Calder, Shortall & O’Connor to Lead Southwest Zone ODP Camp

The upcoming ODP Camp in Austin on September 19 will feature training from multiple USA Water Polo national coaches. In addition to the Southwest Zone coaching staff, the camp will feature former national team player Trent Calder, California Baptist coach Chelsea Shortall, and former Olympian Bernice O’Connor. These national coaches will be working directly with zone players and coaches to deliver instruction and develop technical skills.

Bios for each coach are listed below:

Trent Calder

Trent Calder is the Aquatics Director and Water Polo and Swimming Head Coach for the St. Mark’s School of Texas. He joined St. Mark’s and Trident from the University of California-Davis (UC Davis) where he spent three seasons helping to lead the Aggies to a pair of Western Water Polo Association titles and two trips to the NCAA Tournament, winning 56 matches and a dominating 20-1 mark in league play.

He is experienced on the international stage as part of the USA Water Polo National Team system, helping lead the United States Men’s Cadet National Team to a gold medal at the Darko Cukic Memorial Tournament in Serbia in 2017, and a bronze medal in 2018, as an assistant coach.

He also won a silver medal as head coach of the Men’s Youth National Team at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships, guaranteeing the United States a spot at the Youth World Championships and, a year later, won gold at the Junior Pan Am Games as an assistant coach, securing a spot for Team USA for the 2020 Youth World Championships.

Prior to his tenure at UC Davis, Calder spent three seasons at Brown University as a director of operations, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2014, the Bears won their first Eastern Conference championship in 30 years and made their first NCAA postseason appearance since 1985. A year later, Brown won the Ivy League title and went undefeated in league play for the first time in program history. In 2016, Calder helped guide the program to a 22-8 record and the inaugural Northern Water Polo Conference crown.

As a collegiate student-athlete, Calder won back-to-back NCAA championships at Cal in 2006 and 2007. After college Calder played for the USA Senior National Team in 2009, representing his country at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

His club water polo coaching experience includes working with Lamorinda Water Polo Club, a top California team, as an assistant for the boys 14-18 squads. With the 16’s he compiled a 44-0 regular-season record and won the gold medal at the 2011 Junior Olympics, Club Championships, and Kap7 Invitational. In 2012-13, Calder assumed the helm as the 18U head coach, guiding the program to a bronze at the 2013 Junior Olympics.

Chelsea Shortall 

Chelsea was named California Baptist University assistant women’s water polo coach in 2012. The Lancers have finished five seasons as a top-25 ranked team in the NCAA and secured three top-four finishes in the Golden Coast Conference with Shortall.

CBU has finished the last four seasons (2018-21) as an NCAA top-25 ranked team, with a program-best No. 17 ranking in 2021. The Lancers finished a team-best third place in the GCC in 2016. Overall, the team has a 149-118 record with Shortall on staff.

Shortall is also the USA Water Polo Assistant Coach for the Women’s Development National Team and the head coach for USA’s SOPAC Zone in the Olympic Development Program (ODP). She’s a veteran coach in ODP, and was named the Top Coach of an ODP Cadet Team at the 2017 ODP National Championships on March 10th, 2017. Less than two weeks later, Shortall accepted a position with the USA Youth Women’s National Team as an assistant coach. The squad went 8-0 and won gold at the UANA Youth Pan American Championship in July 2017.

The Lancers have gone on to earn 19 All-American and 24 All-GCC awards under Shortall, while four went on to play professionally overseas. CBU also produced the 2016 Player of the Year and 2018 Newcomer of the Year in the GCC.

A former player for CSUN, Shortall previously spent time as a coach for Foothill Water Polo Club and Chino High School. During her career as a Matador, Shortall (then Curran) scored 95 goals (10th most in CSUN program history) and tallied 44 assists and 43 steals. Her 196 ejections drawn is the second highest total in program history. As a 2008 sophomore, she earned ACWPC All-American honorable mention after scoring 36 goals, including a career-high five in an 11-10 overtime win over Indiana. She also was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Shortall graduated from CSUN with a bachelor’s of arts in psychology in 2011. She completed her master’s degree in gerontology from the University of La Verne. She married CBU’s Director of Athletics Communications Andrew Shortall in December 2017. The couple welcomed their first child in 2020.

Bernice O’Connor

Bernice, a former USC and USA National Team standout, has been involved in coaching water polo since 1994 and was the starting goalie on the United States Olympic Team that won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

O’Connor (Orwig) was an assistant coach with the United States Junior National Team that won a gold medal at the 2005 Junior World Championships in Perth, Australia. Cal sophomore Elsie Windes was a member of Team USA’s gold medal winning squad. Prior to coaching at Cal and assisting with the junior national team, Orwig was an assistant coach for Drury-Pinto at the University of Michigan from 2000-02. In 1999-2000, Orwig was an assistant coach at her ala mater, USC, and from 1995-98 was the head girl’s and assistant boy’s coach at Foothill High School in Santa Ana, Calif. During the 1994-95 season, Orwig was an assistant boy’s water polo coach at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.

As an athlete, O’Connor (Orwig)  was a star goalie at USC, earning second team All-America honors as a sophomore and junior. During her senior year, Orwig helped lead the Trojans to the 1999 National Collegiate title, earning first team All-America honors, and was the recipient of the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation’s top female collegiate water polo player. She graduated from USC in 1999 with a degree in social science education. As a member of the USA National Team from 1998-2003, Orwig not only helped the United States to a silver medal in the first-ever Olympic water polo competition for women, but to a silver medal at the 1999 Pan-American Games and a appearance at the 2001 FINA World Championships.