LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State University Director of Athletics Andy Fee has announced that Shana Welch will be promoted to women’s water polo head coach following her first season as associate head coach in 2020.
“I could not be more excited to announce Shana Welch as our new women’s water polo head coach,” said Fee. “I believe Shana has proven herself to be one of the rising coaches in the profession and her knowledge, leadership, and character are second to none. We look forward to Shana continuing to build on the excellence the program has achieved over the years.”
That change comes on the heels of a promising season in 2020 which was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Long Beach State had posted a 12-6 record and unbeaten in Big West competition. The Beach were also a perfect 4-0 at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.
Welch was the de facto coach for the season, as Gavin Arroyo and Fee had given Welch additional responsibilities while Arroyo served as an assistant coach for the USA Men’s National Team in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. With that responsibility continuing now into 2021 following the postponement of the Olympics, the time was right to make the move.
“I feel very comfortable with Shana at the helm of this historic program,” said Arroyo. “She has developed quickly as one of the better coaches that I have had the pleasure of working with. She will do great things with the program in the years to come.”
Welch becomes the first solely dedicated head coach for the program since the departure of Catherine Von Schwarz following the 2008 season, when Arroyo assumed head coaching duties for the women’s program as well as the men’s. Arroyo will continue as head coach of the Men’s Water Polo program at the Beach.
“I am humbled and honored to be able to continue representing this amazing program as Head Coach,” commented Welch. “I want to thank President Conoley, our Athletic Director Andy Fee, and our administration for putting their trust and confidence in me to lead this team. I also want to thank Gavin for all his support and for the opportunity to be a part of this program over the last six years.
“I look forward to continuing to build upon the success of this Long Beach State program and I am excited to continue working with our talented student-athletes. I have been incredibly lucky to work with this group, we had some great momentum building this past season and I know they are all excited to pick up where we left off when we are all able to return to the pool.”
Release courtesy Long Beach State University
About Shana Welch: Three-time Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selection Shana Welch of the University of Michigan became the second University of Michigan player in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame in 2016 joining 2008 inductee/Olympic Gold Medalist/former United States National Team goalie Betsey Armstrong. Julie Hyrne joined the CWPA Hall of Fame in 2020 to become the third Michigan Hall of Fame member.
A member of Michigan’s All-Decade Team, Welch competed for the Wolverines during the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons leading the Maize & Blue to the CWPA Championship (then known as Eastern Championships) in 2005 to accompany a pair of runner-up marks (2004, 2006) and a fourth place (2007) finish as the team reached the CWPA title game three times during her tenure.
Overall, Michigan finished 112-51 during her four-year career (2004: 30-9; 2005: 29-14; 2006: 29-12; 2007: 24-16), including a 26-3 mark in CWPA Western Division play in claiming four consecutive division crowns.
A third team ACWPC All-America selection in 2005 and two-time All-America Honorable Mention in 2006 and 2007, she is the only three-time (2005, 2006, 2007) CWPA Most Valuable Player in school history and was the CWPA Rookie of the Year in 2005 to currently stand as the only women’s player to sweep all of the major awards she was eligible for over a four-year span. A four-time All-Western Division First Team Selection (2004-to-2007), Welch garnered nine CWPA Player of the Week honors, tied for second most by a Michigan water polo player in the history of the program.
She established new program records for career goals (297) and points (393), served as captain of the Wolverines in her junior and senior seasons and was the recipient of the Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement Award in 2006 and 2007, as well as the Bob Ufer Senior Athlete Award in 2007 to accompany USA Speedo Top 40 honors in 2005 and 2006.
Her 297 goals stood as 60 more than second best in Wolverines history entering the 2016 season, while her 84 goals in 2005 are the most at U-M in a single season and included a school-record eight goals versus California State University-Bakersfield. She also had a school-record 394 career points with 126 coming in 2007 for a single-season record.
A native of Larksville, Pa., Welch was equally proficient during her high school days in achieving All-America recognition from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events while a student at Wyoming Valley West High School. Her 14 years of competitive swimming experience helped her to become a four-time conference swimmer of the year and she received 15 PIAA District II swimming medals, while also winning four letters each in water polo and soccer.
Her post baccalaureate career after earning a Bachelor of Arts in sociology with a focus in social inequality: race, class and gender from Michigan in 2007, is equally note worthy as Welch played professional water polo for the UWA Perth Comets in Australia for one year after matriculation.
She returned to Ann Arbor to serve as a strength and conditioning intern at Michigan in 2008. In that position, she was responsible for training student-athletes to reach a higher level of strength and athletic prowess and created strength-training routines for student-athletes.
During the 2008-09 academic year, she worked as the assistant coach of men’s and women’s swimming at Bucknell University. With the Bison programs, Welch was responsible for recruiting, fundraising, academic monitoring, facilitating community service projects and creating dry land and strength programs. During her stint in Lewisburg, Pa., she helped the program break 27 team records.
She returned to the water polo ranks for the 2009-10 academic season as she served as the assistant coach under head coach Erik Farrar in his final seasons with the Crimson. Welch helped the Harvard men finish 7-17 in the Fall of 2009, prior to aiding the women’s squad to a 13-15 mark in the Spring of 2010.
She departed the program and new head coach Ted Minnis midway through the 2010 men’s season upon signing a contract to play water polo professionally for N.E. Patras Club in Catras, Greece. N.E. Patras is part of the A1 Ethniki, which is the highest professional water polo league in Greece.
Following her time in Europe, she returned to enroll in the San Pasqual Reservation Fire Academy in 2013. Among nine of 4,000 applications, and the only woman accepted, Welch was hired and serves as a firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the city of Pasadena, Calif. In her spare time she continued to give back to the sport as a volunteer assistant women’s water polo coach at Long Beach State University on the staff of Gavin Arroyo prior to becoming associate head coach prior to the 2020 season.
