Santa Barbara Premier and Gold Coast Water Polo Clubs Form Strategic Alliance

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

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 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,” said SBB Premier Club Director Stephen Loomis. “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.”

Gold Coast Club Director Mary Giles added: “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.”