Varsity Women’s Water Polo to Be Added in 2017
The athletics department recently announced that women’s water polo will be added as a varsity sport in the spring of 2017.
Patrick Beemer will serve as the program’s head coach. The Los Angeles native said he is already immersed in the recruiting process.
“I have made contact with approximately 90 prospective water polo student-athletes,” said Beemer.
“I would estimate that my ‘short list’ includes around 30, with intentions of having a squad of 15 or so for the 2016-17 school year.”
A 1998 graduate of the University of California-San Diego, Beemer also holds a master’s degree from Wagner College.
“The decision to come to Saint Francis was multifaceted,” said Beemer, “but one of the major factors was the ability to start a program from the ground up.”
Beemer first coached water polo in 2001 for a high school team in California. He served as head women’s water polo coach at Wagner from 2004-2010, earning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) honors two times. The Seahawks won MAAC tournament titles in 2005 and 2007.
He served as associate head coach for Indiana University from 2010-13 and was the head coach at California Institute of Technology the last two years.
Beemer said he is recruiting both four-year and transfer student-athletes as he looks to build a competitive roster at SFU.
“A solid percentage of the projected squad for 2016-17 will likely be transfers from junior colleges,” he said.
Saint Francis is currently in the process of applying for associate membership in the MAAC for water polo, since the Northeast Conference – where most of the Red Flash varsity sports teams compete – does not sponsor water polo. A decision from the MAAC is expected by November.
Schools that sponsor water polo in the MAAC include Iona, Marist, Siena, St. Francis of New York, Villanova, Virginia Military Institute and Wagner.
The addition of water polo will give SFU 14 women’s varsity sports. In the last 15 years, the athletics department has added field hockey (2001), women’s lacrosse (2002) and women’s bowling (2010).
