Damien water polo coach Gates retires
Andrew Gates listened with a keen ear to University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer's retirement announcement Dec. 8. For nearly identical reasons Gates made a retirement announcement of his own the previous night, stepping down as Damien's water polo coach after 13 years.
"It was funny the next day hearing (Meyer) say he had two daughters that played Division I volleyball and he had never neen them play," Gates said. "My kids are eight and 10. Coaching year round is a big commitment. It's tough to leave the team but I need to be the man at home with my own kids."
Gates, 48, who is also the Damien swimming coach, decided in September he needed to give up one of his coaching gigs. He was most comfortable bequeathing his water polo position seeing as second-year assistant coach Grant Miller, a former player of his, was is in line to assume the position. Gates will continue to coach swimming.
Gates has led the Damien water polo team to 10 consecutive Sierra League titles and 65 straight league victories. Damien won the 2002 CIF championship and reached the CIF finals five times under Gates, including Nov. 10 when the second-seeded Spartans lost am 11-9 title game to No. 1 seed Laguna Beach.
"That doesn't have anything to so with my decision," Gates said. "I've known for a while what I was going to do but I didn't want the boys' season to be overshadowed by anything so I didn't tell anybody until now."
About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
Email Clay here
Leave a comment