Update from Head Water Polo Coach John McBride -- October 2025
Hello from Bison Water Polo,
The men’s season has begun, the women’s team has started their off-season training, and we are welcoming a Women’s Water Polo athlete into the Hall of Fame Class of 2025!! There are a lot of exciting things going on in the world of Bucknell Water Polo.
The men had a great preseason. For the first time in a long time, orientation didn’t interfere with us too much, so we were able to get some quality training in. However, we were dealing with a lot of injuries to start the season, which put us behind the eight ball early. We did not start the season as expected because we had injuries and had some bad losses, but I could see the potential. We began the season 1-6, which we’ve never done before, but five of the six teams were nationally ranked, and we played each one closely.
Recently, we have started to turn the tide. We got some injured players back and had some really good weeks of training. We hosted the Bucknell Invite Sept. 20-21, and we played very well. We went 3-1 with big wins over Salem, who just beat Navy, Air Force, and Wagner. Wagner was a conference game for us, which was a great way to start conference play. Our other conference game was against #5 Fordham. We played very well for the first half against the Rams. If we can minimize some poor decisions we made during the game, we could be right there with them. Fordham is one of the top teams in the country, but all you need is one day!! This weekend is Homecoming at Bucknell, and we will be hosting GW on Saturday at 2 p.m. before traveling west to Erie to take on Mercyhurst 24 hours later. If you are on campus for Homecoming, please stop by Kinney Natatorium on Saturday to support the team!
The women have been practicing for about four weeks. We have the largest team we’ve ever had while I’ve been at Bucknell. We have 25 women on the team. Our freshman class has 10 women, which is the largest class ever. It is awesome to walk on the deck and see so many capable athletes ready to work hard for the Orange and the Blue. Their chemistry is awesome, and they have made the hardest practices a joy to coach. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these women attack the off-season and take the momentum from the end of last year into the 2026 season. They are poised to do great things!!
2025 Hall of Fame
I am very pleased to announce that Valentina Rozas ’10 will become the very first women’s water polo player to be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, October 3. She will be enshrined with five other inductees as the Class of 2025 at a dinner ceremony in the Terrace Room inside the Elaine Langone Center at 7 p.m. Valentina, Val for short, graduated right before I came to Bucknell, so I never had the joy of coaching her but I did have the unpleasant task of coaching against her while I was at Brown University. Val was “that” athlete that a coach had to game plan for. She could play any position on offense and was a great perimeter defender. As a coach, I never felt like we could stop her, but we had to do our best to contain her, which was very difficult.
Val graduated, having won the Bison Club Award. She was a three-time All-American, four-time All-Collegiate Water Polo Association Conference Player, and was part of the women’s team that won a Southern Division Championship. If you would like to attend the HOF event to support Val, please contact Todd Newcomb at tnewcomb@bucknell.edu.
Fundraising
I’m sure you are all aware of the NCAA’s House Settlement about NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and its impact on mid-major schools and their ability to now fund athletics. Bucknell is not immune to this settlement, and it has impacted Water Polo at large, including Bucknell Water Polo. All Bucknell sports programs' operating budgets have taken a reduction. Our team’s budget reduction was significant and requires an increase in fundraising to offset costs. With the budget impact and a much larger women’s team, we have to consider other cost-saving measures, such as a limited travel roster. Our fundraising goal this year is $300,000.00. That is double what the goal has been in the past and $120,000 more than we’ve ever raised in one year, but with the rising cost of EVERYTHING in addition to the impact of the House Settlement, raising $300K is a must.
Whatever amount you can donate would be greatly appreciated, so the student-athletes in both programs can continue to grow as Division I water polo players, as well as making the programs attractive when we talk to recruits. You can make a gift to support the teams by sending a check to Todd Newcomb in the Bison Club Office at Bucknell. Make the checks payable to Bucknell University and write “Women’s Water Polo” or “Men’s Water Polo” in the memo line. If you feel more comfortable using a credit card, you can call Todd at 570-577-1771, or you can make the gift online at www.bucknellbison.com. To make it easier on your budget, credit card gifts can also be set up as monthly contributions.
Thanks for the continued support of the men and women in our program. They work very hard to represent Bucknell and you to the best of their abilities, both in the pool and in the classroom.
Go Bison!
John McBride
Head Water Polo Coach
Bucknell University
jwm035@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.
