Over 30 Years of Water Polo Experience

Carolina Water Polo Coaches

Eric Gordon

Program Director & Head Coach

Coach Eric moved home to North Carolina after nearly 20 years of coaching age group and high school water polo in Southern California where he worked along side Hall-of-Fame coach Doug Peabody.  As a long-time head coach with San Diego Shores and The Bishop’s School, Eric led 14U, 16U, and 18U Boys’ teams and Girls’ teams to multiple National and High School (CIF) Championships.  Dozens of athletes went on to compete in the nation’s top collegiate programs, with some being selected for the U.S. National Team and a few even competing at the Olympics.

In 2013, Eric moved back to Greensboro with his young family.  He soon began playing with the Triad area master’s group and volunteered to help Greensboro Aquatic Center launch a splash ball program.  Four players soon multiplied into dozens and high school athletes joined the masters team.  In an effort to recruit more players and create competition, Eric began outreach to pools in Hillsborough and Cary and in 2017 Carolina Water Polo Club was born.   Players soon began playing at multiple locations and there were soon enough athletes to travel to regional and then national events.  

Coaching Accolades

• 10-Time National Champion (San Diego Shores 14U, 16U, 18U Boys & Girls)
• 16-Time California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Champion (Bishop’s Boys & Girls)
• 17-Straight CIF Championship Appearances (Bishop’s Girls 1997 – 2013)
• 6-Time President’s Cup Winner – USA Water Polo’s Most Elite Club (San Diego Shores)
• Elite Women’s Coach of the Year – Pacific Southwest Zone – 2002

Mosaab Omar

Head Coach – Charlotte Area

Coach Mo comes to us from Cairo where he grew up and played waterpolo for Heliopolis Sporting club (HSC), the #1 team in Egypt. Mosaab played and coached in many domestic and international tournaments earning many medals. He represented the Egyptian National Team for two years and played one season for Glyfada and Panathinaikos teams in Greece. 
 
Mo’s coaching career started in 2012 with Coach Marko Crvenko (Former Serbian National Team).  Their 7U boys team was the first team in Egypt to start from that age and achieved 2nd & 3rd place medals in the 9U division of HaBaWaBa Italy – the largest age group tournament in the world with over 110 teams in just that age division. Two years later, Mo’s team finished 2nd place at HaBaWaBa Greece for 11U age division.  Later on, Mosaab was assigned to assist coach Denes Lukacs (Hungarian Olympic) in goalies training for the Senior team throughout the cup and league and later implemented a full plan & program for the senior team goalies. Their program was designed to prepare the goalies for the four year’s preceding the next Olympics . 
 
In 2018, Mo moved to the U.S. where he attended UNC-Charlotte and partnered with Coach Eric to start our Charlotte area location.   He also began officiating for USA Water Polo and quickly has been recognized as an up-and-coming talent.
 
Officiating Experience: 
  • 3 years with USAWP and NCAA level
  • 2x best referee award for 18U girls division at ODP
  • 2023 Aaron Chaney Award
  • 2024  16U Boys Platinum Division Final – JO’s CA

Jess Lee

Head Coach – Charlotte Area

Coach Jess was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba (north of North Dakota 🙂 and thankfully stumbled upon Water Polo at age 15 and never looked back. Jess was captain of her High School team, Club, and Provincial teams leading her high School team to win the championship for 3 straight years. At 19, Jess was selected for the Canadian Jr. Women’s National Team and was the only player from Manitoba on any of the Canadian National Teams. In the summer of 2000 Jess relocated to Montreal, with the junior team to help the senior women get ready to compete at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.

In 2001 Coach Jess made the very difficult decision to leave the National team and move to the United States to attend Chiropractic College outside of Atlanta, GA. Fast forward to August of 2021, where Coach Jess now lives with her husband and two daughters in Fort Mill, SC – accidentally taking a 20 year break from water polo. On the eve of her 41st birthday, Jess got up the nerve to try playing with the Charlotte Sharks Masters team where she met Coaches Mosaab. It turns out that playing waterpolo is not exactly like riding a bike, but Jess has loved coming back to the sport and has been reminded why she loves Waterpolo so much. Now she is thrilled to share her love of the sport with others, especially because one of her athletes is her 8-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. 

Nikolas Bravo

Head Coach – Triangle Area

Coach Nik is from Raymore, MO, a suburb of Kansas City.  After swimming in high school, he started playing water polo at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While on the UNL club team, he helped organize and run practices his Junior and Senior year. In grad school, Nik became captain and goalie for North Carolina State University’s Club Water Polo team.  He helped recruit new members and teach them the sport of water polo.  Nik began working with Carolina WPC’s goalies during new player clinics and helped start the youth team in the Triangle Area.  Nik earned a PHD in applied mathematics from NCSU and moved to Tucson, AZ for a few years before returning to NC with his wife Paige and three children – Harper, Lewis, and Niko.