MENLO SCHOOL Since 1915
About the Team
Menlo is consistently one of the top performing teams in Northern California now for over 25 years.
For all five years the top-tier Central Coast Section Open Division has been in place, Menlo has made the top-four every year, earning a trip to the Championship game in 2017. In addition, they have made the Northern California Open Division, essentially staking their claim to a top-eight Northern California finish. Over the past 25 years, Menlo has won five CCS Championships and 19 Peninsula Athletic League Championship titles.
Menlo’s water polo players pursue a singular, values-based goal: Be Your Best. The culture is one based on trust, the pursuit of excellence, and maintaining a big-picture view of the work they do as individuals and a team. They do this in the classroom as well, consistently earning a spot in the top-five GPAs of CCS Water Polo Teams and earning the top GPA twice. They consistently send players to top college programs every year having sent 65 recruited players to play on college programs since 2000.
The Coach
Jack Bowen (24th Season)
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jack.bowen@menloschool.org
650.330.2001 ext. 2773
In Bowen’s 24 years at Menlo School, he has guided his teams to the CCS finals 16 times—five of those as champions. In addition, his teams have won the League Championship Title 19 times. He earned his 500th in the second game of the 2022 season.
Bowen has been honored as the CIF Model Coach, was selected as the Bill Barnett Distinguished Coach National Award by USA Water Polo and was nationally recognized by the Positive Coaching Alliance as the Double-Goal Coach in 2012—a national award for his positive impact on youth athletes—as well as CCS All-Sport Honor Coach in 2006. He played on the U.S. National Team (1994-1999) and served as the National Team assistant coach in 2002. Bowen was a two-time All-American and Academic All-American at Stanford and an NCAA MVP. Bowen, who teaches both Philosophy and Ethics at Menlo, has published several articles on sport ethics as well as four books—all in the area of philosophy. In addition, Bowen writes a blog for the Institute of Sports Law and Ethics, Positive Coaching Alliance, and Only Sky. His fourth book came out in 2018, “Sports, Ethics, and Leadership,” and he’s finishing his next book, also sports-focused, slated for publication in 2025.
