Opened in April of 2007, the Claude Moore Center is a state-of the-art recreation center located just outside of Washington, DC in Sterling, VA. Spanning over 84,000 square feet, the Claude Moore Recreation Center is outfitted with a full size gym, an indoor track, a constellation of weight machines, a teen room, a kids' leisure pool and a 150 foot water slide.  The crown jewel of the center of course is the 50-meter swimming pool where Elite Polo campers will be spending the entirety of the weekend.  Well lit, well ventilated and extremely fast, this Olympic size pool will compliment perfectly the staff and campers converging on May 31st.

Elite Camp Staff

MIKHAIL KLOCHKOV
HEAD COACH, ST. FRANCIS COLLEGE

Mikhail Klochkov has completed his second season as head coach at St. Francis University.

Cementing his place as one of the best young coaches in the game, Mikhail led St. Francis to a remarkable 20-7 record this past season. The Terriers added a fourth straight ECAC Championship, by knocking off Navy, 8-7, in Lewisburg, PA. A few goals shy of the NCAA Final Four, St. Francis finished 2007 ranked 12th in the nation, in front of west coast powers UC San Diego and University of the Pacific.

In his first year as head coach, Mikhail’s squad compiled a 22-5 record. Along with the aforementioned ECAC Championship, St. Francis captured the Northern Conference Championship before finishing 3rd at the Eastern Championships. Under Mikhail’s direction, three Terriers have been named to the NCAA Division I All-American Team.


JEFF EHRLICH
HEAD COACH, AIR FORCE ACADEMY

Head coach Jeff Ehrlich has completed his ninth season at the helm of the water polo program at the Academy. He came to Air Force in 1999 after a 25-year stay at Villa Park High School in Orange County, Calif. In his first eight years at Air Force, Ehrlich has led the team to a combined 115-114 record and a top 20-finish in the nation in seven seasons with the highest final ranking of 13th. Ehrlich holds a 91-58 conference record, placing in the top four in five of the last eight years. Under his tutelage, the Falcons have had 14 different players earn NCAA All-Academic honors a total of 29 times, while 15 players have combined for 25 WWPA All-Association selections. In addition, five players--Casey Wood, Charlie Toth, Chris Smith, Scott Butler and Murphey Morgan--have distinguished themselves as NCAA All-Americans. Two athletes, Toth and Kyle Schafer, were both recipients of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, while Schafer was named a CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American in 2007.

Ehrlich has coached 58 All-Americans, including 1988 Olympic silver medalist Doug Kimbell and Olympic athlete Gavin Arroyo, who competed in 1996 and 2000. Now retired from the Olympic team, Arroyo, a former assistant coach for the USA Men's National Team, is married and serves as head water polo coach at Long Beach State. Ashley and Amber Stachowski, two women Ehrlich coached at Capo Valley High School, are former women's national team members. Amber Stachowski was named to the Olympic roster and attended the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, bringing home the bronze. The women brought back the silver medal from the 2000 Olympics.


ALBERT GARCIA
UCLA BRUINS, 2000-2004, 2-TIME NCAA CHAMPION, 2004 NCAA ALL-AMERICAN

Albert Garcia just recently finished his collegiate career at UCLA were he help lead his teams to three NCAA championship appearances (2000-2001,2004) winning twice (2000,2004). Albert was All-Conference twice (2001,2004), All-NCAA Tournament First Team twice (2001,2004), as well as All-American 2004.

After graduating from UCLA in 2004, Albert continued on to play with the U.S. National team. Albert participated in several international tournaments in Germany, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro, and Hungry. Albert also played professionally for La Latina in Madrid, Spain, where he was the leading scorer of the league.

Albert Garcia graduated from Long Beach Wilson High School where he trained under U.S. National Team Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo and Tony Martinho. While at Wilson High his teams won four consecutive CIF championships (96-99). Garcia was selected twice as 1st team All-American selection (98-99), as well as All-Moore League four years in a row, and league Most Valuable Player. While in High school Albert also competed on the US Jr. National team from 1996-200. He was also Captain of the Jr team that won Gold at Pan American games in Venezuela and a two-time Jr. World Championships Team member.

Albert’s coaching background includes assistant coaching at Long Beach Wilson High School and Shore Aquatics. While assisting at Wilson, the team won two CIF Division 1 championships. At Shore Aquatic he was an assistant for Robert Lynn and his team went on to place second at National Age Groups. Albert is also The Head Coach at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School for both the Men and Women Water Polo teams and has recently been named Coastal California Youth water polo team coach.

  FELIX MERCADO, HEAD COACH, BROWN UNIVERSITY

Felix Mercado was hired in the summer of 2007 as Brown's new men's and women's water polo coach.

Mercado spent the two seasons prior to coming to Brown at the helm of the MIT men's varsity and women's club teams after one year as an assistant. In 2006, he was named CWPA Division III and CWPA Northern Division Coach of the Year after leading MIT's men's team to a second-place finish at the Division III Eastern Championship and the team's third-ever appearance at the Division I Eastern Championship. He posted a 26-34 record in Cambridge, as the Engineers attempted to integrate 12 freshmen into the program in 2006 after a 15-14 record in 2005.

In two years as the coach of the MIT club women's team, Mercado's squads posted a 30-3 record, making back-to-back appearances at the Club National Championships. He was named the North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2007. Mercado also served as an assistant coach at Hartwick College in the spring, as the Hawks finished fifth at the NCAA Championship.