Sean Kern
Encyclopedia
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
player. His position is center forward (two-meter offense). During his water polo career, Kern was a four-time All-American, two-time National Player of the Year, two-time NCAA champion and three-time UCLA scoring leader. After his 1999 season, Kern was honored as the first-ever male recipient of the Peter J. Cutino Award
Peter J. Cutino Award
The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo...
, given to the top American collegiate water polo player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics
Water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics
The water polo competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia saw Hungary’s return to the gold medal platform and the introduction of the women’s tournament...
, he scored 3 goals for the US team.
He led Honolulu's Punahou School
Punahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
to three consecutive league titles and personally earned three Interscholastic League of Honolulu
Interscholastic League of Honolulu
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu or ILH is an athletic conference composed of private secondary schools in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The ILH comprises 26 private schools with over 7500 students participating in 22 different sports including cross country, track and field, swimming and diving,...
player of the year awards.(Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii: 12/14/94, 11/29/95, 12/15/96)
Kern came to UCLA in 1997 as the top-ranked recruit in the country, taking the Bruins
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1999 and 2000. Kern missed the first eight games of the 2000 season while playing in the Sydney Olympics, but still led the Bruins to their second consecutive NCAA championship. He scored 33 goals in 17 games, and two in the NCAA final and was named the tournament’s MVP for the second year in a row. Kern, a four-time All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n, was also chosen player of the year in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level.-History:...
. Kern is a two-time recipient of the Peter J. Cutino Award
Peter J. Cutino Award
The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo...
, receiving the top American collegiate water polo honor for the first two years that it was awarded.
Kern joined other UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
, Coralie Simmons
Coralie Simmons
Coralie Denise Simmons is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2001, she won the Peter J. Cutino Award, presented annually to the top American collegiate water polo player...
(2001), Natalie Golda
Natalie Golda
Natalie Golda is an American water polo player. Considered one of the greatest women's water polo players of all time, her senior leadership helped guide the 2005 UCLA Bruins to their seventh national championship. In May 2005 Golda received the Peter J...
(2005) Kelly Rulon
Kelly Rulon
Kelly Rulon is an American water polo player for the UCLA Bruins and the US National Team, who won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics...
(2007), and Courtney Mathewson
Courtney Mathewson
Courtney Mathewson was born September 14, 1986. in Orange, California. She played water polo for the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins during their four-consecutive NCAA National Champion Women's Water Polo championships, and was named to the All-Tournament first team...
(2008), as the school's Peter J. Cutino Award
Peter J. Cutino Award
The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo...
winners, all coached by Adam Krikorian
Adam Krikorian
Adam Krikorian is the water polo head coach for UCLA. He has won 14 national championships as player, assistant coach and head coach. And on March 27, 2009, he was named the head coach of the USA Women’s National Team...
.
Kern now plays for the New York Athletic Club in the USA Water Polo Premier League.