Off the Deck

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Highlights USA vs. Serbia 2008 Olympic Semi

Twitter - @MerrillMoses

From Pepperdine Athletics

Merrill Moses, a three-time Olympian and former All-American water polo player for the Waves, returned to Pepperdine in 2012 to join the coaching staff. He was promoted to the position of associate head coach prior to the 2017 season, and 2019 will be his eighthon the staff.

As the interim co-head coach of the Waves in 2012, Moses helped Pepperdine to an 11-13 overall record. The team achieved a national ranking as high as #3 during the regular season.

Upon the return of Dr. Terry Schroeder as head coach, Moses moved into the position of assistant coach in 2013. Moses played for Schroeder both with the Waves and the U.S. National Team.

With Moses on staff, the Waves won the inaugural Golden Coast Conference Tournament title in 2016, and he tutored the Waves’ all-time leader in goalie saves, Zack Rhodes.

Moses, a goalkeeper who helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship and the United States to a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, had been playing both professionally and with the U.S. squad for more than a decade before also turning his attention to coaching.

“The most exciting part about this is coming back to my alma mater, and to be a part of trying to bring another national championship to Pepperdine,” said Moses at the time of his hiring. “I get the chance to work with a great staff and to work for years to come with Coach Schroeder.”

Said Director of Athletics Dr. Steve Potts at Moses’ hiring: “I’m so thrilled that Merrill Moses is coming back to rejoin the Pepperdine family. His experience as an Olympian, a U.S. National Team member and a national champion will be inspiring to our student-athletes and they will learn so much from him.”

Moses had given up water polo in 2004 and was working in the mortgage industry before getting a call to rejoin the U.S. squad in 2006. He went on to become the starting goalkeeper for the United States at both the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. In 2008, Moses was part of a team ranked ninth in the world, but the Americans got hot at the right time and made it all the way to the gold-medal game.

Moses also helped the U.S. to gold medals at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games and he was part of eight top-five finishes in the FINA World League Super Finals, including a second-place result in 2008 and a third-place standing in 2003.

He has played professionally in Croatia, Italy and Spain and with the New York Athletic Club (he was named MVP of the 2010 USAWP Men’s National Championships). Moses has worked as a coach at many of Terry Schroeder’s camps and has done private coaching in the past.

A native of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., who attended Peninsula High School, Moses played four seasons for the Waves between 1995-98. He earned All-American first team honors in 1997 and was on the second team in 1998 and honorable mention in 1996. He was also named All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all four years, including the first team in 1997.

Moses was named one of three tri-MVPs of the 1997 NCAA Championships after Pepperdine defeated USC, 8-7 in overtime, for the school’s first-ever NCAA title in the sport.

Moses graduated from Pepperdine in 1999 with a degree in public relations. He was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

He and his wife Laura have three children: Adrianna Nicole, Makenna Merrill and Brooklyn Ann.

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If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From Longbeachstate.com

