Club Head Coach Brandon Johnson grew up in Palo Alto with his two brothers, twin Matt, and younger brother Aaron, and his younger sister Lauren. Coach Brandon's experience starts from his days at Gunn High School and ranges all the way to the professional coaching and playing ranks. He was a three-time All-American water polo player and two-time captain at the University of California, Irvine. At UC Irvine, he was a two-time scholar athlete and 2010 Athlete of the Year. Brandon played on the United States National Team for five years before moving on to play professionally in Australia for the UWA Torpedoes for three years.
On the coaching side, currently Boys Varsity Head Coach at M-A High School and member of the Stanford Water Polo Club staff, Brandon has been an assistant coach at UC Irvine, coached for USA Water Polo as the U18 Olympic Development Coach, and served as the Palo Alto High School Boys Varsity Coach.
Coach Johnson's mission is "to shape the character of my athletes and develop them into successful and positive members of society through rigorous training and competition that yields teamwork and self-improvement."
Coach Bruno Antonino was born and raised in Naples, Italy. Bruno started to play water polo at 12 years old with C.N. Posillipo, the famous Italian water sports club founded in 1925 and based in Naples.
Bruno played in every youth category before playing in the Division 1 professional league for 20 years and was a member of the Posillipo team for 11 years during which the team that won five Italian championships, one Italy Cup, one European Champions League and one European Cup over eleven seasons.
Over the course of his involvement in competitive water polo, Bruno has competed in the University Games, the Junior World Championship, the Junior European Championship and with the Senior National Team. After retiring, Bruno became a coach at Posillipo. As a respected player and one of the most accomplished goalkeepers in Italian water polo he brings a wealth of knowledge not just on goalkeeping but on offensive and defensive tactics - what it takes to score and defend.
Bruno is the Boys Varsity Head Coach at Woodside High School, after serving as Boys Junior Varsity coach at M-A High School and as assistant coach at Bellarmine College Prep. Bruno has helped develop our program at all age group levels and bringing our teams to 2015 KAP7 International and several Junior Olympics and HS Championships contests including an excellent showing in the 2014 Junior Olympics where they placed 4th in the Gold division. When asked about his aspirations and his willingness to help a club so far from home he says:
"My dream was always to help build youth teams. To help build water polo in America is an incredible experience and more than just a dream! I hope to pass my knowledge to the kids, but also my love and passion for water polo because these two things are the most important in sport and in life. I value the trust that parents and players put in me and I hope to repay that trust."
Coach Travis Wyckoff , currently the Mid-Pen Girls Coach, has been a water polo coach for over 30 years at many local schools (Sunnyvale High School, Los Altos High School, Foothill College, Santa Clara University, Presentation High School) and clubs (Palo Alto Water Polo Club, Stanford Water Polo Club, Foothill Water Polo Club.) With a background in strength and exercise, he has coached athletes at all levels, from beginners to national and Olympic level players. He is married with 5 children, all of whom played water polo!
Assistant Coaches
James Calhoon, Mostyn Fero, Henry Marks, Hugo McMillan, Colin Mulcahy, and Jorge Pont