Gulliver’s Vaughan, Belen’s Aguilera are Miami-Dade water polo Coaches of the Year
Gulliver girls’ water polo coach Carroll Vaughan led her squad to the state final after one of the more dominant runs in recent memory.
Meanwhile on the boys’ side, Belen Jesuit’s Jimmy Aguilera had his team playing for a state title for the second consecutive season.
Each coach has set a high standard for their programs and managed to maintain it this season.
For those reasons, Vaughan and Aguilera are this year’s Miami Herald Girls’ and Boys’ Water Polo Coaches of the Year respectively.
Vaughan, who just completed her 15th season coaching the Raiders and 25th overall in Dade County having coached at Coral Reef prior to arriving at Gulliver, guided her squad to its second appearance in the state finals in the past two seasons.
After falling in regionals a year ago, the Raiders were dominant throughout this season, going 23-1 and outscoring their opponents by over 250 goals on their way to the state final.
The Raiders’ bid to win their first state championship since was halted by a familiar foe in Orlando’s Lake Nona, but the group returns a solid core that should continue their dominance next season.
“I really didn’t think we had that much power at the start of the season,” Vaughan said at state. “They gave their best effort.”
At Belen, the theme is always about keeping its foundation strong.
And that’s what Aguilera and his coaching staff do annually by grooming their players since middle school in their system of play and keeping the pipeline of talent going to their varsity squad.
The Wolverines’ ability to do that put them within a few minutes of winning back-to-back state titles despite graduating several seniors from the prior season.
Although Belen fell in the finals to St. Thomas Aquinas, 14-12, the Wolverines proved themselves against the state’s best once again, finishing with a 21-2-1 record.
“The kids have really dedicated themselves to that and we work them hard in practice every day like it’s the state meet,” Aguilera said during the playoffs.
