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Local water polo clubs to form alliance (SB Newspress)

By Katherine Zehnder – SB News Press, 05/01/22, 1:45PM PDT

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The Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo club has announced an alliance with the Gold Coast Water Polo Club, based in Ventura County.

Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo and Gold Coast Water Polo of Ventura/Oxnard  have announced the launch of a strategic alliance. 

This is a new endeavor in which the clubs will collaborate in the areas of coaching, player/team development, and additionally look for opportunities to field joint teams with the intent of competing at the highest levels of the sport.  

“We have been in regular contact with Gold Coast since they generously offered to host common training sessions with us in January of this year, when our pools in Santa Barbara were closed due to COVID. We were excited by the level of competition and camaraderie at these trainings, and believe our club and coaching philosophies are compatible in a way that makes this collaboration not only possible, but enjoyable,” said Stephen Loomis, director of SB Premier Club. 

Each club will continue to use their respective brand names in their local markets and when competing separately, but will compete on a combined basis for major tournaments and national competitions. After a successful trial period involving 10U, 12U Boys, 14U Girls and 14U Boys teams, the clubs will expand their efforts to other age groups. SB Premier and Gold Coast are currently committed to sending joint teams to the Coastal Zone Junior Olympics Qualification  Tournament and the Junior Olympics National Championship Tournament.  

“We are really looking forward to working with our neighbors at Santa Barbara Premier and expanding our relationship. The results we have seen so far at competitions and common training from our joint teams have been remarkable. The relationships being built by the athletes are really fun to watch and it’s been pleasantly surprising to see how quickly these teams have gelled together,” said Mary Giles, Director of the Gold Coast Club.

The Santa Barbara Premier Water Polo Club is the premier water polo club in Santa Barbara and serves athletes from throughout the region. The stated mission of Santa Barbara Premier is to foster and develop character, integrity and habits of excellence through competitive aquatic sports, regardless of socio-economic level within the community. To learn more go to https://www.sbpremierwaterpolo.com.

The Gold Coast Water Polo Club is the premier water polo club in Ventura and Oxnard. The stated mission of Gold Coast Water Polo Club is to promote the sport of water polo to the youth while teaching positive sportsmanship and encouraging our athletes to strive to reach their highest and best potential in and out of the water. To learn more go to https://www.goldcoastwaterpoloclub.com.

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