Club Directors
Leadership here isn't authority.
It's stewardship.
Meridian answers to its athletes — not to a school, a season, or a scoreboard. The board exists to hold that commitment in trust: to make the decisions that keep it intact for the athletes here now, and for the ones who haven't arrived yet.
Governance
Independent
by design.
Meridian was built as an independent, community-rooted club so that no athlete's development depends on which school she attends or which team she made last spring.
Independence puts the weight on us. A small board owns the decisions that shape the experience — who we hire, what we charge, where we train, and what we will not compromise on — and answers for them to the families who trust us with their daughters.
Leadership
The people accountable
for the program.
President & Founder
Phinean Gardner
Phinean founded Meridian to give East Bay athletes a competitive home that doesn't depend on any single school — a club where development is governed by an athlete's commitment rather than by which roster she made last spring.
Competing at the highest collegiate level shaped his understanding of what exceptional environments feel like — not just how great athletes train, but how great cultures are built.
As president he sets the club's standards and hires the staff who hold them. His coaching philosophy runs on mentorship, accountability, and a long view of development — the measure isn't the next tournament, it's who the athlete becomes by the time she leaves the program.
- Founder, Meridian Water Polo Club
- Four-year letterman, UC Berkeley
- U.S. Youth, Junior & Senior National Teams
- First Team All-American
John Roemer
Executive Director & Founder
John has coached at the club, high school, and collegiate levels for decades. He builds Meridian's development system — the progressions, the standards, and the daily teaching that turn a roster into a team.
- Seven-time Coach of the Year
- UC Berkeley letterman, swimming & water polo
- Club, high school & collegiate championships
Andrew Shogan
Treasurer
Andrew keeps the club sustainable, transparent, and accessible — building the budget, tracking where fees go, and making sure the scholarship fund is real money rather than a line item.
- Financial oversight & budgeting
- Scholarship fund stewardship
Lexie Lam
Club Operations
Lexie is the connective tissue of the Meridian community — coordinating athlete logistics, travel, and family communication so every family knows what's next and nothing falls through.
- Athlete logistics & scheduling
- Family communication
Every decision is measured against one question: will this make the experience better for today's athletes, and tomorrow's?
Responsibilities
What the board
answers for.
Four obligations. Reviewed every season, in the open, with the families who fund the program.
Standards
Setting policy, hiring and evaluating staff, and holding the club to the standards we publish.
Stewardship
Transparent budgeting, fees that reflect real cost, and spending that returns to athletes and coaching.
Access
Scholarship funding, so that cost is never the reason an athlete stops playing.
Continuity
Facilities, staff depth, and systems built so the program outlasts any single coach or graduating class.
Stewardship
Meridian is a club, not a franchise. The board holds it in trust — answerable to the athletes in the water today, and to the ones who will inherit whatever we build for them.
Every generation inherits a club.
Ours is to leave it stronger than we found it.
This is Meridian.