WATER POLO
DENNY HARPER
HEAD COACH Denny Harper is now in his 41st year coaching water polo at UC San Diego . One of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport , Harper has built the men ’ s program into a consistent powerhouse and won five titles during his 16-year tenure with the women ’ s team . With men ’ s water polo having competed against Division I teams for several decades , Harper has a unique perspective on UC San Diego athletics entering DI games .
Talk about winning those national championships — what did it mean to you ? The program really cherishes winning five women ’ s titles together . It involved a lot of people and many great athletes . And those were all won when the sport was truly on a level playing field , meaning we all had nothing or little to nothing . Budgets were not huge ; salaries were not huge . From 1983 through 1999 , our teams played truly for the love of the sport . Not that our current scholarathletes don ’ t , but these women did it without scholarships and very little resources . I think that most people in the modern era view me obviously as the men ’ s coach , but for 16 seasons , that was a great time of my life for sure .
What changes do you see coming with the transition to Division I ? Well , we already have great facilities ; I ’ m very thankful that the university recognizes the importance of aquatics in general — not just for athletics but for recreation and our whole student body .
Some improvements will still be made to those facilities , to the scoreboard and branding , for example . But the biggest impact will be our ability to properly administer scholarship awards . If all things had been equal , quite a few scholar-athletes interested in us in the past would have attended UC San Diego . It ’ s also conceivable for water polo to join the Big West Conference . Our women ’ s program is fortunate enough to be immediately sponsored as a Big West sport . Men ’ s water polo is not as of yet , but I ’ m hopeful that will happen sooner than later . It would be a great move that makes sense on a lot of fronts .
How has water polo changed over time ? When I first started coaching five decades ago , it was much more of a finesse game . Water polo has evolved into a really physical sport , and I ’ ve been relatively outspoken about the physicality of it . I think everybody , certainly at the NCAA level , is concerned about that . There are some rule changes coming , but it ’ s such a difficult sport to officiate because there ’ s a lot happening underwater . Imagine what basketball would be like if you couldn ’ t see players from the chest down . It concerns me , but we ’ ve adapted . I ’ m not the type of coach who always has a certain system or way we play , either . Every year , the team and talent we have dictate the style of how we play . Some of the best teams I ’ ve had were those that could adapt to any style to take advantage of the various opponents in a season .
What have you learned coaching at UC San Diego ? Early on , I was a bit of a “ my way or the highway ” kind of guy . But over the years , I ’ ve realized I ’ m fascinated with the nuances of the various generations . Probably around the late ’ 80s , it became clear to me that I should be more adaptive to what makes this particular generation tick and what makes certain individuals respond to certain aspects of coaching . I think I ’ ve gotten better at that over the years .
What would you say to the alumni of the team ? I talk to quite a few of them on a regular basis , actually . I ’ m happy to say that our club program that I started in 1976 still goes strong at the master ’ s level . Hundreds of my former UC San Diego team players continue to play , all the way up to a 50-and-over team known nationally for being extremely competitive . I ’ m proud of the fact that so many players still do that because it keeps them fit . But my message to all of my athletes is : I ’ m still here — if you haven ’ t checked in for a while , check in . Last time we counted , we have probably around 1,800 alumni from my years here , and we send out a regular newsletter to all of the current addresses that we have . So if you ’ ve been M . I . A . for a while , and we haven ’ t been able to find you , reach out because we ’ re still here , and I ’ d love to hear from you .
— Kendrick Mooney
38 TRITON | SPRING 2021