Coaching Staff

Colin Mello - Club Director and 16&U Head Coach

Coach Mello oversees all aspects of the club and coaches the High School athletes direcly. Colin is also the current Head Coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Bellarmine College Prep. As a player, Colin was was a 2-Time NCAA All-American at UC Irvine. As a Junior at UCI he led the prestigious MPSF Conference in scoring. And as a senior, captained the first and only UCI team to reach the MPSF Championship game. Following UCI, he played professionally in Spain and Australia, in addition to representing the USA in the World University Games in 2009. After playing, Colin began his coaching career starting with several clubs and high schools in Orange County. He also served as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, UC Irvine, for one season. After moving to Northern California in 2011, he began coaching at Stanford Water Polo Club (18&U and 14&U) and at Sacred Heart Prep. While at Bellarmine Colin has won CCS Championships in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018 along with WCAL Championships in 2015 and 2023. In 13 years he has sent 46 athletes from Bellarmine on to the NCAA level.

Ben Vierra - Age Group Director and 18&U Head Coach

Coach Vierra serves as the Age Group Director, overseeing the development of coaches and athletes in the 14&U, 12&U, and 10&U age groups. He also serves as the 14&U Head Coach. Coach Vierra brings more than 18 years of coaching experience to the job. For the past 8 years, he has been the Varsity Head Coach at Archbishop Mitty High School. In that time he has led them to two CCS championships, 2018 and 2023. Coach Vierra has also served as the Head Coach of the Pacific Zone for the USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program. In 2019, his 14&U Development team won the National Championship and he was named Top Coach of the Tournament.

Matt Godar - 14&U Head Coach

Coach Godar was a CA-HI All-American and Team Captain at Bellarmine College Prep and for multiple seasons at Santa Clara University. After playing, Matt graduated from SCU with a degree in Biology and attended medical school for 2 years before moving into coaching. He is currently the Assistant Varsity Coach and Head Freshmen Coach for water polo and the Head Coach for swimming at Bellarmine College Prep.

ADAM THOMAS - 12&U Head Coach

Coach Adam began playing water polo in high school and becamse First Team All League by his senior year of high school. He graduated from San Joaquin Delta College where he both swam and played water polo for two years. Following that he transferred to San Jose State and played on the club team where he was also the President of the of the club as a Senior. He has been coaching since 2022 primarily with the 12U age group and assisting at both 14U and 16U. Adam is currently the Head Junior Varsity Coach at Archbishop Mitty High School and one of the assistant Development coaches for the Pacific Zone for USA Water Polo.