Dear Santa Barbara Premier players and families,

Congratulations on your recently completed high school regular seasons. For those of you still competing in CIF, we applaud your success and wish you the best in your upcoming tournament games.

As we begin to transition from the high school boys season back to our winter club season we wanted to share some important updates regarding schedule and our ongoing Channel Islands United (CIU) alliance that is now entering year two.

Practice Schedule

• The upcoming SBP Winter session for all high school athletes will begin on Tuesday, November 14 and runs through February 29. 
• Practices are scheduled from 6-8pm. They will take place at Dos Pueblos (Tuesdays and Thursdays), and joint CIU practices at Santa Barbara High (Wednesdays) and Oxnard High (Saturdays) 9-11am.
• Winter Season registration is now open! Learn more about how to register on this page.

Channel Islands United 

After a successful inaugural year in the CIU alliance SB Premier is proud to continue its participation for the upcoming 2023/24 competition season. Combining with our core alliance partners from Gold Coast and Pride has enabled Premier athletes to practice and compete against higher level competition. It has also enabled us to field additional B and C teams, have deeper rosters, and more playing time for our athletes. It is always our goal to place our athletes in the right competitive environment for their individual level and this partnership makes that possible.

Tom Davis will again serve as the director of the high school program for CIU and will work alongside Premier’s Technical Director Wolf Wigo to ensure that the alliance is successful. Tom asked that we share his note below with our families regarding his plan and expectations for the upcoming season and a preliminary calendar of tournaments. He welcomes your specific questions as well if they are not covered in his message.

Remember that Winter Season registration is now open! Learn more about how to register on this page.

We thank you for choosing Premier and for your support and commitment to this club. We are excited for the year ahead!

Gratefully,
SB Premier Board of Directors

We are excited to welcome all of our high school athletes back for our 2023/24 Winter Season. Coming off of an enormously successful 22/23 season highlighted by great showings at Junior Olympics across all age groups, our high school coaching staff has been hard at work on this year’s training curriculum. The plan is designed to 1) maximize player development and 2) provide the greatest opportunity for long-term player and team success.

The CIU training structure will again feature independent “home club” practices, and joint CIU “all club” practices. Each club’s independent practices will be based on coordinated objectives created by the coaching staff to ensure all players develop a strong technical and tactical baseline for joint CIU trainings and competitions. This will enable us to focus our joint CIU trainings on tactics, strategy, and building team chemistry.

Coaching Staff

I am thrilled about the incredible depth and strength of our coaching staff at the high school level–most of whom were with us last year and know our returning athletes very well. I know that our athletes are in capable hands with this group. For those of you who do not know my background, I was a two-time NCAA D1 All-American and have experience coaching at the national, club, high school, and collegiate level.

Joining me on the deck will be a group of exceptional coaches who collectively bring a wealth of experience through their work at area high schools and clubs. Returning from last year are: Jesse Morrison (head coach at Cate HS, former UCSB Gaucho, and National League player for Channel Cats), Clint Howard (Gold Coast Water Polo Club), Michael Le Sueur (Head coach at Rio Mesa HS, Kyle Roberston (Gold Coast Water Polo Club), Ian Wood (assistant coach at UCSB), and Jacob Halle (assistant UCSB coach and former Gaucho player). I am pleased to share that new to the CIU alliance this year is Justin English (assistant at Buena HS and coach at Pride Water Polo Academy in Thousand Oaks). Justin brings a tremendous resume of experience as a high school and club-level coach and as a collegiate athlete. I am confident these dedicated mentors and champions for the sport will elevate our athletes to new heights this season.

Coaching Philosophy

Each coach will work with players across all age groups in the high school group to allow them to best assess what each player needs to focus on for their development and to enable players to receive aligned feedback through multiple communication styles. I will determine the lead coaches at each age group level prior to competition season.

CIU Competition Calendar

• Dec. 9-10: Holiday Cup
• Jan-June: (dates TBD): Futures League
• Feb. 3-4: Kap 7 International
• TBD: Cal Cup & other Kap 7 tournament/s
• Monthly scrimmages will be scheduled at various locations across the CIU club pools

CIU Athlete Expectations

• Athletes that are a part of the A-team practice group, are expected to attend 100% of their home club practices and ALL joint A-team practices (two/week: one home and one away), as well as all competitions. If there is a conflict and a player cannot make practice, they are expected to reach out to Coach Davis to explain the reason for absence no later than 24 hours prior to practice. This is the responsibility of the player, not parents.
• Athletes that are a part of the B/C-team practice group are expected to attend 100% of their home club practices and all competitions. B/C-team players are invited and encouraged to attend all joint away practices, however will only be required to attend 1-2 per month. If there is a conflict and a player cannot make practice, they are expected to reach out to  Coach Davis to explain the reason no later than 24 hours prior to the practice. This is the responsibility of the player, not parents.
• Teams are flexible and players can be moved up or down depending on a variety of factors, including player performance, attendance, coachability, work ethic, etc.

Questions?

Contact Tom Davis, CIU High School Director, via email at [email protected] or phone at (714) 724-1127.