Serela Kay Joins University of Maryland Water Polo Staff

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Serela Kay, a former standout player and experienced coach, has joined the University of Maryland water polo staff as head coach Carl Salyer's top assistant.

This past season Kay served as an assistant coach on both the Princeton University men's and women's staffs, helping the Tigers to the 2009 Men's Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a third place finish at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship hosted by Princeton. Kay spent the previous four years as an assistant at the University of California-Berkeley.

Kay was also on the staff of the U.S. Women's Senior National Team that won a gold medal at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.

Kay has more than 20 years of water polo experience, both as a player and a coach. She previously served as an assistant coach at Princeton from 2002-04, helping lead the Tigers to a men's and women's Southern Championship in that time.

The native of Annapolis, Md., also currently serves as an assistant coach with the USA Water Polo Youth National Team. She has worked with the team over the past six seasons. In her four seasons working with the Cal women, Kay was heavily involved in the team's recruiting and the building of the team's strength and conditioning programs.

Prior to working at Cal, Kay was the director and senior head coach of the Santa Barbara Water Polo Foundation from 2004 to 2005. She was named USA Water Polo Women's Elite Northeast Zone Coach of the Year in 2003.

As an athlete, Kay was a four-year starter and team captain as a senior, helping lead the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) to national titles in 1997, 1998 and 2000. She was a member of the USA Junior National Team from 1995-97 as well, helping Team USA to a gold medal at the 1996 Junior Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

Kay graduated from UCLA in 2000 with a degree in psychology, with a specialization in business and administration. She received a master of sport science in sport management degree from the United States Sports Academy in 2004, and a master of arts in education degree from Cal in 2008.