Respected Servite water polo coach Mustafa Hassan, who guided the Friars since 2008, has resigned to spend more time with his family and pursue other goals, he confirmed Thursday.
“I think it’s time to take a break (from coaching),” said Hassan, who has a 6-month-old son, Mateo, with his wife, Nicole.
Hassan, 39, also has resigned as the boys swim coach at Servite but remains at the Trinity League school as a teacher. The Magnolia graduate started coaching out of a high school at under the late Grafton Weiss at Katella.
Hassan guided Servite to the CIF-SS Division 2 water polo finals during his first season, falling to Mater Dei, 8-6, in the 2008 finale. The Friars knocked off Villa Park and Josh Samuels in the quarterfinals during their playoff run. Servite reached the semifinals in 2009 and then transitioned to Division 1 in 2010.
This past season was a challenging one for Servite. The Friars were a county-ranked team but tied for second in the Trinity League with Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran. But after losing a coin-flip, the Friars fell to Santa Margarita for third place and missed the playoffs because there were no at-large berths in boys water polo.
But Hassan kept his perspective following the setback. “To me, it’s not the wins and losses (that are most important),” he said. “It’s the caliber of kid I turned out.”
Hassan resigned Sunday at the Servite water polo banquet.
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