Posted: Mar 04, 2023
Hawks coach invited to elite women academy
By Matt Schwab
Accolades are rolling in for Las Positas College interim women's water polo head coach Kate Faix Bennett.
Accolades are rolling in for Las Positas College interim women's water polo head coach Kate Faix Bennett.
She was selected among 100 coaches nationwide across all sports to attend the NCAA Women Coaches Academy in Denver, in May.
Faix Bennett was also nominated by Hawks assistant swimming and diving coach Kelly Gentry as a KAP7 Influential Woman in Water Polo — an international initiative that seeks to highlight women worldwide who made a difference in the sport.
"It's been a great week," Faix Bennett said happily. "I have put a lot of work into growing our water polo program. I'm excited to represent LPC at this academy for women in collegiate athletics."
The NCAA Women Coaches Academy, co-hosted by WeCoach and the NCAA, is a multi-day growth and development program designed for collegiate women's coaches in all sports and collegiate levels. Faix Bennett is among four coaches from the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) selected for the academy.
"What I hope to gain from the experience is the ability to empower all our women athletes," Faix Bennett said. "Give our students and athletes the opportunity to see women in the ranks of coaches and administrators who give them a voice and support them in their collegiate experience."
Las Positas head swimming and diving coach Jason Craighead gives Faix Bennett high praise.
"Kate has been at the forefront of building the women's water polo program here at LPC, and in the community as well," Craighead said. "She has continued to increase her involvement and presence both locally and across the state, to help build and support opportunities for women in sport, particularly water polo. She has an unmatched presence and brings tremendous character to everything she does."
A busy woman, Faix Bennett is also the Las Positas men's water polo assistant coach, men's and women's swimming and diving assistant, and co-assistant Athletic Director along with Craighead. If all that weren't enough, she teaches at the college and is her kids' swim team manager with the Rhonewood Sharks. Kate and her husband, Dan, have two young children, Blake, 7, and Charlotte, 6.
At Las Positas, she has the opportunity to interact with top female athletes in a picturesque college setting. The Hawks have competitive women's teams in soccer, volleyball, basketball, water polo, and swimming and diving. Proactively, she has scheduled the first overnight trip for the women's water polo team in the fall.
"I think it's really cool that I have the opportunity to support all of the women in all of the sports," she said.
Faix Bennett, who started playing water polo in junior high school, lettered in the sport for four years in high school and then played at Sonoma State, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology. She also was an assistant coach at Sonoma State while injured as a player.
After moving to Livermore she continued coaching with the Livermore Lazers, and was head coach for the Livermore High varsity and JV teams. Now she's ready to make a splash in Denver, for the college and women athletes.