New Men's Water Polo Head Coach Zach Roberts

New Diablo Valley College head men's water polo coach Zach Roberts has a strong connection to the Vikings aquatic program, and wants it to be a go-to place for local competitors. 

"I'd rather give back to local kids because this place is very important to me," Roberts said during Monday's practice. "It's where my parents met. I went here. My assistant coaches attended here. … It's such a good institution and it can be even better. We have to make it not a second option for kids in the area, but a first option."  Roberts is excited about the season and impressed with the student-athletes on the team.  "They're just good kids," Roberts said. "It seems like we're going to do pretty well academically, which is very important to me, because for almost all these kids water polo ends in college."  Roberts was on the highly successful John Roemer's coaching staff the previous six years at DVC. He absorbed knowledge from his former coach, along with Leonard Chaplin and women's coach Rick Millington.  Moreover, Roberts swam and played water polo at Pinole Valley High and coached high school water polo. He received an Associate of Arts degree at Contra Costa College, undergraduate degree at Saint Mary's College and a masters in coaching and athletic administration at Concordia University in Irvine. 

 

As he adjusts to his new administrative responsibilities, Roberts knows he can count on his top quality assistants.  There's even a water polo celebrity in the mix. Assistant coach Matt DeTrane was a two-time All-American at Pepperdine who starred at Campolindo High and DVC, where he was an All American and Big 8 MVP. He played professionally in Montenegro and Italy, and trained with the U.S. national team. He also played with New York Athletic Club, the preeminent water polo club nationally. 

 

Overall, the Vikings aquatic staff is loaded with DVC graduates, also including Millington, Roemer and assistant coaches Todd Krohn and Donny Mata.  The Vikings men, who finished third in the state last season, featured primarily international imports under Roemer, who now holds an advisory role in the program. The current squad has a bunch of fresh faces, including 13 players in their first year of college water polo, from the Bay Valley, Diablo Foothill and East Bay athletic leagues. It seems like a natural flow of events for Roberts. 

"In the past we've had a very strong international contingent on the team, and I wanted to kind of get away from that," Roberts said. "Some of the challenges that came with that is you have a bunch of different styles of play. International players play under different rules, and sometimes there's a communication barrier, and just the additional administrative burdens." 

Zac Hudson, of Brisbane, Australia, is the only returner who played significant minutes in 2015. But the two-meter man might be moved to center defense to take advantage of the club players on the outside.