This year there is a fresh presence on the pool deck down at Lott Natatorium. Matt Anderson, the men’s and women’s head water polo coach, begins his first season with the Camels. Anderson arrives in New London after a prolific 12-year span at the University of Michigan, where he led the women’s water polo program to four national tournaments, coached an Olympian and mentored dozens of All-Americans, amidst numerous other honors.
“A big reason why I accepted the job is just a general feeling that I got from the people I interacted with while I was here interviewing, and that has not changed,” said Anderson. “It allowed me an opportunity to coach both men and women and to continue my career in a more family-oriented atmosphere. I wanted to head east for my next coaching position, and the timing happened to work out to allow me to pursue that.”
The transition from an athletic program at a large university to that of a small liberal-arts college is one that Anderson is passionate about, so he is prepared to reapply and refocus the expanse of coaching expertise and philosophy he built while at Michigan.
“I believe college athletics is a place where interaction and coexisting is very important, and I believe that Connecticut College coaches and people fit that mode. At times, athletics can get into a big business mode—but I grew up personally and professionally where it is best when you don’t forget the simple qualities it has.” Anderson now faces the challenge of applying his coaching principles at the Division III level, where time is a constricting element.
“Combine the men’s and women’s season at Division III and it is not as long as one women’s season or one men’s season at Division I. So at the Division I level there is so much to cover over the course of 132 water polo practices…where here you have roughly 50 practices to cover things. So I’ll need to learn how to teach maybe not as many things in a shorter amount of time. I felt after 132 days of practices/games at DI that I wish I had more time…that’s the biggest challenge and change I will adjust to.”
Last spring, under interim head coach Ryan Pryor, the women won the CWPA Division III championship for the second year in a row. With no graduating seniors, they return a full roster in their pursuit of a trifecta championship crown in 2015. Meanwhile, the men start their season with a highly competitive schedule against multiple Division I teams. Here, Anderson’s experience with elite opposition will come into play.
“Regardless of where any team is, continuous improvement needs to be what you’re working for every year…[they need] to continue to believe about how good they can become and to be given the opportunity to become better than they currently are,” said Anderson. “The women’s team is in a good place right now and needs to continue to strive to get better, the men’s team is currently striving to get to the level that the women are and I do believe that will happen sooner rather than later.”
Anderson’s debut as head coach of the Camels was Sept. 14, when the men headed to Brown University for the Bruno Fall Classic.
“I believe that I have strong qualities as a coach that I can continue to improve upon, that can go from tactical to technical to student-athlete interaction…just as the players will continue to change and want to move forward, I will need to be able to continue to be flexible and move forward with them,” said Anderson. •