Gavin Arroyo is in his 14th season as the head men’s water polo coach at Long Beach State. During his time at LBSU he has compiled a 197-166 record. Under his guidance, the Beach has posted a winning record in seven of the last eight seasons.
In 2018, Arroyo led the Beach to a 14-12 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Golden Coast Conference. The Beach ended the season with a final ranking of No. 5 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years.
Arroyo is a three-time MPSF Coach of the Year, earning the honors in 2007, 2012, and 2014. During the 2014 season he led the Beach to a 22-7 overall record and a 7-3 conference record. Long Beach State earned a No. 4 national ranking that season--matching the team’s final ranking in 2001 as the highest in program history.
In 2012 Arroyo led the 49ers to a 24-8 regular season finish as well as a 4-4 finish in conference play. The historic year led LBSU to its first appearance in the MPSF Tournament since 2008 and ended with a fifth-place finish. Arroyo was also awarded with his second MPSF Coach of the Year award for his efforts.
In 2007, Arroyo was selected as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) co-Coach of the Year after leading Long Beach State to a 17-15 record. During the 2007 season the 49ers upset No. 2 Stanford (7-5) in an MPSF home match and won the Inland Empire Tournament.
In his first season in 2006, the 49ers were 11-17 overall and tied for sixth place in the MPSF, picking up two victories over rival UC Irvine.
Arroyo is a two-time member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team (1996, 2000) and spent two years as an assistant coach at California.
Arroyo worked as an assistant coach for the United States Men’s National Team in the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in the summer of 2019.
In 2017, Arroyo served as the head coach of the USA Water Polo Men’s Junior National Team at the FINA Junior World Championships in Serbia, leading the Americans to an 8th place finish. The next year, Arroyo served as an assistant coach for the Men’s Senior National Team, working with head coach Dejan Udovicic.
In 2005, he served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team planning training schedules, aiding in game preparation, organizing fundraising events, and being responsible for fundamentals, tactic implementation and conditioning.
Arroyo started the Long Beach Water Polo Club catering to youth water polo players, both boys and girls, on May 1, 2010. He has also served as the head coach for the Olympic Club of San Francisco men’s team (2004-05) for two years.
A 1994 graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in political science, Arroyo was a first-team All-American at Cal in 1993. He was a part of three NCAA Championship squads at Berkeley (1990, 1991, 1992).
Arroyo competed on the U.S. National Team for eight years (1993-2000) helping lead the U.S. squad to numerous championships. The U.S. men’s team won the World Championships in 1994 and 1998, the 1997 FINA Cup and the 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games. He also competed on the U.S. men’s team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Arroyo competed for seven years overseas playing professional water polo in Greece and Spain with five different clubs (Vouliagmeni, Glyfada, CN Barcelona, Olympiakos and CN Barceloneta). He was a member of the 1998 Greek League championship team and was runner-up in 1997 and 1998 at the European Cup.
Arroyo is a native of Southern California, growing up in Orange and earning 1990 Swimmer of the Year and High School Player of the Year honors from the Orange County Register at Villa Park High School.
Arroyo and his wife, Erene, have two da...

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

Thank you to everyone that has take the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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twitter: @dleyson

From the UC Davis athletic web site:

Leyson brought an immediate impact to UC Davis men's water polo, guiding the Aggies to an undefeated conference record in his first year. The 2015 squad then reached new heights: the program's best win-loss percentage (.692) since 2007 and the highest national ranking (No. 9) since 2011. For his achievements, Leyson was awarded the Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Men's Coaching Award by USA Water Polo. He also served as the head coach for USA NorCal in the second season of the USAWP National League.

Never one to rest on laurels, Leyson continues to raise the bar for Aggie men's water polo. In 2016, the former U.S. National Team player and coach guided UC Davis to its first Western Water Polo Association championship and NCAA postseason appearance since 1997. Leyson was subsequently named as WWPA Coach of the Year. That 2016 squad set school records for wins (23), winning percentage (.793), goals scored (12.6 per game) and final national ranking (No. 10).

Leyson's experience in Spain later paid dividends in his coaching career: the 2015 Aggies took part in an eight-day team training camp at the Barcelona International Water Polo Academy.

After concluding his playing career in 1998 with Club Natacio Atletic-Barceloneta, a 1st-division Spanish team, Leyson embarked on his coaching career at USC where he assisted Vavic from 2000-02. The 2000 Trojans team finished third at the NCAA Championship.

Leyson gained valuable international experience from 2002-04 while working with Rudic on the U.S. National Team. The U.S. participated in the FINA World League, 2003 World Championships and 2003 Pan American Games before heading to Athens.

From 2005 until his arrival at UC Davis, Leyson served as head coach of the Rose Bowl Water Polo Club, which has tripled its membership to more than 200 members representing 70 schools during his tenure. He earned Best Coach accolades in the 2010 Ironman League while leading the 16-under boys team to the league's championship.

Leyson was named winner of the Bill Barnet Distinguished Men's Coach Award (Scholastic) from the U.S.A Water Polo Assembly in 2011. Three of his boys teams that year captured gold medals at the South Florida International competition. He also served as head coach for the California Coastal Zone for the Olympic Development Team (2006-07).

Leyson has served as UCLA's assistant coach for the past two seasons, helping them to a championship in the powerful Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and a pair of runner-up finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Leyson earned his undergraduate degree in business from USC in 1992 and his master's in physical education, with an emphasis on coaching, from Ball State in 2008.

