Elite Camp Staff

GAVIN ARROYO
HEAD COACH, LONG BEACH STATE UNIVERSITY
1996 & 2000 US OLYMPIAN

3-TIME NCAA CHAMPION

2-TIME NCAA ALL-AMERICAN
2007 MPSF Co-Coach of the Year

Gavin Arroyo, a two-time member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team (1996, 2000) recently completed his second year at the helm of Long Beach State. Hired in the spring of 2006 to take over the Long Beach State men's water polo program, he has already started to leave his mark as a premier coach at the Division I level.

Arroyo led Long Beach to a 17-15 mark in 2007 as the 49ers finished the season ranked No. 9 in country. In addition, four Long Beach State players were named to All-MPSF teams and three to All-American. For his efforts, Gavin was honored as 2007 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Men's Water Polo co-Coach of the Year.

Before coming to Long Beach, Arroyo served as an assistant coach (2005) for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team, planning training schedules, aiding in game preparation, organizing fund-raising events and being responsible for fundamentals, tactic implementation and conditioning. He has also served as the head coach for the Olympic Club of San Francisco men’s team (2004-05) for two years.

A 1994 graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Science, Arroyo competed on the U.S. men’s team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. He was a first team All-American at Cal in 1993 and was a part of three NCAA Championship squads in Berkeley (1990, 1991, 1992). Arroyo competed on the U.S. National Team for eight years (1993-2000) helping lead the U.S. squad to numerous championships. The U.S. men’s team won the World Championships in 1994 and 1998, the 1997 FINA Cup and the 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games championships. He competed for seven years overseas playing professional water polo in Greece and Spain with five different clubs (Vouliagmeni, Glyfada, CN Barcelona, Olympiakos and CN Barceloneta). He was a member of the 1998 Greek League championship team and was runner-up in 1997 and 1998 at the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

MATT FLESHER
ASST. COACH, UCLA BRUINS

3-TIME NCAA CHAMPION

3-TIME ALL-AMERICAN

Matt Flesher is in his third season serving as an assistant coach on the UCLA men's water polo staff. Flesher, a three-time All-America selection at UCLA from 1999-2002, helped guide the Bruins to a 38-14 mark in his first two years on the coaching staff.

In his four-year career as a Bruin, Flesher led UCLA to back-to-back national championships (1999 and 2000), was twice honored as an All-MPSF athlete and finished his collegiate career with 81 goals scored.

Prior to returning to Westwood in 2005, Flesher kept busy within the international water polo ranks. He spent three seasons as a full-time member of the U.S. National Team in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and also competed for professional Greek team Ethnikos-Pireaus in 2003 and 2004. While with the National Team, Flesher competed in the World University Games in 2003 and helped guide the United States to its qualification for the Water Polo World Championships in 2005.

Flesher enjoyed his finest playing season at UCLA as a sophomore in 2000, tallying a career-high 32 goals while adding 14 assists and 16 steals. During that campaign, which earned Flesher honorable mention All-America status, he helped lead UCLA to its second consecutive national title. In 1999 as a newcomer to Westwood, the Diamond Bar native added eight goals to UCLA's 22-3 national championship team. Flesher earned third-team All-America status as a junior in 2001 after pouring in 24 goals. As a senior in 2002, Flesher was again awarded third-team All-America honors after notching 17 goals and serving as UCLA's emotional leader and co-captain.


JAMES GRAHAM
HEAD COACH, UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC

James joins the Elite Polo coaching staff as the new head coach of Division I power University of the Pacific. James will continue to build on a Tiger program which has consistently been a force in the college ranks. The 2007 squad finished the year ranked No. 13 in the nation, while the 2006 Tigers finished with a record of 19-14 and a No. 7 national ranking. Since 2001, Pacific has produced 13 All-Americans and 16 all-conference student athletes.

From 2005-07, James served as the assistant coach for the United States National Youth Team, and recently traveled to Europe with the USA Men's Senior National Team as a part of their staff for the World Super Finals. James has been the head coach for the National 2-Meter Development Camp and Holiday Camp held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Col., over the past three years.

Prior to Pacific, Graham spent the past five seasons at Santa Rosa Junior College, building the Bear Cubs into a state power at the JC level. He led Santa Rosa JC to a record of 86-50-1 over his five years, including a third place finish at the California State Championships in 2007. The third place finish was the highest in school history, coming on the heels of a Big 8 Conference championship. For his efforts in 2007, he was named Big 8 Conference Coach of the Year. He won the same award in 2006, in addition to Northern California Coach of the Year honors, after leading the Bear Cubs to the Northern California championship.