PoloCAST

A 2020 inductee to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame for his playing career at the United States Naval Academy, Luis Nicoalo has served as head coach at both Princeton University and Navy during his career. As a student-athlete at Navy, Nicolao was a three-time All-America (Third Team – 1990, 1991; Honorable Mention – 1989) and All-East (First Team – 1989, 1990, 1991) selec...

Chris Vidale enters his 10th season as head coach of the Marist College women's water polo team in 2026. During his tenure, the Red Foxes have posted a 174-123 record under Vidale with one Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship, five runner-up finishes (2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025) and a pair of Third Place marks (2022, 2023). An athlete at Iona University from 2003-to-2007, h...

Following her 15th season as the women’s club coach at SDSU after taking over the program in September 2010, Cassidy is no stranger in the ranks of the women’s collegiate club teams around the nation.  A two-time Pacific Coast Division (2012, 2014) and five-time Southwest Division (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2025) Coach of the Year – along with taking home SDSU Sports Club Coach of the Year accolades...

Among the best international officials in the history of the game, Michael Goldenberg currently gives back to the game of water polo as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC)/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) varsity assignor following his retirement from officiating. A conduit for the recruitment, mana...

Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member/former University of Michigan athlete Shana Welch competed for the Wolverines during the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons leading the Maize & Blue to the CWPA Championship (then known as Eastern Championships) in 2005 to accompany a pair of runner-up marks (2004, 2006) and a fourth place (2007) finish as the team reached the CWPA ti...

Official Val Vasilchikov discusses coming up in the game in Baku, Azerbaijan, immigrating from the former Soviet Union and his experiences as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) official.

One of three finalists for the 2019-20 Cutino Award presented annually by the Olympic Club in San Francisco for the most outstanding player in the collegiate game, Rade Joksimovic is arguably the best water polo player in the history of the Bison program.  As a senior in 2019 he earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division I First Team All-America honors.  The ina...

A 2006 inductee to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame, former Bucknell University standout Scott Schulte ’81 was an All-East water polo selection four straight years (1977-80), led the Bison to four Eastern Championships and set an all-time NCAA water polo career scoring record with 586 goals. The high scorer in four straight NCAA Tournaments (the only player to accomplish t...

The head men’s water polo coach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2014-to-2017, Dave Andriole ranks third in career victories at MIT behind Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame member John Benedick and Jeff Ma. Involved in water polo as a player and coach for more than 30 years, Andriole has been involved in the sport on the collegiate, national, and international l...

The men’s water polo head coach at Johns Hopkins University for 27 years, Ted Bresnahan  coached the Blue Jays for all but three of the program’s varsity seasons. He took over as the program’s fourth head coach in 1991 and turned Hopkins into one of the premier Division III water polo programs in the nation. Bresnahan led JHU to a 414-389 (.515) record, while competing primarily against Divis...

Among the leading officials in the collegiate game, Alex Stankevitch is a regular fixture on the deck for some of the most important games on the domestic and international stages. A Social Studies and Special Education High School teacher in south New Jersey when not officiating, Stankevitch emigrated to the United States from Belarus and graduated from the University of California-Santa Barbara....

Co-founder of KAP7 International, Brad Schumacher has experienced success in athletics and business. A former swimmer, water polo player and Olympic gold medalist. Schumacher is a two-time, two-sport Olympian. He was a member of the winning relay teams at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Four years later, he was a member of the U.S. men's water polo team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Schumacher's two...

A 2004 inductee to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame, Paul Barren became involved in water polo while attending college at West Chester University. While swimming competitively for the West Chester swim team, he began to learn to play water polo with the school’s club team. After graduation, Barren played with the Philadelphia Water Polo Club, a team composed mostly of Germ...

A former University of Michigan Assistant Director of Athletics Communications, Harvard University Water Polo Operations Assistant and The Full-On Sports Hub ( FOSH ) co-creator Ryan Sosin has been on the forefront of collegiate water polo over the past decade plus. A four-time CWPA Western Division Sports Information Director (SID) of the Year with honors in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, Sosin compl...

A three-time All-America selection (2013, 2015: Second Team; 2016: First Team), Ao Gao was a member of the women's national team for China which claimed a Silver Medal at the 2007 World Junior Championship, Ao Gao competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and London, England, respectively. A native of Beijing and a graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of...

Arguably one of the most influential water polo officials over the past 50-years, Andy Takata made his impact on the deck and behind the scenes to elevate the game.  In addition to wearing the whites at the most prestigious water polo events on earth, Takata volunteered his time to the sport in a variety of governance roles and developmental ventures. A 12-year member of the USA Water Polo Bo...

A veteran collegiate and national team coach, John Abouu serves as the Chief High Performance Officer for USA Water Polo. In this position Abdou oversees the Olympic Development Program in addition to coach education, events and growth.  Formerly the Associate Head Coach for men's water polo at the University of California-Santa Barbara and Director/Boy's Head Coach of the Santa Barbara Water...

A 2019 graduate of Harvard University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Anthropology and Economics, Kristen Hong was a two-time Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selection with Honorable Mention recognition in 2018 and 2019.  A three-time All-Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) selection with Second (2017, 2018) and First Team (2019) recognition, she conclud...

Appointed the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Director of Communications in July 2006, Ed Haas is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining an effective and creative communications program, including: designing, writing, and editing media guides, press releases and other promotional materials; coordinating the national varsity, club, Division III and Collegiate Water Polo Assoc...

A 2010 inductee to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Bret Bernard has been called on to whistle every major water polo championship in existence, including the Olympic Games in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). Bernard has officiated multiple World Championships, World Cups, Junior World Championships and Goodwill Games among many other international competitions. Domestically, Bernard wore the...

Hired as the head coach of the Arizona State University - Sun Devils women’s water polo team in 2005 after serving a single season as an assistant coach, Todd Clapper has led the Sun Devils to perennial placements in the national Top-10 rankings and three NCAA Championship appearances. Clapper came to the Valley of the Sun with a wealth of coaching experience. Following his graduation from Slipper...

A member of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Board of Directors and a past athlete in the league at the University of Notre Dame, Brian Coughlin has excelled as the head coach of his alma mater's Fighting Irish women's water polo program. They have accrued 12 Midwest Division Championships and 8 Division Runners-up. Coughlin has led Notre Dame to Second (2009, 2015), Fourth (2002), Six...

Appointed head coach of the California Baptist University women's water polo team in the spring of 2014 following time as an assistant for both the men's water polo and swimming and diving programs starting in 2012, Jon Miller has made a mark at his alma mater. In seven seasons, CBU has gone 126-90 under Miller and finished a program-best third in the Golden Coast Conference in 2016...

Ryan Castle has traveled the world, speaks 5 languages, and has coached water polo at all levels from youth to National Teams. He began his varsity collegiate coaching career at Arizona State University under former Brown University head coach Todd Clapper from 2007-to-2010. In addition to serving on the women’s water polo varsity staff, he served as head coach for the ASU men’s collegiate club te...

Katie Larson has achieved success in the water as an athlete at the University of Massachusetts and on the deck as head coach of the University of Florida women’s collegiate club team. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, she started playing water polo in 9th grade at Pace Academy in Atlanta and immediately fell in love with the sport and played all four years, both at Pace and at the Dynamo Water Polo c...