Martin Gallegos
The pieces are all falling into place.
As LPC prepares to unveil its first ever water polo team, the school appears to have head coaches in place for both the men and women teams.
The two coaches are not yet official employees of the college, but they have accepted the position and turned in the necessary paperwork.
The man in charge of the women’s squad will be Trevor Rose. A graduate of UC Davis, Rose has been coaching high school water polo at Miramonte High School for the past few years.
Leading the men in their first season will be Robert Arroyo, who boasts a decorated water polo career both collegiately and professionally.
LPC swim and dive head coach Jason Craighead will join Arroyo’s staff as an assistant coach. He feels both men will help the Hawks’ first water polo season be a success.
“Both have great experience. Both were division I players,” Craighead said. “We’re working on changing the culture of what students traditionally do here by adding water polo and giving students another choice.”
After helping to lead Cal’s water polo squad to a second place finish in the 2002 NCAA Championship, Arroyo continued his career overseas. He had stints in Greece and Spain before landing a contract in Hungary, something Arroyo described as a dream fulfilled.
“It was a unique experience,” Arroyo said. “Hungary has the top players in the world. These guys are on the cover of Cosmo over there. It gave me the chance to compete with the Michael Jordans and Kobe Bryants of water polo.”
After playing professionally for close to eight years, Arroyo returned to coach a club team in the bay area.
He heard about the LPC job opening through other junior college coaches and was immediately attracted to the potential opportunity. He says that it has always been a goal of his to coach a community college team.
“It’s a brand new program that gives us a chance to build from the ground up,” Arroyo said. “The facilities are already in place and it’s not often that you get to start a new program.”
Arroyo says it is too early to have a definitive style of play for his team. He first needs to have a fully assembled team in order to tailor the team’s style to its strengths. However, he does have a vision in mind for what he wants his team to represent from its inception.
“I want to make sure we brand ourselves in the community in a positive matter,” Arroyo said.
The season will begin for both squads in late August.