Most people would consider coaching two collegiate sports teams a lot to handle.
For Adam Krikorian, coaching two of the top water polo teams in the nation is simply part of his job description.
“When I first started coaching here, I was immediately coaching both teams,” said Krikorian. “I haven’t known anything different.”
Krikorian began his career at UCLA in 1992 as a student athlete and has since won 14 national championships. He enters his 10th year as head coach of both teams.
As much success as he has had, he has set goals for himself as a coach, goals that are not based on the standard of winning.
“I know I can continue to grow and improve,” Krikorian said. “As soon as I have stopped growing as a coach, teacher and mentor, then it’ll be time for me to hang it up.
“The goal isn’t always to be successful and win championships. A lot of times you equate success with championships, but that’s not always the case. I’m trying to be the best coach and teacher I can be.”
Krikorian also points out that much of what he learned came from the guidance of the former UCLA water polo coach, and current U.S. women’s national team coach, Guy Baker.
Krikorian shared head coaching duties with Baker for three years on the men’s side and one year on the women’s side before taking over both alone.
“I wasn’t very experienced or knowledgeable coming into college,” Krikorian said. “So what I learned from him was pretty much all I had.”
He was able to take this knowledge and with his own experience sculpt a coaching technique that was all his own.
This turned into his “dream job,” and he credits the athletic department and his coaching staff for the ability to juggle two teams. The support of three assistant coaches and an athletic department dedicated to giving him the tools to succeed are part of what enables Krikorian to be able to coach both teams.
While he lists balancing both teams and time management as the hardest part, he has done his best to not let it impact his family life.
“That’s the most important thing to me ““ my wife and 2-year-old son,” Krikorian said. “There’s nothing greater than that. When it gets to a point where I feel like it’s taking away from that too much, then it’s time to stop.”
Krikorian manages to balance the job he considers a “24-hour deal,” his family life, and dealing with men and women.
Most stick to coaching either males or females, but Krikorian demonstrates his talent as a coach even more by handling both.
He says the training and tactics are basically the same for the men and the women. One of the biggest differences however is in the fundamental way each plays the sport.
“The guys at times are more difficult to coach,” said Krikorian. “At times they show a little bit less discipline. You have guys trying to do their own thing in the water tactically and getting a little too individualistic at times and you have to rein them in.”
He said that the women are just the reverse.
“In a general sense, they’re very disciplined, easy to coach, listen well, but at times become too mechanical. There has to be some creativity that you must play with, especially in this sport. Encouraging that creativity has always been a challenge on the women’s side and less of a challenge on the men’s side.”
Krikorian’s ability to coach both teams had led to not only two very successful individual programs, but also a unique water polo program at UCLA.
“I think there’s a bond between the men’s and women’s teams here that there probably isn’t at other schools,” Krikorian said. “Some of it is the fact they have the same coaches. Whether they’re having fun making fun of us, sharing horror stories or good stories, I think it keeps the teams close to one another.”
While he works with both teams, he says he would not be able to choose one gender to coach. Krikorian does not view them as a men’s team and a women’s team, but simply two very differently composed teams.
He also says that the teams are constantly changing from year to year, and if he had to pick he would choose the team that would be the “most coachable, work the hardest, and that’s going to be committed to the team and be unselfish.”
Krikorian seems to have found his niche and is perfectly content to continue working at the place he loves, with the teams he loves.
“I never thought I’d do it, but I think a lot of it comes naturally for me,” Krikorian said. “I kind of feel like this is what I was supposed to do.”