Long Beach State University Athletics
Athletics Pioneer Cindy Masner Announces Retirement
12/31/2020 4:33:00 PM | General
Masner spent nearly 40 years as a part of Long Beach State Athletics as a student-athlete and employee.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It would be extremely difficult to name a single person who has had a greater impact on Long Beach State Athletics than Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) Cindy Masner, who has announced her retirement effective the end of the year after 37 years of service, all within the athletic department.
For many years the longest tenured employee within the athletics department, Masner began working within the athletics department as an undergraduate inside the ticket office. That was while competing on the newly formed softball team as a student-athlete as well, setting the tone early for her legendary work ethic. Initially recruited by the program's first coach Chris Miner, Masner would play for George Paris and then was on the first team of long-time head coach Pete Manarino in 1984.
"During her long and distinguished career as an athletic administrator, Cindy has had a positive and lasting influence on countless student-athletes, coaches, and staff that will be felt for years to come," said Director of Athletics Andy Fee. "From her time as a member of our softball program here at the Beach to serving as interim athletics director twice, there is no job or role Cindy hasn't held or supervised. On behalf of the entire athletics department, I thank Cindy for her dedication and service to the greater good. We wish her the very best in retirement and look forward to seeing her in the stands cheering the Beach on to victory!"
Rising quickly through the ranks of the department, Masner worked with the ticket office, took over as the head of events management, and then spent time as the department's Associate Athletics Director for Compliance. Then in 1994, Masner was named the SWA, a role she has held within the department over the last 25 years. One of Fee's first acts was to then name Masner as his Deputy Athletics Director, an additional milestone in her storied career.
Additionally, Masner twice served as the Interim Athletics Director. She first led the department through the 2005-06 season during the search that led to the hiring of Vic Cegles, and then stepped up into the role again during the 2016-17 season prior to the hire of Andy Fee. In the course of the 2016-17 campaign under her watch, five programs advanced to the NCAA Postseason. Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer both won the Big West Tournament, Baseball won its first Big West Championship since 2008, and Men's Volleyball and Beach Volleyball also both reached the NCAA Championships.
Her impact was enormous outside of athletics as well. A champion of equal rights and opportunity, Masner was well-respected within the University and served in numerous campus roles through the years, including serving as the Chair of the CSULB President's Commission on the status of women, and working as the Deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics, working on the University COVID-19 Response Team, serving on the University Clery Committee, and being an inaugural member of Long Beach State's Diversity and Inclusion Team.
"It's hard for me to imagine Beach athletics without Cindy," said CSULB President Jane close Conoley. "She has brought the highest level of excellence and integrity to our work for almost 40 years. She has stepped up time and time again to provide leadership and wise counsel to me, coaches, staff and student athletes — always with good humor and unfailing loyalty to The Beach."
An esteemed member of the national conversation within collegiate athletics and the NCAA as well, Masner has held multiple roles. During her time at Long Beach State, Masner served on both the NCAA Division I Softball Championship Committee and the Division I Softball Rules committee, and she was previously the Big West Conference representative on the NCAA Division I Legislative Council.
At a conference level, she is a member of the Big West Council and the Executive Committee, and was previously a part of both the Compliance Committee and the Championships Committee along with serving as the chair of the SWA advisory group. Off-campus, she was routinely selected as a Site Representative for postseason competition and on-campus was the Tournament Director for both the Women's Volleyball Final Four as well as the 2019 NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championships.
Masner also played a critical role in the completion of the Soccer/Softball Clubhouse which was finished in 2018. Long one of the most pressing capital projects for the Beach, the clubhouse was a perfect encapsulation of what made Masner so special.
Masner's facilities background helped in the planning stages, her efforts and renown through the University helped the project receive approval, and her relationships in the community as well as her own personal investment helped get the project across the finish line. The project provided permanent locker room facilities to the two programs for the first time.
For someone who began her journey at the Beach at the same field, it was a remarkable achievement at the sunset of a storied career at Long Beach State.
For many years the longest tenured employee within the athletics department, Masner began working within the athletics department as an undergraduate inside the ticket office. That was while competing on the newly formed softball team as a student-athlete as well, setting the tone early for her legendary work ethic. Initially recruited by the program's first coach Chris Miner, Masner would play for George Paris and then was on the first team of long-time head coach Pete Manarino in 1984.
"During her long and distinguished career as an athletic administrator, Cindy has had a positive and lasting influence on countless student-athletes, coaches, and staff that will be felt for years to come," said Director of Athletics Andy Fee. "From her time as a member of our softball program here at the Beach to serving as interim athletics director twice, there is no job or role Cindy hasn't held or supervised. On behalf of the entire athletics department, I thank Cindy for her dedication and service to the greater good. We wish her the very best in retirement and look forward to seeing her in the stands cheering the Beach on to victory!"
Additionally, Masner twice served as the Interim Athletics Director. She first led the department through the 2005-06 season during the search that led to the hiring of Vic Cegles, and then stepped up into the role again during the 2016-17 season prior to the hire of Andy Fee. In the course of the 2016-17 campaign under her watch, five programs advanced to the NCAA Postseason. Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer both won the Big West Tournament, Baseball won its first Big West Championship since 2008, and Men's Volleyball and Beach Volleyball also both reached the NCAA Championships.
Her impact was enormous outside of athletics as well. A champion of equal rights and opportunity, Masner was well-respected within the University and served in numerous campus roles through the years, including serving as the Chair of the CSULB President's Commission on the status of women, and working as the Deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics, working on the University COVID-19 Response Team, serving on the University Clery Committee, and being an inaugural member of Long Beach State's Diversity and Inclusion Team.
"It's hard for me to imagine Beach athletics without Cindy," said CSULB President Jane close Conoley. "She has brought the highest level of excellence and integrity to our work for almost 40 years. She has stepped up time and time again to provide leadership and wise counsel to me, coaches, staff and student athletes — always with good humor and unfailing loyalty to The Beach."
An esteemed member of the national conversation within collegiate athletics and the NCAA as well, Masner has held multiple roles. During her time at Long Beach State, Masner served on both the NCAA Division I Softball Championship Committee and the Division I Softball Rules committee, and she was previously the Big West Conference representative on the NCAA Division I Legislative Council.
At a conference level, she is a member of the Big West Council and the Executive Committee, and was previously a part of both the Compliance Committee and the Championships Committee along with serving as the chair of the SWA advisory group. Off-campus, she was routinely selected as a Site Representative for postseason competition and on-campus was the Tournament Director for both the Women's Volleyball Final Four as well as the 2019 NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championships.
Masner also played a critical role in the completion of the Soccer/Softball Clubhouse which was finished in 2018. Long one of the most pressing capital projects for the Beach, the clubhouse was a perfect encapsulation of what made Masner so special.
Masner's facilities background helped in the planning stages, her efforts and renown through the University helped the project receive approval, and her relationships in the community as well as her own personal investment helped get the project across the finish line. The project provided permanent locker room facilities to the two programs for the first time.
For someone who began her journey at the Beach at the same field, it was a remarkable achievement at the sunset of a storied career at Long Beach State.
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