HomePublicationPasadenaAvramovich Makes Upward Jump in Young Life

Avramovich Makes Upward Jump in Young Life

Photo by Raymond Quan / OUTLOOK Dave Avramovich, the new Greater Los Angeles regional director for Young Life, has spent much of the last decade as the organization’s San Marino area director and also moonlighting as a football and baseball assistant coach at San Marino High School.
Photo by Raymond Quan / OUTLOOK
Dave Avramovich, the new Greater Los Angeles regional director for Young Life, has spent much of the last decade as the organization’s San Marino area director and also moonlighting as a football and baseball assistant coach at San Marino High School.

Dave Avramovich is looking for himself, to use a phrase.
More than a decade after taking on the duties of the San Marino Area director — which would later evolve into the Greater Pasadena area — for the nondenominational Christian-based nonprofit Young Life, Avramovich became the regional director for the Greater Los Angeles area on Tuesday, Aug. 1. Among his many responsibilities in his new job are finding his replacement.
“I’ll be looking for the next ‘me,’” he said in a telephone interview, “so that’s kind of a crazy deal.”
Despite taking on the greater role, Avramovich, who has and will continue to call Pasadena his home, said he plans on staying local.
Avramovich moved to Southern California in 2003 by way of Seattle, and was coaching in La Cañada Flintridge when Young Life’s director took note of his connection with his players. Avramovich also was studying at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena at the time.
By January 2007, Avramovich took on his San Marino duties with Young Life, a youth group which aims to help kids grow through both faith- and community-based events and programs.
“The people are great, so it didn’t take long,” he said, when asked about acclimating to his then-new community. “Because I was coaching baseball and football right away, I got to quickly know a lot of parents.”
Which puts Young Life on the same page as those parents, explained Avramovich, himself a father. He points out research suggesting that kids and teenagers often only have minutes’ worth of meaningful interaction with adults each day, on average.
“Kids are desperate for relationships with adults,” he said. “They just don’t have them. If we can have a meaningful interaction, if we can listen for three or four minutes a day, we’re doubling that.
“They feel a lot of pressure to be great,” Avramovich added, speaking of San Marino’s children. “Kids are kids. They need their playtime. They need their unstructured time. I just hope when they’re with us, they don’t feel pressured and can just relax and have a good time.”
One of those kids, San Marino High School class of ’16 graduate Chaz Davis, said he got to know Avramovich through Young Life as a middle school student and while his older brother played football for him at SMHS. Avramovich tried to take the boys to see a “Tron: Legacy” once, only to have a lightning storm continuously knock out the theater’s power.
“All that ended up happening was that we hung out at the movie theater for an hour and a half,” Davis said in a telephone interview. “We were hoping to catch one of the movies, but we ended up having a good time. Dave’s a lot of fun to be around.”

OUTLOOK Photo Dave Avramovich, shown here with daughter Katie, became Young Life’s Greater Los Angeles Area regional director on Aug. 1.
OUTLOOK Photo
Dave Avramovich, shown here with daughter Katie, became Young Life’s Greater Los Angeles Area regional director on Aug. 1.

Davis later played as a linebacker for the SMHS Titans and was coached by Avramovich as a freshman and again later when he became an assistant coach for the varsity team. One of the highlights, Davis recalled, was the Bible study over breakfast each Friday, on game day (called Campaigners or Burrito Club, depending on who is asked).
Avramovich also plans to stay active locally.
“I’m going to make time for San Marino, because I love it,” he said, adding he attends San Marino Community Church. “I’m not planning on disappearing, although I’ll be around less than I was. I’m not going anywhere.”

Outlook Celebrating Charity

Most Popular

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=3]

27