SBCC adds women’s water polo for 2014 season

Ten months after women's swimming joined the SBCC intercollegiate sports lineup, Athletic Director Ryan Byrne has announced that women's water polo will be added in the Fall of 2014.

"I am so excited about the addition of women's water polo," said Byrne. "Last Spring when we held an Aquatics organizational meeting for the local community, we had 35 students indicate they would be interested in swimming or playing water polo, which was outstanding.

"The local aquatics programs are very strong, we have a tremendous coach available and there are a lot of students that want to compete at SBCC. Having nearly 20 student-athletes on the women's swim team this spring is proof of the interest and I'm confident we will have a very strong program.

"Adding women's water polo takes our program one step closer to becoming the best community college athletics transfer program in the state and will create a lot of opportunities for young women to reach their potential."

Women's swimming coach Chuckie Roth will also coach water polo. Swimming had its first meet on Feb. 15 in the WSC Pentathlon and the Vaqueros had more swimmers than any other school. Rachelle Visser finished second out of 63 competitors.

"It really makes sense to add water polo to our aquatics program," said Roth. "The water polo team will complement our swim team. It provides an opportunity to train our kids in the off-season."

Water polo is the 10th women's intercollegiate sport at SBCC and brings the Vaqueros' overall total to 18 teams.

The water polo team will practice and play home games at San Marcos High, where Roth is also the girls' water polo and swim coach. He guided the Royals to their first-ever Channel League girls' water polo title this year, sharing the championship with Santa Barbara.

SBCC water polo will join six teams in the Western State Conference – Ventura, L.A. Pierce, L.A. Valley, Santa Monica, Citrus and Cuesta.