Boys varsity water polo coach Carly DeMarchena was named the Central Coast Section Honor Coach for her work during the 2022 season that resulted in the Dons qualifying for Central Coast Section playoffs — something they hadn’t done since 2007.
“We celebrated by pushing her into the water,” said junior hole set Evan Molloy. “It’s kind of an end of the season thing.”
Each year, one coach in the CCS is honored for their contributions to their sport. Coaches are nominated by athletic directors, principals, administrators or league commissioners.
Athletic Director Steve Sell nominated DeMarchena both for her success in recent seasons and her character.
“[DeMarchena] really tries to make it a better sport,” Sell said. “I can see that she wants water polo to be good everywhere, and she wants to grow the sport, and she’s going to do the right thing. [She] has built up the program and made water polo a desirable sport to play.”
Sell also chose to nominate DeMarchena in 2021 to honor an upcoming anniversary.
“Part of the reason that I chose this year was to say ‘next year is the 50th anniversary of Title IX,’” Sell said. “It’s meaningful and significant that a woman [is] coaching a boys varsity team and coaching it well.”
For DeMarchena, her win was exciting.
“I was shocked,” DeMarchena said. “I had no idea that Mr. Sell had nominated me. It was fun that we made CCS at the same time, because I got to receive the award at our CCS game. Having the boys there was great.”
DeMarchena has coached water polo for 10 years. She picked up the job shortly after she started teaching, as she realized that she missed athletics and wanted to become involved in coaching.
“I was teaching at Peninsula [High School] at the time and just looked at the District website for coaching jobs,” DeMarchena said. “[Water polo] was one [job] that was open at Mills, so I kind of fell into it.”
DeMarchena’s balance between management and fun is a skill she has honed over the years.
“I think when I was new to teaching and coaching, I didn’t really realize that students are more successful in the classroom if it’s pretty structured and has a very similar routine every day,” DeMarchena said. “Now we’ve developed our water polo program to have [the team] know exactly what to expect [during practice]. They start practice pretty much on their own. Just like I have a warm up in math class, the same thing applies [to water polo].”
DeMarchena described the successes of the season as a slight surprise given the disadvantages COVID-19 posed in seasons prior.
“[We had] some kids who hadn’t played in two years [and] some kids who played all summer long, so it was quite the spread,” DeMarchena said. “But we were one of the few programs that had enough kids [to] even have a JV team, so that was just positive from the get-go. Then, we started playing other teams and [playing] tournaments. We [were] just having a lot of fun as a group and started to see that we were kind of better [than] we were expecting.”
The water polo program had not made it to CCS in 15 years. Upon realizing that the championship was in sight, DeMarchena was ecstatic.
“It was surreal,” DeMarchena said. “Probably midway through the season, I realized that that was the path we were heading on. I was so excited and proud of them for doing that. This group of boys can get so amped about anything, which is so fun to coach.”
Molloy believes that the team’s strong chemistry and relationship with DeMarchena were the main reasons for the season’s success.
“I think [DeMarchena] approaches us not as an instructor, but more of a coach [or] someone you can rely on,” Molloy said. “We joke around with her. We have team chemistry, including the coach.”
DeMarchena’s coaching is part of what keeps morale high, both in practice and during games.
“I think she has a really good balance between running the drills [and] working hard, and also keeping this team spirit up,” Molloy said. “Part of what I think sets [DeMarchena] apart from other coaches is that she’s not the type of coach to yell at the [referee] or be super angry like that. I think [DeMarchena] does a really good job of keeping herself calm, but still showing that she [wants] to support the team.”
Senior wing Ian Chiu agrees that DeMarchena’s control under pressure contributes to her success as a coach.
“I know a lot of coaches, especially in water polo, are very intense and very serious [toward] their players, and [DeMarchena is] never yelling,” Chiu said. “I think her coaching style is just really great.”
Looking to next year, DeMarchena and her team anticipate that a roster full of seniors and juniors will serve them well as they aspire to future successes and championships.
