UCI May Fund Water Polo After All

A group of influential, longtime boosters has persuaded UC Irvine to guarantee that the school’s water polo program will compete next year with Ted Newland as its coach, even if the program fails to raise the $74,000 it needs to stay afloat.

Irvine recently announced that because of a projected $526,000 budget deficit, five sports will no longer receive university funding, and could continue to compete only if they paid their own way, including the coach’s salary.

But supporters of Newland, who has brought Irvine three national championships in his 25 years as coach, have voiced their objections in a meeting with Chancellor Jack Peltason, and the school now is considering restoring some of the funding.

“The objection is this,” said Robert Warmington, a Costa Mesa developer whose family donated $300,000 to endow a social ecology chair for the study of world peace in 1989. “We felt that water polo is one of the most successful programs at the university. Ted Newland has coached at the university for 25 years. In a few weeks, they were asked to be 100% self-supporting. That simply is not right. In my opinion, you don’t handle it that way.”

Warmington, president of the Costa Mesa-based Warmington Co., played water polo and swam for Newland at Newport Harbor High School from 1956-60.

Warmington and three other water polo supporters met with Peltason and athletic department officials some time during the past two weeks. The other boosters were Randy Howatt, a former player and former president of the Rusty Pelican restaurant chain; Pat McClellan, a former player who is now an attorney, and parent Bruce Nott.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), whose son Jim has been an Olympic water polo player, said she was unable to attend the meeting because of political commitments, but that she had had “several conversations” with Peltason regarding the water polo program.

“I was just making certain that the problem was understood,” said Bergeson, who has two sons who were involved in water polo, although not at Irvine. “I was just hoping that there could be an agreement to pledge their support to water polo continuing.”

Irvine has responded by agreeing to sign Newland to a contract that may or may not include monetary compensation, and guaranteeing both returning scholarships and allowing Newland to sign three new players for next season.

“(The school) gave us an indication they would put some funds in,” Warmington said. “We don’t know what the exact amount is. We can raise the money to support the program, (but) we think the university should be involved.”

Newland, who had hinted that the current financial strain might cause him to stop coaching, now says he has no such intention.

“I try to tell people that I’ve been at this 35 years,” he said. “I have a lot of basic support in this area. (Former players) are used to getting up early and working hard. They’ve been successful and they’re not going to stand still and watch us get hammered to pieces.”

Newland expressed sympathy for coaches of other programs that do not have the same level of support.

Men’s soccer, men’s volleyball, crew and sailing also lost all university funding, and each of the school’s 19 sports took significant cuts.