Orange Lutheran High School, a private school in suburban Los Angeles, has hired water polo legend Brenda Villa as its new head women’s water polo coach and aquatics director.
The 41-year old Villa retired from elite water polo after the London 2012 Olympic Games. She won medals at four straight Olympic Games from 2000-2012 and was named FINA’s Player of the Decade in women’s water polo. She is one of only two women to ever win four medals in women’s water polo at the Olympics, and captained the U.S. to gold in 2012. She is the 4th-highest goal scorer of all-time in Olympic water polo history with 31.
She also was on three World Championship teams.
She takes over an Orange Lutheran varsity squad that finished 18-10 last season, which ended in February. The team advanced to the CIF State Regional Semifinals, where they lost to Laguna Beach High.
The season ended on a note of controversy: on February 8th, prior to the start of the playoffs, former head coach Nestor Nunez was relieved of his duties after serving a three-game suspension for multiple red cards. Kellyn Carlson, who is the school’s head swim coach and an assistant with the boys team, served as interim coach in the meantime.
Nunez was also the head coach of the boys’ team. The school has not announced a new head coach for the boys’ team. Villa is expected to assist with the boys’ team and the school’s swim teams as well. The Lutheran Orange girls’ swim team finished 19th at last year’s CIF-SS Championship Meet.
Villa had a decorated career of her own in high school at nearby Bell Gardnes High School. She went on to play at Stanford where in 2002 she led Stanford to an NCAA title and was named national player of the year.
Villa previously worked as the head water polo coach at Castilleja School in Palo Alto since 2010, including for the last year as the Director of Equity and INclusion.
Its in Orange County not LA County.