BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Arizona State University women’s/former Brown University men’s and women’s head coach Todd Clapper is the guest on Episode 020 of the PoloCAST Podcast with George Gross, Jr.
A biweekly series highlighting some of water polo’s best minds and athletes over the past 50+ years, PoloCAST is available on Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor and Spotify.
Hosted by CWPA Hall of Fame inductee and former Team Canada Olympian George Gross, Jr., the podcast provides listeners with more than just an X’s and O’s conversation about water polo – but a dialogue about what helped good players, coaches and administrators reach the top of the game.
New episodes typically release on the first and third Tuesday of every month.
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About Todd Clapper: Hired as the head coach of the Arizona State University women’s water polo team in 2005 after serving as an assistant coach for the team for a single season, Todd Clapper has led the Sun Devils to perennial placements in the national Top-10 rankings and three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship appearances.
He has compiled a 376-243 career record (271-170 at Arizona State, 105-73 at Brown University) in women’s competition through the conclusion of the 2021 MPSF Championship. ASU advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2016 claiming Fifth Place both times. The team will make its third NCAA Championship appearance on May 14-16, 2021, at the 2021 Championship hosted by the University of California-Los Angeles.
Since coming to Tempe, Clapper has also been busy working with international teams. He served as the 2005 U.S. Junior National Team assistant coach before being selected as the 2006 U.S. Youth National coach. That year, he led the youth team into the Pan-Am Championships in Montreal, Canada where the team, playing up an age level, brought home gold. For his efforts he was named the 2006 USOC National Water Polo Coach of the Year. In 2008 and 2009 Clapper was the head coach of the New Zealand Women’s National Team.
Clapper came to the Valley of the Sun with a wealth of coaching experience. Following his graduation from Slippery Rock University in 1997, he stayed on with his alma mater and served as an assistant coach for the women’s team for one season before taking on assistant coaching duties at Villanova University.
After a one-year head coaching stint at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa., Clapper took over at Brown University where he mentored a pair of teams as the head coach for both the men’s and women’s water polo squads from 1998-2004. For his efforts at Brown he earned several Coach of the Year awards, including New England (2000), Eastern Championship (2001 and 2003), Northern Division (2002) and Northeastern (2004). He closed out his tenure with the Bears’ women’s program with a record of 105-73 while seeing his team post 18 or more wins in each of his last four seasons, including 22 victories in 2001 and 20 in 2002.
Clapper was a four-year letter winner for The Rock, helping the team attain a Top-15 national ranking. As the starting goalie, he captained the team as a senior in 1996, the same year he was also selected second-team all-conference. A walk-on that became the starter in goal by the end of his sophomore season, he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science (aquatic emphasis) and also attained a minor in Adapted Physical Activity and Rehabilitation.
