SANTA BARBARA, Calif. —  UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo Head Coach Emma Myall announced the hiring of the program's first-ever Director of Analytics on Wednesday, welcoming Vladimir Mickic to the Gauchos' staff in both that role and as an assistant coach.
 
"I am extremely excited to announce Vladimir as our assistant coach," Myall said. "He is going to bring a new aspect to the program that we have not had before at UCSB Women's Water Polo. I was trying to find someone who had collegiate experience playing and coaching and who also was willing to build a program with me, and Vladimir is up for the challenge and I am really excited to have him join the team."
 
Mickic comes to Santa Barbara from Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania, where he has been an assistant coach for the Lakers' Men's Water Polo team since 2024, using a data-driven approach to player development. In his first season at Mercyhurst, the team won more games than in their previous two seasons combined as Mickic contributed his experience and ideas to the team's practice and game-day plans. A native of Serbia, Mickic also used his intercultural connections to help recruit multiple international student-athletes to the Lakers. While coaching the team, Mickic was also earning his Master's in Data Science from Mercyhurst.
 
A former student-athlete at St. Francis and Gannon Universities, Mickic has five years of NCAA Water Polo experience as a player to lean on, as well as an accomplished youth career in Serbia and Hungary, during which he was called up to both countries' youth national teams. Mickic also trained and competed alongside some of the top players in Europe, winning multiple cup competitions across multiple club teams in Hungary.
 
Mickic joins Myall for what will be her second full season as the Gauchos' head coach, and as a staff they will look to continue rebuilding Santa Barbara's program. They will get to work with a squad which lost only five players from 2026 while adding seven newcomers. The Gauchos' group of student-athletes features some international flavor as well, with Italian youth international Marta Maninetti among the returners and Australian Araminta Welsh one of the new faces set to arrive on campus.