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One of the most highly respected and successful water polo coaches in the world is in his fourth year as a member of the Golden Bear family.
Richard Corso, who has served as head coach for both the United States Men's Olympic Team and the Canadian Men's National Team, was selected in August 2005 to be the mentor for the University of California women's water polo program. Corso not only offers a superior knowledge of the sport of water polo, he possesses a competitive attitude that is sure to get the most out of his student-athletes.
"The opportunity to coach at the world's premier public university, and to work with student-athletes that are ranked in the top 10 of all Division I schools is an Olympic coach's dream," said Corso. "Cal's teams foster a special culture that values academics and athletic success."
In addition to his duties on the pool deck, Corso also serves as a member of Cal's Sports Medicine Committee. Additionally, he is the chairman of the Coaches' Advisory Committee.
Last season, Corso guided Cal to its 11th consecutive winning season, finishing 18-11 overall 6-6 in the competitive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Cal had 13 players named to the All-MPSF Academic team, which was the most by any MPSF team, and nine players were named to the 2008 Academic All-America team. Senior Molly Hayes was named to the second All-America team while senior Heather Stuart received an honorable mention.
In 2007, Corso led the Golden Bears to their 12th winning record, finishing 12-11 overall and 6-6 in the competitive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The young 2007 squad, which had 13 freshman, gained valuable experience and graduated just one senior in four-time All-American Elsie Windes.
In his first season directing the Bears, Corso had the 2006 Cal squad knocking on the NCAA Tournament door with the team finishing 18-9 overall and a school-record 9-3 in conference play. Cal was also an impressive 8-1 at home, dropping only one home game to No. 1-ranked USC, 7-5. The Bears took fifth place in the MPSF Tournament, defeating Pacific (21-4) in the opening round, falling to Hawaii (10-8) in the quarterfinals, defeating San Diego State (7-5) in the semifinals and topping Arizona State (7-6) for fifth place.
One of water polo's most innovative thinkers in terms of training and match tactics, Corso's creed is defensive, attacking water polo. He is a student of the game and has worked for the best American and European coaches. Corso learned from great coaches of the era such as Monte Nitzkowski, Ratko Rudic, Pete Cutino, Bob Horn and Art Lambert. He served as the United States Men's Olympic Team head coach from 1992-96, leading the United States to a seventh-place finish at the 1996 games in Atlanta and a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. The 1996 Olympic team included current Cal men's coach Kirk Everist, and other former Bear standouts Gavin Arroyo, Troy Barnhart, Chris Humbert and Chris Oeding.
Prior to assuming his role with Team USA, Corso served as head coach of the Canadian National Team, which finished fourth at the 1991 Pan American Games. He also gained international experience as the head coach of the USA National Junior Team (1984 to 1988), and as goalkeeper coach for the 1984 silver medal-winning and 2004 Olympic teams.
Most recently prior to Cal, Corso had served as head of the Harvard-Westlake School Aquatic Program in Los Angeles from 1986-2005. In that role, he was responsible for virtually all aspects of the nation's premier high school squad. Since 1986, Harvard-Westlake water polo teams had combined to win 40 league championships, two CIF titles and seven CIF silver medals and five semi-final finishes. Additionally, 82 Harvard-Westlake student-athletes were named to All-America squads. Corso was named CIF Coach of the Year four times and California Coach of the Year in 1992. He also served as Harvard-Westlake's Associate Director of Admissions.
"We are ecstatic to have attracted an individual of Rich's talent and accomplish-ments," said Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour. "He has a tremendous record of success at te highest levels of the sport. He also truly understands our mission at Cal. I am confident that our women's water polo program will now take its place among our menu of successful intercollegiate athletic programs."
Corso began his head coaching career at Yale, where he led a club-varsity squad, and had previous coaching stops at UCLA, where he was assistant men's swimming and water polo coach. During his 10 years at UCLA, Corso helped the men's swim team to an NCAA runner-up finish in 1981 and an NCAA title in 1982, and an NCAA runner-up finish in men's water polo in 1979.
Taking over as the United States National Team coach following the 1992 Olympics, Corso inherited a squad that had lost eight of 13 members. He brought a new level of collaboration with the United States Olympic Committee to the sport, and emphasized the importance of sport science, sports psychology and computer-video tape analysis that was demonstrated to all of the USA water polo coaches. Corso led his 1996 Olympic team to within one goal of the medal round in Atlanta, losing to gold-medalist Spain. His energy, preparation, commitment and professionalism will have a lasting influence on American water polo for years to come.
A native of Queens, New York, Corso swam and played water polo at Southern Connecticut University, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1977. He then completed his master's in kinesiology at Cal State Northridge in 1982, and earned a second master's degree in coaching science from Moscow State University in 1999. Corso and his wife, Catherine, a first-grade teacher, have two children - daughters Meredith, an instructor at Los Angeles City College, and Meghan, a standout junior on the 2009 Cal women's water polo team.
