When the Carleton Ravens men’s water polo team takes to the pool this upcoming season, it will be with the leadership of new head coach Michel Roy.
Prior to coming to Carleton, Roy coached with Water Polo Canada, as well as the Gatineau Water Polo Club, where he had been coaching since 2011.
His extensive coaching career began in British Columbia in 1985, as the head coach of the senior women’s team with the British Columbia Water Polo Association.
From 1988 to 1994, Roy was the coach of the men’s national team program. During that same period he also led his provincial team to six national championships in seven years.
As coach, Roy has won 32 national championships, in addition to the two he won during the course of his playing career.
Roy is also the former head coach of both the Canadian senior men’s and women’s national teams. At the national level, Roy has coached teams at a number of international events, including the Pan Am Games, various world championships, and the FISU Games.
Roy also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) during his ten seasons as the head coach of the water polo team at the University of Hawaii.
Over the course of his thirty-plus years as a coach, Roy has also coached a number of athletes who have gone on to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Roy lists his extensive coaching experience and knowledge of the game as his biggest assets.
According to Roy, he brings “not just knowledge of the game, but knowledge of the sport,” as well as “experience with other coaches and experience with the game.”
Roy will be replacing Zoltan Csepregi, and said he hopes to lead the Ravens to another Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship title.
“If the guys are serious and they really want to keep going and go to finals, then I’m hoping that we can go all the way,” said Roy.
The Ravens were the 2013 OUA champions, but lost to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in the championship game in 2014.
“George Gross [head coach at U of T] has done a very good job in recruiting in the last few years, so U of T’s going to be hard to beat,” said Roy. “However, Carleton has a good team, and has very good players—so it’s going to be interesting.”
Roy says he is happy to be a part of Carleton’s water polo team and hopes to continue what Csepregi has started.
“I’m very happy and proud to be a part of Carleton University, and I hope that I can carry on Zoltan’s success and what he’s done in the last few years,” said Roy.
The season will begin this upcoming fall.
