Girls water polo: Veteran official to coach Dana Hills

May 3rd, 2011, 1:32 pm · · posted by DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com

Veteran Orange County water polo official Nick Baba has accepted the post as the girls coach at Dana Hills, he confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Baba brings a vast amount of experience in the sport. Besides being one of the top officials in the county, he is the head coach of the Irvine Kahuna club. He has experience running several water polo events, including the Junior Olympics.

In the fall, one of his daughters will be a freshman at Dana Hills. Baba also has a daughter in the sixth grade. “I am excited,” Baba said of the position.

Baba replaces Matt Rosa, who coached the girls last season on an interim basis. Dana Hills reached the CIF-SS Division 4 semifinal last season and captured the Sea View League title.

Baba graduated from University High and played at UC Irvine. He also is a former coach at Cal State Fullerton, which no longer has water polo.

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Socal Polo says:

May 3, 2011 at 9:15 pm

Nick Baba is the worst coach ever. Go watch his club team play. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Splashball says:

May 4, 2011 at 8:04 pm

Socal Polo – not a very nice thing to say about either Nick or his club.

Congratulations Nick Baba and Dana Hills. We wish you, the girls, and Dana Hills the best.

backhand holeshot says:

May 5, 2011 at 8:23 pm

I agree with Socal. He is the worst, because he really couldn’t care less about any team, he is about the money and what’s best for Nick. His club team has consistantly been a bottom feeder, even though it has the best facilities in Southern California . He has not developed one athlete. Even so, he hosts more big buck events, and when he needs the asstance of another pool for a big tournament he pays them peanuts.
All about the money. No one can name an athlete who came out of his program developed to compete on the high school or college level.

Dan Albano says:

May 6, 2011 at 12:03 am

Nick Baba is a good get for Dana – he wants to bring stability to the program, and I think he’ll do that

He also will attract an excellent assistant or two

And I think he will have his players fundamentally sound and excited to play

Baba knows polo, players and is a high-energy guy

In terms of good players from the Irvine program – I think Norseen, Pham and Kamai are pretty good just for starters

MikeG says:

May 6, 2011 at 12:32 pm

Irvine polo shriveled away while the Woollett was being built. Nick and a committed corps have revitalized a solid club (and the best snack bar in Cali). They have worked hard to make the premier aquatics center in Socal home to the most iimportant events in our sport.

Surrounded by SOCAL, Newport, and SET, it isn’t surprising that kahuna has taken some time to develop toward the elite club level. The list of area teams that have struggled is long. I don’t doubt that kahuna will have their turn at the top of the lists. They certainly are on their way.

My son played for Nick for a while. It was a great experience. He has the sense and perspective that puts developmental age-group play in its proper place. He stresses fundamentals, solid drills, and game awareness. My son earned a CIF D-1 ring, partly due to Baba’s coaching.

He is thoughtful and has a keen sense of the game. Nick has extraordinary organizational skills and is one of the hardest working guys in the sport. Don’t expect a ‘win at all costs’ sort of environment, but do anticipate a program with committed athletes that graduate with solid vitaes.

Hope the Dolphin boosters are ready!