Off the Deck

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From the Indiana Athletics site

Taylor McInerney enters her fifth season as head coach of Indiana Water Polo in 2024.

The Hoosiers are coming off a season in 2023 as she led the program to its most wins since 2018. Her Hoosier programs have been consistently ranked in the CWPA Top 25 poll during her tenure while securing wins in the MPSF Tournament for the past two seasons.

She has helped guide five players to nine ACWPC All-American honors, four players to six All-MPSF teams and a total of 37 MPSF All-Academic team honorees.

The 2023 squad recorded 17 wins including its first win over Arizona State since 2005 and went 9-3 at action at home inside Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center. Indiana recorded nine ranked wins through the course of the season.

Graduate student goalie Mary Askew capped off an impressive five year career as she finished third all-time in career saves with the program which led her to All-MPSF and ACWPC All-American honorable mention nods. Senior utility Zoe Crouch led the team in scoring and earned a spot on the ACWPC All-American honorable mention eam. In the classroom, 10 players earned spots on the MPSF All-Academic team.

In her third season, the Hoosiers capped off the year with a 15-15 record, with wins including No. 11 UCSD, No. 13 San Jose State, No. 18 LMU, No. 20 Harvard, No. 22 Marist, and No. 23 Brown. The Hoosiers climbed as high as No. 10 in the nation and ended the season at No. 14 for the 21-22 season.

The Hoosiers earned four ACWPC All-American honorable mentions, a record in program history. Two Hoosiers were also named to All-MPSF selection teams; Izzy Mandema to All-MPSF Second Team, and Skylar Kidd to All-MPSF Newcomer Team.

The Hoosiers earned 14 Big Ten All-Academic Awards in the 21-22 season as well.

In her second season as head coach, the Hoosiers posted a 10-17 record, with two impressive wins over No. 16 San Jose State.

In her first year at the helm of the Indiana water polo program, McInerney led the Hoosiers to a record of 13-5 and a final national ranking of No. 15 in the CWPA rankings in the shortened, 2020 season.

McInerney guided the Hoosiers to a bevy of impressive victories, including wins over No. 11 Pacific, No. 24 Marist, No. 9 UC Davis and No. 25 California Baptist.

Individually, both Tina Doherty and Megan Abarta earned All-America honors from the ACWPC. The Hoosiers also excelled out of the pool, as six earned MPSF All-Academic Team accolades, seven earned Big Ten All-Academic honors and three were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.

McInerney served as anassistant coach for the Hoosiers from 2017-18, as well as serving as an assistant coach for the USA Water Polo National Team since 2017.

Along with helping guide the Indiana water polo program the past two seasons, McInerney has had tremendous success with the USA Water Polo Senior Women’s National “B” Team and Women’s Youth National Team.

McInerney helped lead the senior team to a first-place finish at the FISU World University Games in 2017 and the youth team to a seventh-place finish at the FINA Youth World Championships in 2018.

From 2015-17, McInerney served as a graduate assistant coach and director of operations at Wagner College. In McInerney first year as Wagner's graduate assistant coach, the Seahawks won their third consecutive MAAC Championship to enter the field for the 2016 NCAA Championship.

In her second year, McInerney helped Wagner become the first program to win four consecutive MAAC water polo titles. Additionally, McInerney cultivated an All-American season from Wagner junior Kimberly Watson (102 goals, 31 assists), who was also named the MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year.

McInerney played one professional season for Club Water Polo Dos Hermanas outside of Sevilla, Spain following an outstanding collegiate career at the University of California, Berkeley.

Donning the co-captain's cap her senior year, McInerney guided Cal to a silver medal at the 2011 NCAA Championships, topping a bronze finish in the year prior. At Cal, McInerney was a four-time NCAA Academic All-American and made the UC Berkeley Student Athlete Honors List all four years.

McInerney graduated from Cal Berkley in 2013 with a degree in Media Studies. She went on to earn her M.B.A. in Marketing from Wagner in 2017.

She is married to her husband, Ryan, who is a quality control coach with Indiana Football.

