BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Collegiate Club Hall of Fame member/former University of California-San Diego men’s collegiate club head coach Hector Sanchez will conduct a Question & Answer (Q&A) session during the fifth 2025-26 “Coaches Corner” webinar presented by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
The presentation is available on Microsoft Teams at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, October 22, by CLICKING HERE with a meeting ID of 219 535 847 760 7 and a passcode of: gk26mG2i
The presentation has a purpose to help teams have the resources & confidence to run productive practices and manage their programs throughout their season.
All presentations are open for collegiate club, varsity, fans, officials and the general public to view at no cost.
An archive of the prior Coaches Corner discussions is available on the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) website by CLICKING HERE.
About Hector Sanchez: The inaugural inductee to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Collegiate Club Hall of Fame during June 2025, Hector Sanchez retired from coaching following a 10-year tenure after leading the Tritons of the University of California-San Diego to the 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Florida.
He guided the UC-San Diego men’s club team to three consecutive National Collegiate Club Championships (2022, 2023, 2024), four consecutive National Collegiate Club Championship title game appearances (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), six Top Five finishes at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship (First – 2022, 2023, 2024; Second – 2021; Third – 2019; Fifth – 2018) and six-consecutive division championships and National Collegiate Club Championship berths (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 – Southwest; 2019 – Pacific Coast) in nine-years as the 2020 men’s collegiate club season was not contested due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The only coach in the history of the sport to lead a men’s team to three consecutive National Collegiate Club Championships – as the only other three-time consecutive champion (Lindenwood University) was led to the title by a pair of head coaches (Greg Emde – 2015, Dave Miller – 2016, 2017) along with standing as the only head coach to lead a men’s team to four consecutive National Championship game title game appearances (2021, 2021, 2023, 2024), Sanchez earned a pair of Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Coach of the Tournament awards (2019, 2022) and posted six division Coach of the Year nods (Southwest – 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024; Pacific Coast – 2021).
“Hector is an incredible coach,” stated UC-San Diego All-America athlete Graham McClone. “He is deeply passionate about water polo and shares this passion with the team through his coaching. While I have had many coaches who have a lot of experience and posses the skill to be successful in the game, Hector is among an elite group of coaches in his tactical intelligence and ability to use rules of the game to design creative plays that utilize the strengths of a team.
Sanchez posted a 110-13 record during his tenure in La Jolla, including a 45-game winning streak dating back to a 12-11 loss to Michigan State University in the 2021 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship title game at the Huntsville Aquatics Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
At the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship, he posted a 21-3 record with his lone losses coming to eventual National Champions Lindenwood University (7-3 L in a 2018 quarterfinal at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.; 11-9 L in a 2019 semifinal at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Michigan State (2021 in the National Championship game at the Huntsville Aquatic Center). The mark stands as the best four-year winning percentage (.875) by a men’s collegiate club head coach at the National Collegiate Club Championship.
