Title: | Head Water Polo Coach |
Two-time Olympic Medalist and two-time Olympic Medal winning assistant coach Heather Moody begins her sixth season leading the St. Francis program in 2018. She was named the head coach of the St. Francis Water Polo program in August 2013.
The Troubadours advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs in each of her first five seasons, winning the title in 2015 and reaching the finals four times overall. She has coached 15 student-athletes to 22 All-Section honors, four All-Americans and 15 USA Water Polo Academic All-Americans. Alumna Lauren Charter was a two-time CIF Sac-Joaquin All-Section water polo first-team choice and earned NISCA All-America third-team honors.
Moody had her best season with the Troubadours in 2016, leading St. Francis to the Sac-Joaquin Section title for the first time since 2008. The Troubies defeated Davis with a come-from-behind 6-5 win in the Division I title game.
Moody brings an international resume to the Troubadour program both as a player and a coach. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, winning a Silver Medal at the 2000 Games and captained the U.S. to a Bronze Medal finish in 2004. Moody also led the Americans to gold medals at the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona and at the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.
Following her playing career, she served on the United States coaching staff as an assistant for the 2008 Olympic team, helping lead the team to a Silver Medal in Beijing, and on the Gold Medal-winning staff in 2012 in London.
She joined St. Francis after leaving her post as assistant coach of the USA Women's Senior National Team and Head Coach of the USA Women's Junior National Team to join the American River Water Polo Club of Sacramento, Calif., where she serves as Performance Director.
In April 2010, she was named the head coach of the U.S. junior national team and has been a coach at every level of the U.S. women's national team, including a stint as interim head coach at the 2005 FINA World Championships. In addition to being a two-time United States Water Polo Player of the Year (1999, 2001), Moody was also one of the first women to be elected into the New York Athletic Club Hall of Fame, joining 2004 Olympic teammates Natalie Golda and Nicolle Payne in 2007 as the first three women to earn the distinction.
In 2005, Moody served as Head Coach of the Women's Senior National Team piloting the squad to a Silver Medal at the FINA World Championships in Montreal. From there Moody was an Assistant Coach for the Senior National Team collaborating on a World Championship in 2007 in Melbourne and a Silver Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Most recently she helped Team USA to their first ever Olympic Gold Medal, won at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Moody, inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in the summer of 2010, returned to USA Water Polo that same year after a two year stint at Long Beach State as an assistant coach. She also coached at Golden West Junior College for five years.
Moody played collegiately at San Diego State.
As a member of San Diego State's water polo team, Moody led the Aztecs to a third-place finish at the 1996 Collegiate National Championship in her only season with the Aztecs. Moody was named a first-team All-American that year and was the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Co-Player of the Year.
Moody’s United States National Team Coaching Chronology
2005 Women’s Senior National Team, Head Coach
FINA World Championships, Montreal, Silver Medal
2007 Women’s Senior National Team, Assistant Coach
FINA World Championships, Melbourne, Gold Medal
2008 Women’s Senior National Team, Assistant Coach
Olympics, Beijing, Silver Medal
2012 Women’s Senior National Team, Assistant Coach
Olympics, London, Gold Medal
Moody Year by Year
Year Record Section Finish NorCal Finish
2013 18-13 Second
2014 17-11 Second
2015 18-7 First
2016 11-11 T-Fifth
2017 20-9 Second T-Fifth
Totals 74-51
All-America Selections
All-Section Selections (16 Student-Athletes, 22 Honors)
Academic All-Americans (15)