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Anna Phelps Named Head Women's Water Polo Coach at VMI
LEXINGTON, Va. -- Anna Phelps has been named the first head coach of Virginia Military Institute's fledgling women's water polo program, as announced by VMI athletic director Donny White.
Phelps will officially assume her duties early in the summer and will use the 2010-2011 academic term to build the program and recruit team personnel in anticipation of an inaugural season of competition in the spring of 2012.
Phelps, 34, comes to the Institute from Lincoln High School in Portland, Ore. where she has served as head women's water polo coach and assistant men's water polo coach.
While at Lincoln, Phelps turned a winless program around in just three seasons and guided her squad to a first place finish in the Metro League last year while compiling a 59-27-2 record over the three-year period. Phelps was named 2009 Metro League Coach of the Year and has developed several academic and All-America candidates at Lincoln while three of her athletes earned athletic scholarship offers.
Phelps has also devoted her energies to developing and implementing a week-long off-site training site in Central Oregon for her squad. Phelps guided all fundraising, recruiting, and team administration of the Lincoln program and built the roster from seven athletes her first year to over 25 student-athletes currently.
"I am extremely pleased to announce Anna Phelps as our women's water polo coach," said White. "Anna and her husband, Jeff, have been devoted to the sport of water polo for many years. We were pleased to find a number of good water polo coaching candidates, but Anna Phelps was at the top of our list. She has a proven track record of building a successful women's water polo program from the ground up, and we look forward to her experience as we launch our team. I am confident that she will develop a competitive women's program at VMI."
"I am honored to accept the position of the Women's Water Polo Coach at VMI," said Phelps. "Water polo has been a part of my life for the last 25 years, both as a player and a coach, and it is a dream come true to start a program at such a prestigious institution. I think the decision made by VMI to add women's water polo is extremely progressive and I look forward to recruiting the best possible talent to build a program where young women will receive an amazing education and also achieve great athletic success."
Phelps is a 1997 graduate of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. where she was a water polo academic and athletic All-America honoree from 1995-1997 and two-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Prior to her collegiate career, Phelps was a high school All-American (1993-94) at Newberg High School in Newberg, Ore. and junior national team member from 1991 through 1993.
Phelps began her collegiate coaching career at Claremont (Ca.) Colleges in 1998, where she led her squad to a SCIAC second place finish while directing the program's recruiting, training and administrative efforts.
Phelps also served as men's and women's water polo coach of the Iron Mountain Water Polo Club in Lake Oswego, Ore. in 1996.
Phelps' husband, Jeff, will join the Keydet women's water polo coaching staff as an assistant.
While building the Keydet women's water polo program, Phelps will start coaching the "Born 1996 Girl's ODP Zone Team" for the Northeast Region. The team is part of the Olympic Development Program that helps identify and train potential future talent who are then filtered into the Junior and Senior National Teams.
In August 2009, VMI announced it would field a seventh NCAA Division I women's sport and set up a committee to select the additional program. Last December, the Institute announced that women's water polo would be added with competition to begin in the 2011-12 academic year, joining soccer, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and rifle as women's intercollegiate programs sponsored by VMI.
Release courtesy VMI Athletic Communications