He and his wife, Camille, are parents to daughter Mia and twin sons, Benjamin and Silas.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

Thank you to everyone that has take the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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Twitter: @FelixMM021

Felix Mercado enters his 12th season as the head coach of Brown University’s men’s and women’s water polo teams in 2018-19 having coached 23 all-conference performers and 10 All-Americans on the men’s side alone during his time with the Bears.
Mercado led the Brown men’s team to its first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 1990 in 2014 after the team claimed its first CWPA title since 1985. He guided the team to a 27-7 overall mark and its first Northern Division title since 2009. In 2014, he gained both CWPA Northern Division Coach of the Year honors and Dick Russell Coach of the CWPA Tournament accolades while mentoring a pair of All-Americans in Henry Fox ’15 and Will Klein ’16.
In 2016, Mercado guided the Bears to their third straight regular season title, claiming the inaugural NWPC regular season championship. Mercado won NWPC Coach of the Year accolades and coached NWPC Player of the Year Luke Weiser ’17 and a pair of ACWPC All-Americans in Yahel Murvitz-Lahav ’17 and Jake Wyatt ’17.
The 2015 edition of Mercado’s men’s team won a second consecutive CWPA Northern Division title and notched an undefeated 12-0 mark in CWPA Northern Division play during the regular season. Klein earned CWPA Northern Division Player of the Year accolades while he and Matty Gallas ’16 garnered All-American status.
During the 2017 season, Mercado guided the Bears to their eighth straight 20-win season with a 21-12 overall record. He coached a trio of All-NWPC performers in Tommy Bush ’18, Rico Burke ’18, and Tyler Kirchberg ’18 as well as an ACWPC All-America selection in Kirchberg. In the spring, Mercado organized special exhibition matches with the Puerto Rico National Teams, providing the teams with training opportunities as the island continued to recover from Hurricane Maria.
In 2018, Mercado mentored four All-NWPC performers in Travis Bouscaren ’19, Armen Deirmenjian ’20, Hudson Rawlings ’20, and Riad Hallal ’21. The Bears concluded the year with an 18-14 record, marking their ninth straight season with 18 or more wins.
In 2013, Mercado led the men's water polo team to its fourth straight 20-plus win season that culminated in a 15-9 victory over Harvard to earn fifth place at the Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championships. Mercado mentored two CWPA Northern Division First Team picks in James McNamara ’14 and Fox.
Mercado’s men’s side posted a 29-4 mark in 2012 with Svetozar Stefanovic ’13 earning All-America honors for the fourth straight season in addition to his fourth consecutive Northern Division Player of the Year award. Under Mercado, the Bears went 20-12 in 2010 and 21-11 in 2011.
Mercado enjoyed a banner year in 2009 as the men's water polo team won a Northern Division title and the women's team claimed an Eastern College Association Conference (ECAC) championship. Mercado took home CWPA Northern Division Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year at Brown, earning the honor on the women’s side in 2008 and 2009 and on the men’s side in 2007.
Mercado was hired in the summer of 2007 as Brown's men's and women's water polo coach. He spent the two seasons prior to coming to Brown at the helm of the MIT men's varsity and women's club teams after one year as an assistant.
In 2006, he was named CWPA Division III and CWPA Northern Division Coach of the Year after leading MIT's men's team to a second-place finish at the Division III Eastern Championship and the team's third-ever appearance at the Division I Eastern Championship. He posted a 26-34 record in Cambridge, as the Engineers attempted to integrate 12 freshmen into the program in 2006 after a 15-14 record in 2005.
In two years as the coach of the MIT club women's team, Mercado's squads posted a 30-3 record, making back-to-back appearances at the Club National Championships. He was named the North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2007. Mercado also served as an assistant coach at Hartwick College in the spring, as the Hawks finished fifth at the NCAA Championship.
Before arriving in Cambridge, Mercado spent 11 years coaching a...

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Coach Don Stoll describes his in-season workout regiment at El Toro HS.

I wanted to add this to the podcast as a way to provide workout suggestions for coaches. Every coach has their own style as well as obstacles. Hopefully, this is something that you can add to your arsenal of workouts.

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