SAN DIEGO – Mitchell Seeley, a San Diego water polo fixture for more than 15 years, has been named assistant coach for the San Diego State water polo team, after serving on a part-time basis last year. Head Coach Dana Ochsner made the announcement.
“I am very excited to announce Mitch as a full-time assistant,” head water polo coach Dana Ochsner said. “Midway through last season, his addition as a part-time assistant was incredibly impactful for our program. Between his expertise in player development and his love of the Aztecs, he is an SDSU alumni, he has garnered a great deal of respect amongst the team. We’re all grateful to have his experience and enthusiasm, and I can’t wait to see what he will do with his new position.”
Prior to 2024, Seeley spent 13 years as a coach with San Diego Shores Water Polo Club. In his time at Shores, his team’s compiled top eight finishes in the Junior Olympics in five of seven years since 2015. The program was also a medalist in five national championship tournaments and for his efforts he was twice named one of 12 USA Water Polo’s Brent Bohlender Distinguished Coaches Award winners, which recognizes the nation’s top coaches for developing young female water polo players.
In addition to his club work, the San Jose, California, native, served as a coach in the Olympic Development Program (ODP) for the Pacific Southwest Girls Cadet Team from 2018-2023. During his time with the program, two of his players won gold medals at the Youth World Championships in 2022.
Seeley has also coached on the local high school level. His high school experience includes a four-year stint (2016-19) at The Bishop’s School, where his team’s won league titles in 2016, 2017 and 2019, as well as CIF titles in each of those seasons, with the girls’ team and 2016 and 2018 with the boys’ team, adding a boys’ CIF crown in 2019.
Seeley earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State in 2013 and added a teaching credential in 2015. In 2020, he completed a master’s degree from Concordia University (Irvine).