Head Coach of Stanford Men’s Water Polo joins TeachAids
With his quick strategies and precision in and out of the pool, Head Coach John Vargas has exemplified and successfully taught the art of water polo. He took the Cardinal to win the NCAA championships his first year with the team, and has taken them back to the game five more years since.
Vargas expects nothing short of excellence from his players, both athletically and academically. He notes in an interview with Swimming World that “What we’re looking for are people who are engaged academically and are driven athletically. If you’re one or the other, quite honestly it’s not going to work.”
While at Stanford, Vargas has coached two national Players of the Year, five MPSF Newcomers of the Year and four league Players of the Year. Stanford water polo players have earned 73 All-American honors under Vargas and several of his former players represented the United States together as part of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams. Four former members of the Cardinal represented Team USA in the most recent Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Coach Vargas has been a long-time member of the USA Water Polo family as both a player and coach. He spent 10 years playing with the U.S. National Team and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1992 Barcelona Games, helping the U.S. to a fourth-place finish. Coach Vargas participated on the national team coaching staff from 1993-96 and he coached the Senior National Team from 1997 through the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
TeachAids is pleased to welcome Coach John Vargas as a part of our Advisory Committee. We are blessed to have his input in order to better understand youth sports and head injuries.