Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo Club is inviting all High School boys water polo athletes and their parents to an open house Sunday, November 14 to learn about the program, meet the coaching staff and play in a friendly scrimmage against members of the 7th-ranked UCSB Men’s Division I water polo team. The Open House will be held at the Dos Pueblos High School pool from 7-9:00PM.  Pizza and refreshments will be provided!

Santa Barbara – November 12, 2021 – In a major reorganization, Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo Club has named Stephen Loomis as Club Director & Boys 16U Head Coach, and Wolf Wigo as Club Technical Director.  Additionally, SB Premier is announcing the appointment of Mark Warkentin as Strength & Conditioning Coach, Sarah Kreiser as High School Girls Program Director, and Jesse Morrison as 16U Boys Assistant Head Coach.

Coach Loomis is Assistant Head Coach of the UCSB Men’s Division I water polo team, Coach Wigo is Head Coach for the UCSB Men’s program, and Coach Kreiser is the Assistant Head Coach for the UCSB Women’s Division I water polo team.  Coach Morrison is Head Coach for the Cate High School water polo program and Coach Warkentin is the Former Head Coach of Santa Barbara Swim Club and Santa Barbara Aquatics Club.

These coaches will be joined at the High School level by current 18U Head Coach, DP High School Boys Head Coach and USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program Coach Bryan Snyder, longtime16U Assistant Coach Ian Wood, former National Team member and High School Boys Practice Coach Hank Peterson, and new High School Boys Assistant/Specialist Coaches, Danny Roland (UCSB Goalie), Sean Rosenberg (UCSB Attacker), Sam Nangle (UCSB Center & Australia National Team Selection), Shane Hoover (UCSB Center Defender) and Colton Gregory (UCSB Attacker).

Coaches Loomis and Wigo will be responsible for implementing a new training and development program designed using a combination of the latest training techniques and systems developed at the U.S. National and European professional team levels. Wigo and Loomis have the unique ability to blend these systems given their playing and coaching backgrounds at the Olympic, national, and professional levels of the sport.  Loomis and Wigo also continue to compete at the National level, winning the 2021 National Championship as teammates on the New York Athletic Club team at U.S. Senior Nationals, putting them in a unique position to be able to hone these techniques and skills on a personal level.  Olympian, multi-time National and World Champion, and long-time swim coach Mark Warkentin will be charged with developing new strength and conditioning programs for all age groups in the system, with a goal of increased efficiency, mobility and injury prevention.

“These moves further cement SB Premier’s longstanding reputation for excellence, while raising that bar to a new level,” commented Wolf Wigo, Club Founder & Technical Director. “Our coaching staff is really unparalleled in the region, with multiple Olympians, National Team members, All-Americans, International Professional players, and 100% of the local college water polo coaches that coach at the club level.”  Wigo added, “We are in conversations to add several more important new coaches to our organization and we expect to have more announcements on this front soon.  This truly is an exciting time for SB Premier and our athletes.”

New Club Director Stephen Loomis remarked, “I’m extremely excited to take on the new roles of Club Director & 16U Head Coach.  We have an incredible cache of water polo talent in the Santa Barbara area, and I’m looking forward to working with Wolf and all of our new coaches in maximizing the potential of our athletes. Having the ability to employ regular in-water demonstration and instruction from our new UCSB student/athlete specialist coaches is a tremendous resource that adds an important element to our coaching system that is truly unique.”

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Additional Information

Stephen Loomis is a former professional water polo player in the Primera División, Spain where he led the league in assists and was top-5 in goals (2013-2014), and the Italian Serie A league where he was the leading scorer in the A2 northern division and team MVP for professional clubs Albaro-Nervi, RN Sori and Lavagna Di Meglio (2015-2018).  While playing at Pepperdine University, Loomis led the team in goals and steals and was named an All-American in 2013.  From 2017-2019, Loomis was Head Coach for the De La Salle High School water polo program and was Head Coach and Development Director for Bay Area water polo club CC United in 2014 & 2016-2020 where his teams at the 12U, 16U and 18U age groups won two silver and two bronze medals at the Junior Olympics nationals.  Coach Loomis was named Assistant Head Coach at UC Santa Barbara for the 2020-21 season, and Youth Director at Santa Barbara Premier where he quickly led the 12U team to a 6th place finish in the Platinum Division at the Junior Olympics national tournament.  Coach Loomis remains an active player at the elite national level in the sport, having won the Senior Nationals Championship playing for New York Athletic Club in 2014 and 2021.

