IRVINE, Calif. – Mitch Carty is joining The Big West as water polo coordinator of officials, announced today by commissioner Dan Butterly.
Carty brings decades-long collegiate experience in water polo as a student-athlete, head coach, official and administrator. Carty currently serves as the commissioner of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), holding that position since 2021, while also acting as the WWPA coordinator of officials since 2016.
Carty will be responsible for recruiting and assigning officials for all men’s and women’s water polo matches hosted by Big West member-institutions. He will recruit, supervise, develop, mentor and evaluate the officials throughout The Big West to ensure the best officials are managing matches across the league.
"As we expand our footprint of sponsored sports, we are delighted to welcome Mitch Carty to The Big West family," said Butterly. "Mitch’s philosophy on officiating, proven expertise and water polo knowledge will undoubtedly bolster our officiating and further enhance our ability to deliver outstanding administration and student-athlete experiences services to our member-institutions that compete in the sports of men’s and women’s water polo."
A new addition to The Big West in 2023, men’s water polo will be the 19th conference-sponsored sport. The Big West previously sponsored the sport from 1984-91. Six teams are set to compete for The Big West crown on the men’s side: Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, 2023 WWPA champion UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The season is set to start on Sept. 2, with the first Big West contest slated for Sept. 14 as 2023 Big West Championship hosts UC San Diego welcome Long Beach State to La Jolla.
Making Carty’s coordinating position a year-round affair, the women’s water polo season takes place in the spring, where The Big West exhibits national strength. Seven of the league’s eight teams closed the 2023 campaign in the national rankings, headlined by 2023 Big West Champion UC Irvine’s position in a tie for fourth, runners-up Hawai’i in sixth, Long Beach State at No. 8 and UC San Diego in 10th.
“I’m honored to be selected as the Coordinator of Officials in such a respected conference and look forward to getting started,” Carty noted. “The Big West’s addition of men’s water polo is a milestone on a national level and will immediately become the most competitive conference in the country, which will attract our most talented and respected officials. The already-established Big West women’s league has earned high regard and will continue to also attract our finest officials.”
Carty’s collegiate water polo career began as a student-athlete at Whittier College in 1992. After matriculating, Carty took the reigns as Whittier’s head men’s and women’s water polo coach for a decade, while also serving as president of the WWPA for four years from 1998-02.
After leaving the coach’s seat, Carty became an NCAA water polo official, officiating more than a dozen collegiate conference championships and two National Collegiate championships. Since 2016, Carty has evaluated officials in The Big West, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and WWPA, as well as serving as a member of the National Water Polo Officials Evaluator Group (NEG). Outside of water polo, but still immersed in amateur athletics, Carty is the chief financial officer for the CIF Southern Section.
Carty succeeds USA Water Polo Hall of Famer and long-time official and coordinator Dr. Bob Corb, who retired from the position at the end of the 2022-23 competitive season. Carty will assume The Big West coordinator position in June 2023.