Germantown Academy Director of Athletics Josh MacArthur has announced the hiring of Mike Koziol as the new head coach of the Girls Water Polo program. Koziol, the Assistant Director of Aquatics at GA, will continue to serve as the head coach of the Boys Water Polo program as well.

Koziol replaces Allison Rader, who stepped down after 11 seasons at the helm. She will continue to teach math in the Upper School and serve as Head of Roberts House.

“Allison Rader is an incredible mentor, and she will remain a strong role model for our students,” said MacArthur. “With Coach Rader stepping away from coaching, we had huge shoes to fill. From my first days at GA, Mike Koziol has impressed me as a coach, teacher, and person. Mike continues to build positive momentum within our Boys Water Polo program, and I cannot think of a better individual to oversee our Girls Water Polo program. I have every expectation that Mike can build upon the positive culture within the Girls Water Polo program, and GA is fortunate to have Mike as part of our community.”

“I am thrilled by the chance to take over as the new head coach of the Girls Water Polo team at GA,” said Koziol. “During my time at GA, Allison Rader has served as a tremendous friend and mentor and I look forward to furthering the legacy of developing great student-athletes that the program cultivated under her guidance. I am most excited for the opportunity to get to use water polo as an avenue to help more of our student-athletes grow into a better version of themselves. I have been lucky enough to work with the girls team a little bit during my time at GA and they are consistently a tremendously driven, dedicated, and enthusiastic group, and I cannot wait to see what we will be able to accomplish working together.”

During his seven years on the pool deck, Koziol has turned the Boys Water Polo team into serious contenders in a very competitive Inter-Ac League. From 2016-2018, the Patriots went 56-27-1.

Koziol guided the 2018 Patriots to a 22-9 overall record (6-2 Inter-Ac League), a personal best result. The team finished second in the Inter-Ac and third at Easterns. GA had four student-athletes earn All-League honors. The Patriots compiled a 17-8-1 record (5-3 Inter-Ac) in 2017. During the year, GA finished third at Easterns, their best finish since 2004. GA also defeated Penn Charter on GA-PC Day for back-to-back years for the first time since 2004-05. Three members of Koziol's 2017 team were selected as First Team All-Inter-Ac performers. In 2016, GA went 17-10 (5-3 Inter-Ac League) with three members earning All-League honors.

Last season, the 2019 Patriots went 12-15 overall (4-4 Inter-Ac League). Walker Butler '20 was named the league's MVP. He was also named First Team All-League while Louie Porter '21 and Noah Spratt '20 earned Second Team honors.

Under his tutelage, four Patriots went on to play water polo in college, including Ace MacDonald '17 (Wagner College), Henry Grady '18 (Occidental College), Finn Lillis '18 (George Washington University), and Butler (Bucknell University). Lillis, who broke the all-time program scoring record with 301 goals, was named All-American Honorable Mention by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association in 2018. Brian Bartle '19, Butler, and Lillis were also selected to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo All-Star game between the Prep All-Stars and the Pennsylvania Public School All-Stars in 2017.

Koziol is an alumnus of Wissahickon High School where he was a key contributor to the most successful water polo class in school history, making the state tournament all four years, including a fourth place finish his senior year. He also swam while at Wissahickon.

Koziol attended DePaul University in Chicago, and as a student coached a swim team and founded the water polo program at the High Ridge YMCA. Under Koziol's guidance, the water polo program tripled in size in three years and he coached the first player from a Chicago YMCA to be selected to the USA Water Polo Olympic Development program.

Over the years, Koziol has coached at the club level with Trojan Aquatics, NXT, Philly Select, and Maverick Water Polo. He has also led or assisted a number of camps or workshops all over the country, including a camp at the United States Naval Academy.

Eight seniors are graduating from the Girls Water Polo program this spring, but 11 underclassmen are expected to return to the team in the fall.