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

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

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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You can read an amazing article on Clarke by Michael Randazzo - https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/on-the-record-with-clarke-weatherspoon/

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

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

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 usawaterpolo.org

Golden West CC

Elected to Hall of Fame: 2000

Club: Whittier Swim Club (WP) 1959-1960, Inland Water Polo Club 1961, Nu-Pike Water Polo 1962, Nu-Pike Water Polo 1963-1966

College: Fullerton Jr. College, Long Beach State University

High School: Cal High School - Whittier, CA 1953-1957

Participation:

Named to Olympic Training Camp

Second Pan Am Trials

Three Time Outdoor AAU Championships

Represented US at the World CISM Games 1963 (third place)

Fullerton JC Player of the Year 1958 and All American 1957-1958

Long Beach State Forty Niner of the Year 1961-1962

Coach:

Westminster High School 1962-1965

Lakewood High School 1966-1976

Long Beach Wilson 1976

Golden West Community College 1977-Present

Plans to retire end of 2000 season

Assistant Coach 1977-1985 - 6 state championships - 6 So Cal Champs

Head Coach 1986-1999 - 11 Conference Championships

7 Times So-Cal Champions - 9 Consecutive State Championships

Overall Record as Head Coach 425-46-2

A Total of 47 players named to All American

Named California Community Coach of the Year - 5 Times

USWP Level III Elite Water Polo Coach Certified 1986

Swimming:Golden West Community College14 - Conference Championships4 - State Championships

Coaching Philosophy:Always be on time - always be truthfulBe responsible for your personal life and your actions, by planning ahead- keeping a written calendar and plan for each day- don't blame others.Think Ahead - Anticipate, take responsibility for something outside of yourself - someone else - or a cause (environment, religion, etc.) Leave where ever you go a better place because you've been there.

Personal:

Wife - Marilynn 39 years. Sons Paul and Tim. Two grandchildren

Military Service US Army 1963-1965

Teacher/Coach

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

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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Follow Dan Leyson on Twitter

Ratko Rudic’s Bio on Wikipedia

A conversation with Dan Leyson of UC Davis and Adam Wright of UCLA about their experience with Ratko Rudic.

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

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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Ethan Damato on Twitter

2

What is the add 2 drill?

Pat Obrien

3

What’re your thoughts on backstroke’s place in the counter attack? Coaches often say that rolling onto your back for a few strokes could cause you to lose your advantage - do you think that’s true?

Stephen Loomis

4

What are some ways that you teach athletes when to push and take risks finishing the CA and when to pull back and run a patient offensive set?

Ian Davidson

5

Can you give some examples of goalie drills you utilize?

Pat Obrien

6

You have an aside in your practice plan dedicated for goalies (but still has relevance to the objective). How much time are they spending focusing on their warm up/skills/passing before being added with the filed players? How much time would you reccommend having your goalies focus on what they need before coming into the fold?

Elyssa Hawkins

7

How do you teach your athletes to read the differences/cues between reading Advantage Counterattack and Transition counter into half court?

Connor Levoff

8

Do you have a preference about which post fills in first when setting up a 4-2, on a full 6 man counter?

Anonymous Attendee

9

What are you thoughts on how to approach a game against another team that loves to push tempo (assuming youre a tempo pushing team too) - but they do it better (they beat you more / get more goals from counter)? Does this change your strategy in how you CA?

Paul Splitt

10

Do you have strict parameters on the first outlet pass or do you let the players have freedom to make those decisions based on the situation?

Carin Crawford

11

are there drills that you run to specifically focus on counter defense? or is this just taught naturally through the drill?

Beth Harberts

12

Is Off the Deck on Spotify?

Elyssa Hawkins

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

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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Steven Rotsart on Twitter

2

Understanding the other team and being able to adjust is crucial information. How do you balance calling but not helping based on what you know the teams will be doing or try to do?

Ian Davidson

3

One of the biggest parts of our sport is the difference in this “philosophy” from ref to ref. Do you think this is a good part of our sport, or should we be looking to have a general philosophy that allows for a bit more consistency from ref to reft?

Anonymous Attendee

4

How do we tackle improving the officiating level with so much ego when we all walk into the room?

Ian Davidson

5

How much time do you spend with your partner before a game to discuss philosophy? What are the main topics you go over with your partner?

Sergio Macias

6

When an official has “an idea of how they want the game to go”, are officials subconciuosly predesigning the outcome of the game? ie. team A is a stronger team in every way, team B is leading the game. I am assuming you are referring to the flow etc…. but can this kind of a thing happen?

