After a successful season as interim head coach, Emma Myall was named UC Santa Barbara’s permanent head coach on June 18, 2025, the first head coaching post of her career. Myall first joined the Gauchos as an assistant coach in the fall of 2023, and was appointed interim head coach in January 2025.
In her first season at the helm, Myall led Santa Barbara to a 16-13 record, including signature victories over ranked opponents LMU, Brown and CSUN. At the end of the season, Annie Kuester, Imani Clemons and Bella Mady each earned the first All-Big West honors of their careers. Kuester and Clemons also combined to become the first Gaucho duo to both score 50 goals in a season since 2013, with Kuester becoming the program’s first 60-goal scorer in six years. Myall’s Gauchos also had the second-best defense in The Big West and a never say die attitude. Thirteen of their 16 games against ranked opponents — five of them overtime contests — were decided by three goals or less, including seven one-goal games.
As an assistant coach in 2024, Myall helped the Gauchos to a 15-14 record, with six of their wins coming against ranked opponents — Pomona-Pitzer, San Jose State, Biola, UC San Diego (twice), Indiana and UC Davis.
Myall earned her first coaching experience during her time as a student-athlete on the Pacific Women’s Water Polo team. She volunteered as an assistant with the Tigers’ men’s team during their 2021 season, helping Pacific reach the Golden Coast Conference Championship match. She also coached the girls’ junior varsity squad at St. Mary’s High School in Stockton.
As a utility player for the Tigers, Myall tallied 41 goals, 30 assists and 32 steals. A native of Lafayette, California, she graduated from Pacific with a degree in Sports Science and Sports Education, then continued both her schooling and her water polo career at Durham University, named the United Kingdom’s Sports University of the Year for 2023. There, she earned her master’s degree in Management Entrepreneurship.
