Elite Camp Staff

GAVIN ARROYO
HEAD COACH, LONG BEACH STATE UNIVERSITY
1996 & 2000 US OLYMPIAN

3-TIME NCAA CHAMPION

2-TIME NCAA ALL-AMERICAN
2007 MPSF Co-Coach of the Year

Gavin Arroyo, a two-time member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team (1996, 2000) recently completed his second year at the helm of Long Beach State. Hired in the spring of 2006 to take over the Long Beach State men's water polo program, he has already started to leave his mark as a premier coach at the Division I level.

Arroyo led Long Beach to a 17-15 mark in 2007 as the 49ers finished the season ranked No. 9 in country. In addition, four Long Beach State players were named to All-MPSF teams and three to All-American. For his efforts, Gavin was honored as 2007 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Men's Water Polo co-Coach of the Year.

Before coming to Long Beach, Arroyo served as an assistant coach (2005) for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team, planning training schedules, aiding in game preparation, organizing fund-raising events and being responsible for fundamentals, tactic implementation and conditioning. He has also served as the head coach for the Olympic Club of San Francisco men’s team (2004-05) for two years.

A 1994 graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Science, Arroyo competed on the U.S. men’s team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. He was a first team All-American at Cal in 1993 and was a part of three NCAA Championship squads in Berkeley (1990, 1991, 1992). Arroyo competed on the U.S. National Team for eight years (1993-2000) helping lead the U.S. squad to numerous championships. The U.S. men’s team won the World Championships in 1994 and 1998, the 1997 FINA Cup and the 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games championships. He competed for seven years overseas playing professional water polo in Greece and Spain with five different clubs (Vouliagmeni, Glyfada, CN Barcelona, Olympiakos and CN Barceloneta). He was a member of the 1998 Greek League championship team and was runner-up in 1997 and 1998 at the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

JOHN ABDOU

HEAD COACH, BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

After two years as an assistant coach for both Bucknell's men's and women's water polo programs, John Abdou was promoted to head coach of both teams in the summer of 2008.

Since arriving at Bucknell in the summer of 2005, Abdou has helped the men's team to a pair of fourth-place finishes at the Eastern Championship and a No. 18 national ranking at the conclusion of the 2006 season. On the women's side, the Bison equaled the program record for wins with 23 in 2006 and have posted a 38-26 record during Abdou's two years on the sidelines.

A 2001 graduate of the University of California at Irvine, Abdou served as the director and head coach of both the men's and women's water polo programs at Burbank High School in Burbank, Calif., from 2001-05, immediately before joining the Bison staff.

Recently, Abdou organized and conducted district tryouts for United States Water Polo as the Wilshire District boy's cadet coach. He also worked with United States Water Polo as the C.C. Zone girls youth assistant coach.

Abdou, who serves as coach of the Northeast Zone Women's National Team, played for the U.S. Junior National Team during his freshman year at UC Irvine. Abdou was a member of the water polo team at Irvine from 1997-2000 and helped lead the Anteaters to 58 wins and three NCAA Tournament berths during his four campaigns.