San Diego Miramar College Men's Water Polo

Merkel is no stranger to building successful water polo programs.  As head coach for the Mission Bay HS varsity and jr. varsity boys and girls water polo and swim teams, he is responsible for building a thriving aquatics program.  Under Merkels leadership, Mission Bay earned the first banners for water polo in school history.  He has led the boys team to two Central League championships in 2008 and 2012, and has logged six CIF playoff appearances with an overall record of 91-70.  Merkel has also led the girls team to six consecutive league championships with seven CIF playoff appearances dating from 2007 to present, and an overall record of 120-76.  Merkel was awarded CIF-San Diego Section girls water polo Coach of the Year honors in 2010.  His players have gone on to play at the collegiate level for institutions like Harvard, Whittier, Cal Maritime, Cal Lutheran and various collegiate club teams. A multi-sport athlete at Patrick Henry HS, Merkel participated in water polo, basketball, track and field, and swim.   After high school he played water polo for Grossmont College in 1995, where the team competed in the CCCAA State Finals, narrowly losing in triple overtime.  Merkel was also part of the swim team for Grossmont College in 1996, which was a CCCAA State Meet qualifier.  Merkel would transfer to Azusa Pacific University, where he walked on to the track team in 1998 and was part of a relay team that finished fourth in the nation, earning him NAIA All-America honors. A native of San Diego, Merkel holds a B.S. in Social Science from Azusa Pacific University.  He has worked as a manager and area manager in sales, as an assistant director of a business improvement district and is a Realtor.  Merkel lives in San Diego.