BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) looks back at the outstanding athletes, referees and coaches who have made Hall of Fame caliber marks on the league.
A Fall 2010 inductee to the Hall of Fame, Fordham University standout Chris Judge ’80, a former National Team and New York Athletic Club star player, became the sixth male player to garner the league’s highest honor and the first recipient from Fordham University and/or a New York metropolitan school.
A four-year starter, he was named All-East at two different positions during his career while earning letters in both swimming and water polo for all four years at Fordham.
Judge served as captain in 1978 and 1979, leading the Rams to a No. 8 national ranking in 1979. The captain of the swimming team in 1979, he established records as a swimmer and a legacy of athletic prowess that only improved following his collegiate career.
One of the best players in Fordham history, he earned a place among the nation’s most elite players competing in several National Sports Festivals, including the 1981 festival in which the East won the gold medal behind a Most Valuable Player performance by Judge.
Following graduation from Fordham, he continued to play at the highest level of the game and gave back to his alma mater as an assistant coach for the Rams in 1981 before serving as head coach from 1982-89. During his tenure as coach, the Rams captured five MET titles and one Mid-Atlantic Championship.
Among the most outstanding players in the history of the New York Athletic Club (NYAC), he started playing with NYAC as a freshman at Fordham in 1976 and continues to be active in the program. He was inducted into the NYAC Hall of Fame in April 2011.
On the National level, he earned a spot in the United States National Team in 1983-84 and was an alternate on the 1984 Olympic Team.
An age group coach at Hudson Valley Water Polo and the NYAC, he was inducted into the Fordham Hall of Fame in 1996 joining his father and fellow water polo player Francis X. Judge (1987 induction).
Holding undergraduate degrees in finance and accounting, he earned an MBA in Finance from Iona College in 1986 before receiving Certified Financial Planner designation in 1996.
Judge is currently the men’s collegiate club head coach at the United States Military Academy. During his tenure, he has led Army to four consecutive New York Division titles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 with eighth (2017 at Florida State University), 12th (2016 at University of Notre Dame, 2019 at University of Pittsburgh) and 13th (2018 at University of Arizona) place marks at the National Collegiate Club Championship.
The New York Athletic Club team during their trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1982. Back row L-R: Lou Gioia, Jose Ferraioli, Charles Gulotta, Ray Judge, Chris Judge, Bill Harris. Front row L-R: Dan Solomon, Scott Schulte, Homer Lane, Joel Iannuzzi, Spyros Capralos, Jim Purcell, Tom Gleason and Russ Hertzberger.
