Coaching Staff
Rudy Kardos
Head Coach & founder
Primary Focus U14/16/18 Boys & U12 Coed
Rudy was born in former Czechoslovakia in the city of Kosice where he started playing water polo when he was 10 years old. He played club polo through all youth age groups, as well as adult National League for 6 years, with the best result of winning the bronze medals and taking the third place in the nation. Upon his arrival to USA he ended up playing masters level water polo for years all around CA. Rudy settled down in Marin County, and after coaching for some of the local clubs, he founded SHARKS Water Polo Club in 2009 with a goal to return to local youth, what water polo lifestyle has gifted him. Since 2011 Rudy is the Redwood Giants High School Varsity Boys team head coach. Recent highlights include winning first place at the National Junior Olympics with the SHARKS WPC U12 Coed team in the summer of 2024 & 2022, as well as 2nd place in 2021 and 3rd place in 2023, winning MCAL Championship and CIF-NCS D1 Championship with Redwood HS Boys team in the fall of 2023, MCAL Championship in the fall of 2022, an assistant coach position with the USA Cadet Boys National team at the 2022 FINA Cadet World Championship in Greece, winning first place in CIF-NCS D1 Championship and winning first place NorCal D2 title with Redwood Varsity Boys team in the fall of 2021, assistant coach position at the USA Cadet Boys National Team at the Futures Camp in Budapest in 2021, winning MCAL Championship and NCS D2 Championship with Redwood HS Varsity Boys team in 2014.
Christian Hockenbury
Age Group Head Coach
Primary Focus U14, U16/18 Boys
Christian was raised in Newport Beach, CA where he started playing water polo when he was 5 years old. He played club polo through all youth age groups, and eventually played water polo and swam at Mater Dei High School. He won 2016 18u Junior Olympics with Regency Water Polo club and set several school records as a sprint freestyler; winning the CIF SS 50 Free twice in a row in 2016 & 2017 and finishing 2nd in state both years as well. He graduated in 2017 and went to play Water Polo and study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California and played on the 2018 USC National Championship Team. He graduated from USC in 2022 and moved up to Marin and is now working in the East Bay. He felt inspired by what water polo has offered to him in his life and wants to provide that for the younger generation.
Paul Hettler
Age Group Coach
Primary Focus U14/16/18 Girls
Paul was born and raised in Sunnyvale, CA. in the Silicon Valley. He was a water polo goalie for all 4 years on his high school Varsity team and for De Anza College. He also played club water polo at San Diego State University. Paul recently completed his 6th season as the Head Coach for the Tamalpais High School Varsity Girls Water Polo Team.
In that role he led the team to these highlights: 2023 NCS Division 2 - 2nd place, 2021 MCAL Champions, 2020 MCAL Champions, 2019 NCS Division 2 - 1st place Champions, 2019 NorCal Division 3 - 1st place Champions, 2018 NCS Division 2 - 1st Place Champions.
Frederick Stemmler
Age Group Head Coach
Primary Focus U14 Girls
Coach Fred is passionate about sharing his love for water polo with young athletes. A Southern California native and former high school and college player, he has spent the past 5 years coaching local kids emphasizing sportsmanship, safety and fun. Coach Fred believes in creating a positive environment where player can develop their skills and passion for the game.
Brian Monty
Age Group Head Coach
Primary Focus U16/18 Girls
Brian grew up in the Lamorinda area and played high school water polo at Acalanes High School. Brian played collegiate water polo at UC Berkeley and was member of the 1990, 1991, and 1992 NCAA CAL Championship teams. He was the Acalanes Varsity Boys Head Coach from 1995 until 2010. Brian is currently the Redwood High School Varsity Girls Head Coach as of the fall of 2022.
Danielle Sartori
Goalie Coach
Primary Focus - ALL Goalkeepers
Coach Danielle started her goalie career on the soccer field and made transition to water polo cage in high school. She then went on to play collegiate water polo at the University of Pacific and currently continues to play as a master athlete for the Olympic Club of San Francisco team. She has been part of the USA Water Polo's Olympic Development Program (ODP) Goalie staff for more than 10 seasons helping young goalkeepers build their skills and knowledge of the game.
Terrence Rohan
Age Group Coach
Primary Focus U12 Coed
Coach Terrence is a native of the Bay Area and started playing water polo at the age of 12. He went to Sacred Heart Preparatory (SHP), where he was captain of the Varsity Men’s Water Polo team. During high school he also played for the Octo Polo Junior Olympic team. He attended Colgate University, where he was captain of the Men’s Club Water Polo team, competing in the Collegiate Water Polo Association. At Colgate, he was also head coach of the Women’s Water Polo team for three years. After undergrad, he received a masters degree at The London School of Economics and played for club teams in London. He now lives with his wife and two children in Mill Valley and continues to play masters water polo locally. He is passionate about the sport and motivating kids to reach their highest potential.
