Brian Heider enters his first year as an assistant coach with the Pomona-Pitzer women’s water polo team in 2025.
Prior to Pomona-Pitzer, Heider served as the first ever assistant coach for both men's and women's water polo at Cal State Fullerton during the inaugural seasons for both programs. Heider led the Titans women’s team to double-digit wins during the program’s first season. While helping lead the Titan men’s program's rebirth during the 2023-2024 season, the team finished with an impressive 16-16 record in its first season. Eight of the Titan Men's Water Polo team were selected as ACWPC Academic All-Americans.
Heider currently serves as the Southern Pacific Zone Head Coach for USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program (ODP). In 2023 and again in 2024, Heider lead the USA Water Polo ODP Southern Pacific Zone Developmental Girls Team to back-to-back ODP National Championships.
Prior to his arrival at Cal State Fullerton, Heider led the 2022 Chino Hills High School girls water polo team to the school’s first-ever CIF Championship and was named CIF Coach of the Year. Heider celebrated the CIF Championship with his daughter Parker, an athlete on the team, making the experience even more memorable.
From 2021 to 2022, Heider also served as the Head Men's and Assistant Women’s Water Polo Coach at Chaffey College. Heider’s Chaffey College men’s team had three athletes selected to the All-South Coast Conference Team in both 2021 and 2022.
Heider's coaching career has provided several opportunities to grow aquatics programs from the ground up into high-performing organizations. Heider started as an assistant coach at Chino High School in 1995 before taking over the school's water polo and swim programs in 1998. In 1999, Heider established and coached the high school's first-ever girls' water polo program. In 2000, Heider coached the girls' water polo program to the school’s first-ever Baseline League Championship. That same year, his team reached the CIF Division 3 Quarterfinals and the following year the team reached the CIF Semifinals. In 2000, Heider was named LA Times Coach of the Year.
In 2000, Heider temporarily stepped away from coaching while he pursued a career in law enforcement. In 2002, Heider returned to the pool deck when he joined the Chapman University men's water polo staff as an assistant coach. In 2005, Heider was named the inaugural head water polo coach for Santiago High School in Corona, CA.
Heider started his athletic career playing high school water polo at Chino High School in Chino, CA, where he graduated in 1995. During his high school career, Heider was team captain, All-Baseline League, a member of the San Gabriel Valley All-Star Team, Academic All-American, and was named California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Following high school, Heider attended UC Riverside and played club water polo since the university did not offer water polo as an NCAA sport. Heider later spearheaded Orange County's first combined police and fire water polo team that trained to compete in the World Police & Fire Games.
Heider was medically retired while working as a police detective in 2008 following a work-related injury that resulted in multiple career-ending surgeries. In 2010, Heider used his investigative background to form his own professional investigation agency. His company provided investigation services to public entities, schools, and universities and public safety background investigations for police and fire agencies. In 2020, after a decade of successful business growth, Heider sold his company to a large national risk management firm that provides Title IX and athlete protection services. Heider served for three years in an executive management role following the acquisition.
In addition to coaching, Heider currently owns Axiom Investigations Group, a professional investigation agency, and co-founded and serves as the Executive Director of the Workplace Violence Prevention Association.
