Water polo, swim teams returning to College of San Mateo with new coach

“ You look at our programs’ successes across the board,” Wolf said. “I don’t want to add a program just to add a program. [We’re] going to be adding a successful program.”

Tasked with running the new aquatics programs is Andrew Silva, who is moving up the hill from Serra High School. A lifelong polo player and coach, Silva is returning to the college ranks after the last half dozen years coaching at the high school level. A San Luis Obispo native, Silva started his coaching career after graduating high school in 1996. He went on to become the women’s polo coach at Division I Marist College, before stops at UC Santa Barbara and Citrus College. He spent four years coaching polo and swimming at Morro Bay High School before taking over the Serra program ahead of the 2020-21 season. He had spent the last two seasons as aquatic director for the Padres, guiding both the water polo and swim teams through the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“Andrew has a ton of experience, from high school to community college to DI. He’s on USA Water Polo’s coaching staff. He has a ton of experience that goes through all levels,” Wolf said. “We saw a really good teacher. … Someone who can be a fantastic mentor.”

Silva, however, will have a season in which to get familiar with the position as the Bulldogs won’t field water polo teams until the fall of 2023.

CSM will field both men’s and women’s swim teams for spring 2023, however.

“I have to commend and express my appreciation to Dean Wolf and CSM President (Jennifer) Taylor-Mendoza … that they’re allowing myself and the staff some time to recruit. … The timing is perfect… to spend time with the (local water polo) community,” Silva said. “Swim teams will compete this spring. We’re confident there are a number of quality student-athletes on campus who will want to join the program.”

Women’s water polo and the swimming program had been a staple at CSM since 2003 when Randy Wright took over swimming and started polo. Wright left the program in 2017 and, after a one-year hiatus in 2018, both programs came back for the 2019-20 school year. The women’s water polo team completed a fall schedule and swimming was just in the middle of the season when COVID shut down everything in the spring of 2020.

After struggling to find polo success and the swim program lacking, Wolf decided to shut down both programs for the 2021-22 season.

“COVID made my decision (to put both programs on hiatus) much easier, to be honest,” Wolf said. “It was a good break to step back from the program. From my perspective, we needed a full-time coach to revamp the program.”

Wolf said making the position full-time opened up the coaching pool and is a key to a program’s success.

“There is going to be a lot more interest (in a full-time position). Part-time positions are hard to fill. It is, technically, a full-time job, if you’re going to do it well,” Wolf said. “My goal has always been to have our programs with full-time coaches. … You get a part-time coach in there … they’re not as invested in the program. They’re not invested in the kids as much as a full-time coach.”

Wolf said new Taylor-Mendoza was eager to bolster the school’s athletic department and he found she was agreeable to shift one or two of the athletic department coaches from a part-time to full-time position.

“Like her second week on the job, we had a meeting. She said she wants a big sports program. She wanted to understand what our needs are,” Wolf said. With the addition of the four teams, the number of sports offered by CSM now stands at 15.

“She is really interested in all the divisions (at CSM), not just athletics. She wants to understand all of our programs. In one short year, she’s made a tremendous difference,” Wolf said.

The addition of the aquatics teams is part of an ongoing expansion of athletics at CSM. A women’s volleyball team was added in 2015 and started play in 2016. Men’s basketball was revived in 2018 for a 2019-20 start following a 36-year hiatus.

Now Silva will get his chance to follow in those footsteps and build new programs from the ground up.

“It’s a rare opportunity as a coach to start with a clean slate,” Silva said. “To be part of the staff to restart those teams … to take advantage of the fantastic athletic facilities … . It just checked a lot of boxes.”

A product of the community college system himself, Silva has an intimate understanding of the challenges and rewards a community college education can provide.

“Community college athletics is such a rewarding opportunity,” Silva said. “As a coach, you get to open a door twice. You open the door to recruit [student-athletes] and then, within a couple years, you’re opening another door for them to matriculate to a four-year institution.”

Note: CSM will be moving to a cashless system at athletic events this season, including ticket transactions and concessions, beginning with the football season that opens Sept. 3 against Sierra.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at csmbulldogs.com.