8 Schools•Division I•Est. 2013
The Golden Coast Conference was founded in 2013 as a women's water polo league and played its first season in the spring of 2014. Azusa Pacific, California Baptist, Fresno Pacific, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Santa Clara and Pacific made up the original membership, and the NCAA granted the conference Division I status effective that August.
One sport, done well. The GCC exists for water polo and nothing else, and its members compete in the NCAA's National Collegiate division, where programs from across the divisions meet in the same pool.
The automatic bid changed everything. Beginning with the 2016 season, the winner of the GCC tournament earns the league's place in the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship, and San Diego State claimed that inaugural honor.
The Olympic thread runs all the way through. Pacific brought in Brazilian Olympian Mariana Duarte after she played six games at the Rio Games, where she scored against both the United States and Australia. Jason Evezard was the GCC Newcomer of the Year at UC Irvine and later started four of South Africa's first five matches in Tokyo. On the deck, Long Beach State coach Gavin Arroyo won a GCC tournament title and Coach of the Year honors after a playing career that included two Olympic appearances for the United States, three national championships at Cal, and a run in the professional leagues of Greece and Spain. He is a member of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Rivalries carry the spring, with Loyola Marymount and Fresno State meeting again and again in the championship match.
Official Website
The Golden Coast Conference was founded in 2013 as a women's water polo league and played its first season in the spring of 2014. Azusa Pacific, California Baptist, Fresno Pacific, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Santa Clara and Pacific made up the original membership, and the NCAA granted the conference Division I status effective that August.
One sport, done well. The GCC exists for water polo and nothing else, and its members compete in the NCAA's National Collegiate division, where programs from across the divisions meet in the same pool.
The automatic bid changed everything. Beginning with the 2016 season, the winner of the GCC tournament earns the league's place in the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship, and San Diego State claimed that inaugural honor.
The Olympic thread runs all the way through. Pacific brought in Brazilian Olympian Mariana Duarte after she played six games at the Rio Games, where she scored against both the United States and Australia. Jason Evezard was the GCC Newcomer of the Year at UC Irvine and later started four of South Africa's first five matches in Tokyo. On the deck, Long Beach State coach Gavin Arroyo won a GCC tournament title and Coach of the Year honors after a playing career that included two Olympic appearances for the United States, three national championships at Cal, and a run in the professional leagues of Greece and Spain. He is a member of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Rivalries carry the spring, with Loyola Marymount and Fresno State meeting again and again in the championship match.
Official Website