McMurry University Athletics has announced the hiring of Shusaku (Shu) Hayashi as the school’s new head athletic trainer. Hayashi replaces longtime McMurry athletic trainer Janet McMurry, who moved to the academic side in the school’s kinesiology department after recently completing her doctorate.
“We are all excited about adding Shu to our staff,” McMurry Director of Athletics Sam Ferguson said. “He is a brilliant professional with over 13 years of sports medicine experience. Our scholar-athletes will be in good hands with the tremendous athletic training staff we have in place.”
A native of Osaka, Japan, Hayashi was most recently the head athletic trainer at the University of St. Thomas in Houston for six years, where he was that school’s first-ever full-time athletic trainer. He was also an assistant trainer at Arkansas Tech and the University of Central Arkansas, bringing a combined 13 years of athletic training experience with him to McMurry.
He earned his bachelor of science at the University of Alabama, where he was a student athletic trainer. He also has a bachelor of laws degree from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan, as well as a master’s in kinesiology from Central Arkansas.
In addition to being a certified athletic trainer, Hayashi is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
Hayashi and his wife Bonnie reside in Abilene. The couple has one daughter (Isabelle).
Information for this story provided by McMurry Athletics.