This fall, we welcomed over 20 new Bruins to UCLA Women's Club Water Polo! Our freshman class is a dedicated group of girls who we know will be a great addition to the team and the overall UCLA community. We also welcomed back over 40 of our returners, and are eager to see how they will continue to grow over this year.
We're also proud to announce our new coaching staff for the 2024-2025 season! Matthew Dotson, our head coach, brings valuable experience from his time on the Notre Dame Club Water Polo team before graduating in 2022. Nathan Williams, our assistant coach, played for Cal Poly's club team from 2019 to 2024. We are incredibly grateful to have both of these knowledgeable and dedicated coaches, and we are looking forward to what they will help the team accomplish this season!
To kick off the preseason, we went to sunny San Diego to play at SDSU's Aztec Invitational. Only a few weeks later, we played at the Anteater Invitation hosted by UC Irvine. At both these tournaments we played some of our favorite SoCal teams including SDSU, UCSD, UCI, and Cal Poly. Both of our teams performed exceptionally well, especially considering that many of our players were competing in their first collegiate tournaments.
Just last week, we hosted our third annual alumni game and had three of our alumni come out to play with us! We loved hearing all that they have accomplished since graduation, and also tested how their polo skills have stood up. In fact, the alumni demonstrated their skills a little too well as Team Old beat Team Young 9-8.
As we head towards the regular season and the road to nationals, the team is training hard to prepare for some tough competition. We are looking forward to a season filled with exciting games, team bonding, and Bruin spirit!
