Cal State Fullerton Athletics

Brian Heider became the first assistant women’s and men’s water polo coach in Cal State Fullerton history on December 1, 2022.

In his first year of building the Women's Water Polo team, Coach Heider led the Titans to double-digit wins with an 11-20 record.  Heider and Head Coach Kyle Witt won the first two games of the season for the Titans on January 20th, 2023 against UC Merced (24-3) and Ottawa (10-8). Under his guidance, Mia Solorzano earned multiple honors including being a 2023 ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention, the Big West Freshman of the Year, and making the team as an Honorable Mention.

In early 2023, Heider also helped lead the USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program (ODP) Southern Pacific Zone Developmental Girls Team to an ODP National Championship. Following his ODP championship success, Heider was named Head Zone Coach for the ODP Southern Pacific Zone. In this position, Heider helps support hundreds of athletes and their coaches at all age group levels within the Southern Pacific Zone.

Prior to his arrival at Cal State Fullerton, Heider helped lead the 2022 Chino Hills High School girls water polo team to the school’s first-ever CIF Championship and was named CIF Coach of the Year. Heider celebrated the CIF Championship with his daughter Parker, an athlete on the team and current Cal State Fullerton student, making the experience even more memorable. During this championship run, the team doubled in overall athlete program participation, went 24-10 and also qualified for the CIF State Regional Playoffs. Heider’s entire starting lineup made All-CIF teams, one athlete was named CIF Player of the Year, and the varsity team was ranked Top 10 in CIF for the highest overall team GPA. Although Heider had to leave his coaching role at Chino Hills High School upon his hiring at Cal State Fullerton, his girls water polo team followed up their first-ever CIF Championship by winning the tough Baseline League in 2023 for the school’s first league championship.

From 2021 to 2022, Heider also served as the Head Men's and Assistant Women’s Water Polo Coach at Chaffey College. Heider’s Chaffey College men’s team had three athletes selected to the All-South Coast Conference Team in both 2021 and 2022. During his tenure at Chaffey College, Heider had success in recruiting high-quality high school and transfer athletes from the surrounding area and also saw the Chaffey Aquatics Center undergo a complete renovation to become a premier local aquatics facility.

Heider's coaching career has provided several opportunities to grow aquatics programs from the ground up into high-performing organizations. Heider started as an assistant coach at Chino High School in 1995 before taking over the school's water polo and swim programs in 1998. In 1999, Heider established and coached the high school's first-ever girls' water polo program. In 2000, Heider coached the varsity girls' water polo program to a 22-7 overall record, a 9-1 league record and the school’s first-ever Baseline League Championship. That same year, his team reached the CIF Division 3 Quarterfinals and the following year the team reached the CIF Semifinals. In 2000, Heider was named “LA Times Coach of the Year.” Heider's athletes went on to play water polo at various NCAA institutions.

In 2000, Heider temporarily stepped away from coaching while he pursued a career in law enforcement. In 2002, Heider joined the Chapman University men's water polo staff as an assistant coach. In 2005, Heider was named the inaugural head water polo coach for Santiago High School in Corona, CA. After establishing a successful foundation for the program, Heider turned over the coaching reins of the program to spend more time with his wife and then-young daughter. Santiago High School Girls Water Polo would become a perennial powerhouse program, playing in every CIF Final game from 2008 to 2012 and winning the 2012 CIF Championship.

Heider started his athletic career playing high school water polo at Chino High School in Chino, CA, where he graduated in 1995. During his high school career, Heider was team captain, All-Baseline League, a member of the San Gabriel Valley All-Star Team, Academic All-American, and was named California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Following high school, Heider attended UC Riverside and played club water polo since the university did not offer water polo as an NCAA sport. Heider later spearheaded Orange County's first combined police and fire water polo team that trained to compete in the World Police & Fire Games.

Heider was medically retired while working as a police detective in 2008 following a work-related injury that resulted in multiple career-ending surgeries. In 2009, Heider used his investigative background to form his own professional investigation agency. His company provided investigation services to public entities, schools, and universities and public safety background investigations for police and fire agencies. In 2020, after a decade of successful business growth, Heider sold his company to a large national risk management firm that provides Title IX and athlete protection services. Heider served for three years in an executive management role following the acquisition and recently concluded his transition contract.

Heider currently resides in Southern California with his wife of 24 years Heather, daughter (and CSUF Titan) Parker, and son Grant. When he’s not coaching the Titan water polo programs, Heider can often be found on a pool deck scouting future Titans or cheering on Grant’s water polo team.