Nick Graffis will lead Huntington Beach boys’ water polo

The Huntington Beach High boys’ water polo team has turned to a familiar face to lead the program.

Nick Graffis is the new head head coach, the school announced Tuesday.

He takes over for Sasa Branisavljevic, who resigned after nine seasons and moved to Texas after leading the Oilers to their first CIF Southern Section title last fall.

“I’ve been involved in the water polo community here for over 10 years now,” Graffis said in a statement. “It has been extremely fulfilling to see so many athletes I’ve coached at 10 years old grow up into talented players, and now they are heading off to college. I’m so grateful to have had a small part of their journeys, and I’m excited to become a bigger part of it here at HBHS.”

Graffis was previously the Huntington Beach boys’ water polo JV and frosh-soph head coach from 2016 to 2018. He returned as an assistant for last fall’s CIF championship run.

He was also head coach of the Edison boys’ and girls’ water polo programs for several years, leading the Chargers girls to a share of the Wave League championship and the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title game in 2022.

Graffis also has college coaching experience as an assistant at OCC and Cypress College, as well as the head coach of the UCI women’s club water polo team from 2013 to 2015. In the club ranks, he’s been coaching with Vanguard Aquatics since 2014 and took on the role of Youth Program Director last year.

“We have no doubt that Nick’s commitment to excellence and dedication to student-athlete success will be invaluable as he takes on this new role,” Huntington Beach High athletic director Melissa Vandenbosch said in a statement. “His passion for the sport, proven leadership and previous coaching experience make him a great fit as the head coach of our boys’ water polo program.”