Marc Ruh

7

…team A is given some leeway to get back into the lead.

Marc Ruh

8

I’m a coach looking to use some of my down time each year (summer) to improve my knowledge of the game (and supplement my income)…Steve C suggested coaches officiating an event a year to ‘see the other side’-PERFECT… I would LOVE to start that process. Steve R, what do you suggest as step 1?

Anonymous Attendee

9

Does the scarcity of officials make referee accountability difficult to accomplish?

Breck Weiny

10

Do you think an expectation of more consistent signaling to explain calls could help minimize the tension between coaches and referees?

Breck Weiny

11

What is your approach to blow out situations? In our sport, even the collegiate level sees a large amount of blow out games. How does a referee approach that game?

Breck Weiny

12

Would you be in favor of having referees work in crews over the course of the season? Meaning the same two referees work together on games for a whole season rather than random pairings over the course of the season.

Breck Weiny

13

I got involved during the Water Polo Academy Era and found that style of correspondance/discussion course to be very helpful in developing both my coaching and officiating philosophies. How do you see the future of referee education and development of philosophy moving forward? How can we better collaborate between Coaches and Officials?

Connor Levoff

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

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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John Abdou on Twitter

1

What do you feel are the biggest hurdles for growing the sport at the collegiate level nationwide (D1, D2, D3)? What advice would you give college ADs (and other leaders) that would maybe help them consider adding a mens/womens program

2

How do we break down socio economic barriers to entry for our sport, both for athletes and for coaches

3

Where do you see the growth of wp in a diversity stand point in term of high level competitiveness?

How can we get more competitiveness in more diverse regions?

4

Given that your position requires you to wear a lot of hats, what does success look like to you? (i.e. is it about more schools adding water polo, is it about having more athletes like Ashleigh Johnson from FL or Max Irving as an athlete of color be a norm vs outlier, etc.)

5

Do you see more colleges like Sonoma State who have a program or may be considering adding a program dropping water polo in the future due to COVID or any other reasons?

6

How would you like to see coaches improve themselves with this downtime? What can coaches be doing better? Has USAWP thought about a coach credentialing system, like the Azevedos talk about?

7

I know you have talked about young coaches venturing out on their own across the country to find college jobs; talk to us about the inner struggle you had to decide to move from CA to the east coast, the struggles you went thru and how you think it made you better as a not just a coach but a human

8

You’ve seen a lot of teams the last couple months online…What’s the best quarantine home workout you’ve seen? Best virtual team bonding activity? Best shared video practice idea?

9

What are a few things you wish coaches would take more time to focus on with athletes under the age of 15?

10

Have you been working with schools in Texas at all to help develop the community more now that they sanctioned water polo as a sport

11

Do you see any changes in our game given some of the new covid guidelines? What ways can we show that water polo will be successful in the “new normal” (i.e.: social distancing)

12

Do you think the league should adopt the US Major sports model, closely mimic the European club model, or a hybrid of the two? How do you anticipate involving inter scholastic athletics for developing player?

13

How important is it to develop homegrown players for professional team or would a draft work best? Or a hybrid of the two similar to MLS

14

How do you think the our 10/12 Modified Rules help or hinder the development of the mobile athletes you are looking for the clubs to develop?

15

Any book recommendations?

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

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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Ethan Damato on Twitter

For SETWPC.com

Ethan Damato began his water polo career at Laguna Beach High School where he was a two time All CIF Player in 1999 & 2000. After graduating Damato played 2 years at Cuesta College where he was a 2 time All Conference Player. Damato became the Head Coach of Laguna Beach High School's Boys & Girls Water Polo Teams in 2008. Since taking over the Breakers have made 6 consecutive CIF Semi Final Appearances, winning CIF Championships in 2008 with the girls and in 2010 & 2011 with the boys team. Damato was named the CIF Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011. He was named OC Register Coach of the Year in 2009 & 2010. Damato joined the SET coaching Staff in 2010, he is currently the head Coach of the 16 U Girls and the Club's Technical Director. Along with coaching at LBHS & SET, Damato is also the 12th Grade U girls ODP Head Coach for the Sopac Zone and the Head coach for the Women’s Youth National Team.

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

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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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.

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

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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Follow Levon Dermendjian on twitter

Follow James Graham on twitter

In this episode we talk about the advantage rule.