Sustaining Excellence in the Pool and Beyond

Any athlete will tell you: a coach’s influence extends far beyond practices and competitions. The best coaches inspire their players to pursue excellence in every aspect of life by instilling in them discipline, resilience, a sense of teamwork and a drive to succeed in whatever they do.

That’s what the Barman family has seen in their son Chase ’27’s experience with Alex La and the Sagehens water polo coaching staff.

“The entire coaching staff is committed to developing each player,” said Janie Barman. “Sometimes that’s one-on-one instruction in the pool. Other times, it’s helping them manage the pressures of academics, athletics, and everything else life throws at them.”

What stands out most to her and her husband is the program’s commitment to growth beyond the game.
“They’re focused on helping these students become better people out of the pool,” Barman said. “They even encourage studying abroad, recognizing how those experiences build maturity and perspective.”

To ensure that this kind of mentorship continues for generations of student-athletes, Pitzer College and Pomona College have launched the Friends of Water Polo Coaching Endowment Fund, a joint effort to provide sustained support for the Sagehens coaching staff.

“Head Coach Alex Rodriguez has been instrumental in building one of the nation’s premier Division III programs,” said Bob Fass, Pitzer vice president of advancement. “Providing endowed support for him, Associate Head Coach La and the entire staff is critical to sustaining that level of excellence.”

The results speak for themselves. Since USA Water Polo established a Division III National Championship in 2019, Pomona-Pitzer has emerged as a national powerhouse. The women’s team has captured four consecutive national titles from 2022–2025, while the men’s team remains a perennial contender against strong regional rivals like Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and University of Redlands.

Student-athletes consistently point to their coaches as the foundation of this success—not just because of their expertise, but also because of their mentorship.

This initiative aims to build a $1.5 million endowment to ensure long-term stability of coaching salaries, allowing coaches to focus fully on developing student-athletes without uncertainty about their futures. As part of this effort, Pitzer is working with its donors to reach an initial $100,000 threshold to formally establish the endowed fund, which will be grown over time.  Pomona has created a similar fundraising effort for its alumni, parents and friends.  The two funds combined will seek to meet the total $1.5 million need.

For families like the Barmans, the importance of supporting the Sagehens coaches is clear.

“We have a championship-level Division III program,” Barman said, “and our coaches understand that the ‘Division III’ part means there’s more to life than water polo.”

To learn more about the Friends of Water Polo Coaching Endowment Fund, contact: Gabriel Hernandez (Director of Philanthropy) at gabrih@pitzer.edu for more information.

Top photo: The Barmans’ son, Chase ’27, totaled 55 points with 33 goals and 22 assists in the 2025 season.