Overlay-Hard work and determination earns Go Ishizaki a transfer opportunity
Major: Kinesiology
High School: Meiji Gakuin High School in Japan
Challenges he faced as a GCC Stujdent-Athlete:
Life as an international student athlete of GCC was very tough for me. The first season wasn't satisfying for me. I had mixed feelings because there were many times when I couldn't play when the team was in good shape. Even so, I thought I would not succeed if I gave up here., so I practiced hard to be a leading player for second year. I got off to a good start in the second off-season. I was convinced that I could play better than previous year. However, we faced COVID-19 and everything was gone. I was very impatient, but I thought I could do something if I didn't give up and continued working, which led me to this success this time. I want to say thank you every single person who supported me. I'm very excited to play at NCAA Division 2. My next journey has just begun.
Moving to the United States:
My homeroom teacher when I was a high school student kindly consulted me about my career. The teacher introduced me to a person who was playing football at Santa Monica College. He is one year older than me and attended the same high school. I could talk with him in person, which made me feel more motivated to go to the US as a student-athlete. Study was very tough for me. My major is kinesiology. Human Anatomy was the toughest class ever in my life. I spent around ten hours studying every day. I realized that it is very difficult to get a good grade at an American university. But this experience will definitely bring great things to my life in the future.
Player comments from Head Coach Laura Matsumoto:
Go is a workhorse of a player who demonstrates great discipline and a desire to support his team. He is a model player who performed well in the classroom (3.5 GPA) and on the field while at GCC. I truly admire his determination to continue pushing himself to a higher level in spite of the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic. I am very proud of Go and look forward to hearing about his future success!