After playing professionally in Spain and spending time as an assistant coach with the Puerto Rico Men’s National Team, Francisco Vargas is excited for the new challenge of coaching the Mountain View girls water polo team.
Also a coach at West Valley Water Polo Club and previously the boys head coach at Leigh High School, Vargas is bringing his passion and decades of experience to Mountain View to rebuild the program.
“I’m going to bring everything I know about water polo and show it to the girls and get them far enough for us to be successful,” Vargas said.
Vargas grew up in a water polo family, and his love for the game has always been in his blood. His father was a professional water polo player and part of the Colombian National Team, which allowed him to be recruited to play in Puerto Rico and eventually become the head coach of the Puerto Rico National Team.
“I’ve been around water polo since I was a kid,” Vargas said. “It’s been a passion and something that I grew up with, and it’s been in my veins.”
Vargas got his first chance to play with the Puerto Rico National Team as a high school student, sacrificing his high school years and summers to keep up with a professional program and the national team. Much of his time focused on improving stamina, cardio and weight training. After high school in 2010, he had an offer to play at West Valley College in California, but he also received a phone call asking if he wanted to play professionally in Madrid, Spain. His parents gave him permission to go, and he stayed for seven years until 2018 and played with two teams.
“I have been in three world championships and two Central American games, and it’s almost like I’ve visited the whole world, and it’s a fun experience and it’s a good sacrifice,” Vargas said. “I don’t regret anything that I have done.”
Although he initially wanted to become a referee when he was a kid because he wanted the power to pull cards out to players and coaches, he decided to become a coach instead, helping the Puerto Rico National Team as an assistant and moving to California to help Rafael Alapont at West Valley Water Polo Club, a club water polo program in the Bay Area. Since arriving in California, he has coached a variety of teams, including a youth team with West Valley Club that went to the Junior Olympics. For the last two years, he has coached the boys water polo team at Leigh High School in San Jose. Although it’s his first time coaching girls, Vargas believes he can provide the guidance needed, drawing on his experience playing professionally and coaching at the club and high school level.
“Now that I have the opportunity to be a coach and be the Mountain View High coach, I feel like I can provide them more water polo knowledge to the program and help build a better program,” Vargas said.
Vargas’ time at Leigh helped him adapt to the differences between NCAA vs. high school rules and the high school league dynamics, which are different than how he coached and played in Puerto Rico and Spain. His focus as practice begins is on improving the defensive side of the game, noting that goals will come if the defense can provide the team foundation and identity. His coaching mentality is aimed at making sure the kids enjoy the game and win or lose in the right way.
“I try to make it fun,” Vargas said. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I’m still trying to control myself a little bit. I’m not a player; I’m a coach. Sometimes I get into the same intensity as the kids have in the game.”
