Coming Home
Nov. 17, 2009
Coming Home
By Eric Patten
There is something distinctly unique about former competitors returning to their alma mater as coaches. There is an aura of familiarity and an acute sense of pride.
For any NCAA athletic program this alumni connection is a worthwhile commodity, but for schools, like UC Irvine, with just 40 years of history, the construction of an alumni-athletic base is a necessity.
Over the past decade UCI has turned more than ever towards bringing alumni back into the coaching ranks.
“You [as an alum] have an understanding of what kind of student comes to UCI,” men’s water polo coach Marc Hunt said. “You can relate to the athletes as students. I had professors when I was here that some of these guys have currently. It’s just a different insight that you have.”
In 1997 women’s tennis coach Mike Edles became the fourth former UCI competitor in school history to return as a head coach. Thirteen years later, the Anteaters have four programs headed by alums.
Dan Klatt (women’s water polo) is in his sixth year. Hunt has returned for his fifth season. And men’s tennis coach Trevor Kronemann started his third season at UCI this October.
“To coach here is a perfect fit,” Kronemann said. “I can’t imagine anyone playing at a school and not wanting to come back as a coach. Every day I walk across Crawford Field it brings back memories from when I competed here.”
Hunt echoed Kronemann’s sentiments, saying, “UCI water polo is tradition rich. To represent the school and the water polo program is a dream come true.”
Still, creating a program-wide network of former Anteaters has not always come easy, especially after their competitive days are over.
Prior to Edles the university boasted only four coaches in a 32-year span who returned once their playing careers ended.
Tom Spence, who coached baseball in 1975, was the first. But other former coaches included Steve Shaw (women’s soccer) in 1989, Charlie Brande, who coached men’s volleyball from 1996 to 2002 and women’s volleyball from 2000 to 2008, and Brian Pajer (swimming and diving) 2002 to 2009.
According to Edles, building tradition requires you to start with family.
“The UCI alumni connection is starting to reap the benefits because past athletes and alums now have children nearing the college age,” Edles added.
Combine the influx of family ties to the university with what Klatt says is a growth of school spirit and student involvement and it is clear that the program as a whole is in good hands.
“We take pride in the rigorous training and commitment it takes to be a student athlete,” Klatt said.
Following his career in Irvine’s pool, Klatt qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics with the U.S. water polo team, something he says would have been far more difficult to accomplish had it not been for his time at UCI.
Kronemann and Hunt were also elite-level performers during their playing days. Kronemann was a four-time All-American, a feat rarely matched, especially in men’s tennis. Hunt, a two-time All-American, led the ’92 Anteaters with 32 goals and a final ranking of No. 4 in the nation. The following summer he won a gold medal representing the United States in the World University Games.
As for Edles, he remembers when cow pastures outnumbered the buildings around Irvine. Yet that hardly stopped the 1977 All-American in singles and doubles from leading the Anteaters to the Division II National Championship that same season.
“We [UCI athletics] have always kind of been the little guy trying to make a big splash,” Edles said. “But with baseball’s recent success and volleyball’s national championships a lot of that is changing. Tennis won in Division II, and we’re making strides to hopefully win some more on this level.”
Moving forward, the athletic program is cultivating its future by adding alumni-athletes as assistants including Dreason Barry (men’s water polo), Genai Kerr (men’s water polo-volunteer assistant), Rob Nelson (men’s tennis), Andy Coffman (women’s water polo) and David Kniffin (men’s volleyball).
For Hunt, bringing two former players back as coaches was an easy decision.
“Dreason and Genai were two accomplished players,” Hunt said. “To bring them back as coaches seemed only natural.”
Much like Edles, Kronemann says that it is ultimately about building notoriety for the school.
“We’re well on our way to changing the way UCI is looked at,” he said. “Winning national championships, emerging as consistent national contenders, those things all help.”