Peter Angstenberger
Age Group Coach
Primary Focus U12 Coed
Coach Peter is a native of the Bay Area and started playing water polo in high school and throughout college. He is still actively playing water polo on a local Masters team and competes in many tournaments.Coach Peter is excited to pass on some of the knowledge that he's gained over the years. He is very passionate about water polo and his hoping to coach and play as long as he can... Like one of his coaches used to say: "just fling that melon!"
Bryan Boches
Age Group Head Coach
Primary Focus U10 Coed
Bryan played water polo at Redwood high school and UCSB and plays masters today. In an era between dinosaurs and cell phones, Bryan taught swimming at TPC and Ann Curtis and coached UPENN club water polo team (3rd at Nationals). Bryan, Joanna, Dylan (10) and Max (8) live in Mill Valley. Water polo is a great sport and incredibly challenging but it’s a community first. People of all levels play this sport throughout life because of how we show up for each other. I will try my best to bring the values of this community to you and your kids.
Benny Blum
Age Group Coach
Primary Focus U10 Coed
Benny grew up in Berkeley, CA and has been swimming and playing water polo competitively for over 30 years. He played and swam at Pomona College where he was captain of both the swimming and water polo teams, and continues to play and compete on a local masters team. He is a proud husband and father of two and believes in teaching fundamentals, swimming technique, and awareness to support young athletes as they discover their love for the game.
Mary Collie
Age Group Coach
Mary joined the Sharks Water Polo club coaching staff in the winter of 2022. She's been coaching water polo for 20+ years. Recent highlights include winning MCAL Championship and CIF-NCS D2 Championship with Marin Academy Girls team, leading the USA Cadet Girls National Team in Barcelona in 2019, taking third place at JOs for U10 girls in 2018, being names "Top Coach" at ODP National Championships in 2016, being a mentor coach at USAWP's Holiday Camp, and teaching and coaching student-athletes at Marin Academy high school for the last 17 years. When not coaching, Mary spends time in the pool with her family (husband and fellow water polo coach Jamie, 8-year old Q, and 5 1/2-year old Kerry), reading, and enjoying life outdoors.
Leana Ngo
Social Media Liaison & "Guest" Coach
Leana was born in Hanoi, Vietnam and moved to Marin County early on in her life. She started competitively swimming at the age of 4 years old where she discovered her love of water and competition. She signed up for SHARKS Water Polo Club in 2013, where she started playing water polo under coach Rudy Kardos. She continued water polo at Redwood High School, spending two years on JV and two on Varsity team. She also swam on the Redwood High School Swim and Dive team for her freshman and sophomore years. She then switched to competitive diving for the last two, becoming Captain of the Varsity dive team as a Senior in 2018. Leana then went to college at Northern Arizona University where she continued to pursue diving. She recently graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration, Marketing. Whilst pursuing her professional career, she decided to start coaching with the Sharks to share her passion of water polo and her love of the water with the new generation of SHARKS WPC players.
Sawyer Goldberg
Student "Guest" Coach
Coach Sawyer has joined the Sharks coaching staff in the winter of 2023-24. He is currently playing high school water polo for Redwood Giants Varsity team. Coach Sawyer started playing water polo with SHARKS Water Polo Club in our Youth age groups U12, U14 & U16.
Ossie Joplin
Student "Guest" Coach
Coach Ossie, a Sharks U12, U14, U16 alumni and currently Redwood HS Varsity Boys player continues to share his experiences with our age group teams.
Sydney Moseley
Student "Guest" Coach
Coach Sydney has joined the Sharks coaching staff in the winter of 2022-23, but started her water polo carrier as player at SHARKS WPC in U10 & U12 teams. Coach Sydney is currently a student at UCLA and playing club water polo at UCLA.
Libby Hughes
Student "Guest" Coach
Coach Libby, a Sharks and Redwood Alumni, is currently student at St. Andrews University in Scotland where she is playing water polo. Libby is one of our student coaches sharing her experiences with our age group teams.
Travis Hughes
Student "Guest" Coach
Coach Travis, a Sharks and Redwood Alumni, is currently a student at the Occidental College where he plays division 3 collegiate water polo. Travis loves to share his experiences with our age group teams.