The Rocket

Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: Sports

Richard "Doc" Hunkler

"I feel sometimes that all the work I did was flushed down the toilet. "

Richard Hunkler
former water polo coach

The opportunity to play water polo at Slippery Rock University didn't simply appear out of thin air.
The sport, mainly popular in Europe and California, arrived from Texas A&M in the form of Richard "Doc" Hunkler in 1972. A graduate from A&M in mathematics learning, Hunkler learned of Slippery Rock State College through John Badgett, who interviewed for a secondary education position. Badgett got the job and continues to teach at SRU.
"I said 'there is no Slippery Rock,'" Hunkler said. "I didn't believe there were places like California and Indiana in Pennsylvania."
Hunkler soon followed Badgett.
"I fell in love with it," Hunkler said of Slippery Rock. "I couldn't think of a better place to raise my son."
Hunkler, 70, has three sons. Current water polo and swimming coach Jim Yeamans, 46, said he considers Hunkler a father figure as well.
"He's also a mentor and friend," said Yeamans, who joined the team in 1978 as a walk-on before being an assistant under Hunkler. "I think he's the greatest coach in U.S. water polo history."
Hunkler's credentials do a lot to back that up. Hunkler pioneered both men's and women's water polo at SRU. The coach guided the men to glory with a 102-42 six-year varsity record. Hunkler also won the Eastern Championship once, took runner-up honors twice and made an NCAA Championships appearance, according to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
While continuing to coach the men's team, Hunkler took on his biggest challenge: starting a women's team. To say Hunkler had success on the women's side would be the equivalent of saying Michael Jordan had a decent basketball career.
In 1995, the SRU women won the Collegiate National Championship, the only team on the East Coast to ever do so. He is also a member of the CWPA and USWPA Hall of Fames.
"I would take college teams with homegrown players and go to club championships and play (against) all-star teams," Hunkler said.
Finally, in 1992, the women were recognized as a varsity sport and Hunkler compiled a 142-11 record in six seasons.
The coach also moonlighted on the Olympic level as an assistant in 1982-83.
Even with the accomplishments, Hunkler said wins and losses aren't the criteria for what he measures his career.
"I wouldn't gauge (success) by championships," Hunkler said. "I want to gauge it on how well I did with the players.

Continued...

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