The men’s season has begun, the women’s team has started their off-season training, and we are welcoming a Women’s Water Polo athlete into the Hall of Fame Class of 2025!! There are a lot of exciting things going on in the world of Bucknell Water Polo.
The men had a great preseason. For the first time in a long time, orientation didn’t interfere with us too much, so we were able to get some quality training in. However, we were dealing with a lot of injuries to start the season, which put us behind the eight ball early. We did not start the season as expected because we had injuries and had some bad losses, but I could see the potential. We began the season 1-6, which we’ve never done before, but five of the six teams were nationally ranked, and we played each one closely.
Recently, we have started to turn the tide. We got some injured players back and had some really good weeks of training. We hosted the Bucknell Invite Sept. 20-21, and we played very well. We went 3-1 with big wins over Salem, who just beat Navy, Air Force, and Wagner. Wagner was a conference game for us, which was a great way to start conference play. Our other conference game was against #5 Fordham. We played very well for the first half against the Rams. If we can minimize some poor decisions we made during the game, we could be right there with them. Fordham is one of the top teams in the country, but all you need is one day!! This weekend is Homecoming at Bucknell, and we will be hosting GW on Saturday at 2 p.m. before traveling west to Erie to take on Mercyhurst 24 hours later. If you are on campus for Homecoming, please stop by Kinney Natatorium on Saturday to support the team!
The women have been practicing for about four weeks. We have the largest team we’ve ever had while I’ve been at Bucknell. We have 25 women on the team. Our freshman class has 10 women, which is the largest class ever. It is awesome to walk on the deck and see so many capable athletes ready to work hard for the Orange and the Blue. Their chemistry is awesome, and they have made the hardest practices a joy to coach. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these women attack the off-season and take the momentum from the end of last year into the 2026 season. They are poised to do great things!!
2025 Hall of Fame
I am very pleased to announce that Valentina Rozas ’10 will become the very first women’s water polo player to be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, October 3. She will be enshrined with five other inductees as the Class of 2025 at a dinner ceremony in the Terrace Room inside the Elaine Langone Center at 7 p.m. Valentina, Val for short, graduated right before I came to Bucknell, so I never had the joy of coaching her but I did have the unpleasant task of coaching against her while I was at Brown University. Val was “that” athlete that a coach had to game plan for. She could play any position on offense and was a great perimeter defender. As a coach, I never felt like we could stop her, but we had to do our best to contain her, which was very difficult.
Val graduated, having won the Bison Club Award. She was a three-time All-American, four-time All-Collegiate Water Polo Association Conference Player, and was part of the women’s team that won a Southern Division Championship. If you would like to attend the HOF event to support Val, please contact Todd Newcomb at tnewcomb@bucknell.edu.
Fundraising
I’m sure you are all aware of the NCAA’s House Settlement about NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and its impact on mid-major schools and their ability to now fund athletics. Bucknell is not immune to this settlement, and it has impacted Water Polo at large, including Bucknell Water Polo. All Bucknell sports programs' operating budgets have taken a reduction. Our team’s budget reduction was significant and requires an increase in fundraising to offset costs. With the budget impact and a much larger women’s team, we have to consider other cost-saving measures, such as a limited travel roster. Our fundraising goal this year is $300,000.00. That is double what the goal has been in the past and $120,000 more than we’ve ever raised in one year, but with the rising cost of EVERYTHING in addition to the impact of the House Settlement, raising $300K is a must.
Whatever amount you can donate would be greatly appreciated, so the student-athletes in both programs can continue to grow as Division I water polo players, as well as making the programs attractive when we talk to recruits. You can make a gift to support the teams by sending a check to Todd Newcomb in the Bison Club Office at Bucknell. Make the checks payable to Bucknell University and write “Women’s Water Polo” or “Men’s Water Polo” in the memo line. If you feel more comfortable using a credit card, you can call Todd at 570-577-1771, or you can make the gift online at www.bucknellbison.com. To make it easier on your budget, credit card gifts can also be set up as monthly contributions.
Thanks for the continued support of the men and women in our program. They work very hard to represent Bucknell and you to the best of their abilities, both in the pool and in the classroom.
Go Bison!
John McBride
Head Water Polo Coach
Bucknell University
jwm035@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
- February 2023
- March 2023
- April 2023
- May 2023
- August 2023
- September 2023
- October 2023
- November 2023
- September 2024
- October 2025
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.