Wolf Wigo is a 3-time member and Team Captain of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team (1996, 2000, 2004), member of the 1997 U.S. World Champion National Team, was named USA Water Polo’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1999, 2000 & 2003, named All-World First Team in 2000, and was a Team Captain, 4-time All-American and 2-time National Champion while leading the Stanford Cardinal water polo team in college.  Considered one of the best U.S. water polo players to have ever played the game, Wigo has participated on an unapparelled 24 National Champion teams as a player or a coach, including playing for the Senior National Champion New York Athletic Club team in 2021.  Wigo is the founder of Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo Club, co-founder of KAP7 International, and has been the Head Coach for UC Santa Barbara’s men’s water polo program for the past 17 seasons, a period in time when the program has consistently been ranked in the Top-10 nationally.

Mark Warkentin is an Olympian, multi-event national swim champion, and former long-time Head Coach of Santa Barbara Swim Club (2012-2018) and Santa Barbara Aquatics Club (2009-2012).  Warkentin’s accomplishments in the pool include 1996 Olympic Trials Finalist (400 Freestyle), 1999 World University Games 4xGold Medalist, 2000 Olympic Trials Finalist (200 Freestyle), former Pac-12 Record Holder (400 IM), and 4xNCAA All-American swimming for the University of Southern California.  In open water swimming, Warkentin was 2006 National Champion in the 25K, 4th place in the 25K at the 2007 World Championships, 2007 National Champion in the 10K and 25K, Silver Medalist in the 25K at the 2008 World Championships, 2008 National Champion in the 10K and 25K, and 8th place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  As a coach at SBSC and SBAC, Mark coached numerous athletes to distinction including multiple National and Southern California records.

Sarah Kreiser is the current UCSB Assistant Head Coach and serves as SB Premier’s Girl’s High School Director and 14U Boys Co-Head Coach.  Kreiser was a member of the UC Santa Barbara women’s water polo team from 2015-2019 where she was named Rookie of the Year in 2016, and named Team Captain and selected to the Big West All-Conference Team in 2018 and 2019.  Following UCSB, Kreiser played a season for the St. Andrews women's water polo team as well as for Coventry City Water Polo in the British Water Polo League 2019-2020, while continuing her education in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews. While playing abroad, Keiser was a top-3 scorer in the British National League, and as a player at St. Andrews, she earned Half Blue Distinction honors for Excellence in Sporting. She also served on the coaching staff at St. Andrews for the second team competing in the 1A league, leading the team to its first 1A League Championship.  Prior to joining SB Premier, Kreiser’s USA water polo coaching experience included Varsity Assistant Coach and JV Head Coach at the Laguna Beach High School Girls water polo and swim team programs, coached at the 16U and 18U level for SET Water Polo Club, and was the head coach for the 14u and 12u girls programs at Laguna Beach Water Polo Club.

Jesse Morrison is currently the Head Coach for Cate High School’s water polo program and is joining SB Premier as 16U Boys Assistant Head Coach. Jesse had an impressive club and high school career playing in Santa Barbara, and was named Team Captain on his 18U team which earned a silver medal at the Junior Olympics National Championship tournament.  Following his incredible senior season, Morrison was named an All American by USA Water Polo. Morrison played college water polo for Wigo at UC Santa Santa Barbara where he was an important contributor.  Morrison stormed onto the High School water polo coaching scene by coaching the Cate High School Boys and Girls water polo teams to unexpectedly strong seasons, earning Coach of the Year honors from the Tri-County Conference.

Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo Club is the region’s premier water polo club. The mission of the Santa Barbara Premier is to foster and develop character, integrity and habits of excellence through competitive aquatic sports, regardless of socio-economic level within our community.

Our goals are to dramatically expand the number of athletes in the sport of water polo in the greater Santa Barbara Area by providing programs for participation for all age and skill levels, for both genders, and for minorities; to communicate the activities of the sport of water polo throughout the Santa Barbara area to the public in order to promote more awareness to the sport; and to provide a fun learning environment for beginning athletes while allowing them to reach the highest levels of competition as they progress in the sport. Web: https://www.sbpremierwaterpolo.com.

News Media Contact: Stephen Loomis, Club Director, (925) 212-0374, [email protected]