BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Carthage College Director of Athletics Michelle Manning announced the appointment of former Indiana University head coach Ryan Castle as the institution’s new women’s water polo coach and coordinator of club sports programs, effective July 16. Castle replaces former water polo coach Laura Coffman who stepped down in May to pursue other career opportunities.
“I am thrilled for Ryan Castle to join our team,” said Manning, “and to take leadership of our women’s water polo program and club sport programs. I have complete confidence in Ryan, as he has an impressive coaching background. His student-centered focus will provide an exceptional experience for both our varsity and club sport athletes.”
“I am deeply grateful to Michelle Manning and to President John Swallow for this amazing opportunity to join the Carthage community” said Castle. “I am very excited to work with all the coaches in the department, and more importantly, to work with both the water polo student athletes and all the club sport programs.”
Castle comes to Carthage following a three-year tenure at Indiana where he compiled a 52-36 record from 2017-to-2019. Following a 2017 season in which the team finished 21-10, including a 5-3 mark in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) competition, to finish fourth among nine teams during the regular season and fifth at the league championship tournament at home in Bloomington, Castle helped the Hoosiers record a 25-9 record with another 5-3 league record as the program placed fourth among nine teams during the regular season and at the league championship hosted by Bucknell University.
Last season, he guided Indiana to a 6-17 mark as the team finished 0-6 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) competition to earn seventh place finishes during the regular season and at the league championship hosted by Stanford University.
He came to Indiana with nine years of collegiate coaching experience in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I water polo. Serving as the associate head coach for the University of Hawaii in 2015 and 2016 under head coach Maureen Cole, Castle helped guide the Rainbow Warriors to the 2015 Big West Tournament Championship and an appearance in the 2015 NCAA Championship. Castle served as an interim head coach during the 2016 season, and in that time Hawaii earned a 13-4 record as his career record stands at 65-40 all-time during his stints at Hawaii and Indiana.
Prior to arriving at Hawaii, Castle accrued four years of experience at CWPA Division I institutions by working with the University of Michigan under then Wolverines’ coach/now Connecticut College head coach Matt Anderson from 2013-2014 and, prior to that, a three-year stint as an assistant at Hartwick College under Alan Huckins.
He began his varsity collegiate coaching career at Arizona State University under former Brown University head coach Todd Clapper from 2007-to-2010. In addition to serving on the women’s water polo varsity staff, he served as head coach for the ASU men’s collegiate club team. He helped lead the Sun Devils to a third-place finish at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championships in 2008 at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, as the program finished Third (2007), First (2008) and Second (2009) in the Southwest Division during his time in Tempe, Arizona.
Outside of the collegiate ranks, Castle honed his craft with international teams, both at the junior and senior levels. Most recently, Castle held the reigns as the head coach of the Kazakhstan Women’s Senior National Team, where he guided Kazakhstan to an appearance at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China. Kazakhstan’s 13th-place finish at the event was the fourth-highest in the country’s history.
Before Kazakhstan, Castle served as the Video Analyst for the New Zealand senior team at the 2009 FINA World Championships. From 2007 to 2009, Castle worked in the US Olympic Development Program by running one of the United States’ under-18 zone teams.
Castle had the opportunity to coach for his home nation of South Africa from 2002 to 2005, and again in 2011, where he assisted with the Women’s Senior National Team and served as head coach for the National “B” Team. In 2003, Castle took charge of the South African Women’s Junior National Team and assisted with the Men’s Junior Team.
Castle began coaching at Wynberg Boys’ High School in Cape Town (1997-2001) before taking over at Reddam House College in 2002. He served as the provincial age group boys’ and girls’ teams coach for the Western Province while coaching Silvertree Water Polo Club (2001-05) and Stingrays Water Polo Club (2004-05).
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Castle graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in information systems and earned a post-graduate credential in education in 2003.
