he looks, his hair, his fashion, his playing style, what he eats, the music he listens to. He is not a follower; he is member of the group and Bryce has always been comfortable being Bryce. There is no pretense, he is not fake, what you see is what you get. Once you meet Parsons (and it takes some time to get to know him), he feels like your best friend.
Because of Parsons, we are a really good team – everyone player is on the same page, engaged and included, headed toward the same goal. Parsons is an excellent student and will graduate. He is an excellent athlete, twice earning 1st team All-Conference honors. He is the finest teammate and he is the best example of a student-athlete there is. A West Hills High School graduate, Bryce is a fantastic ambassador for the Men's Basketball program, the Athletics Department and Grossmont College."
Associate Dean of Athletics at Grossmont College, Thomas Armstrong, nominated and honored Yukari Naono at the ceremony.
"Yukari Naono has a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.393 after three semesters at Grossmont College.
In 2017 Yukari became the first CCCAA women's badminton singles champion in Grossmont College history. Yukari went undefeated in her freshman season winning each individual singles match and every single doubles match that she competed in. As a result Yukari Naono, along with her partner Rebekah Leslie, became Grossmont College's first ever CCCAA State Doubles Champions as well.
Also in 2017, Naono won the State Singles Championship by a score of 21-16, 21-8 in a sport that requires a player or duo to win the best two out of three matches. However, Naono as a singles and as a doubles player has yet to lose a single game within a match, her undefeated winning streak includes the fact that she has won two straight games in every match played."
Pasadena City College State Champion Coach Jen Ho said, "Naono is a consistent, smooth, fast and great physically fit player……she was better in all her shot selections and had more strategies. She is more experienced and proves to be the state's top player."
Thomas Armstrong believes that, "Yukari is without any shadow of a doubt the top athlete; male or female on Grossmont's campus, she is an elite athlete playing her sport at the highest level. Yukari is on a completely different level, not only is she a tremendous physical athlete, but she has a skill set in her sport that is unmatched right now in the state. Yukari disguises her shots, she has amazing foot work and body awareness and as a result her opponents have absolutely no idea if she is dropping or hitting deep. I am honored that I have had the opportunity to see her play. She will go down as one of the greatest Grossmont athletes of all time."