Corey Miller loves the smell of chlorine in the morning.
And the afternoon.
And at night.
Miller, in his sixth year as the Ladue water polo and swimming coach, spends most of his days poolside. When he’s not teaching physical education, he’s coaching. When he’s not coaching you might catch him swimming laps or even whipping the water polo ball around.
Miller, 34, spent the weekend watching his Rams make a run at the ring. The No. 7 seed in the Missouri water polo state championship tournament, Ladue slugged and sloshed its way to the championship game. With three one-goal wins against Lindbergh, DeSmet and Parkway South, the Rams earned a date in the title match with heavyweight and top seed St. Louis University High.
The Rams would eventually lose 9-6 but not before giving the Junior Billikens a test up to the final horn.
“Ladue had a great run. That’s not a fluke,” SLUH coach John Baudendistel said after the title game. “They earned their place here.”
It’s the first time since 2002 that Ladue (17-17) advanced to the final four and the first time since 1999 it made it to the title match.
Miller is one of the many reasons for the Rams’ run. Miller got his start in the sport as a freshman at Oakville. He joined up after hearing an announcement as an eighth grader that the high school was forming a team.
Water polo sounded like something fun.
“I was playing eighth grade football,” he said. “At 96 pounds and 5-foot-6 I wasn’t much of a football player.”
He told his parents over supper that night he wanted to hop in the pool and give the sport a go.
His father, Dave, perked up his ears. Much to Miller’s surprise his father played water polo in college and was an Olympic alternate. The idea of returning to the sport he loved with his son was exciting.
“We had polo balls laying around the house, but I never thought about it,” Miller said.
Miller was a freshman on the first Oakville water polo team. The fact he still remains with the sport speaks volumes about how much he loves it. That first year in the pool as a program wasn’t easy. In fact, it was down right rough.
“I remember the first time we played John Burroughs we got beat 33-1,” Miller said. “We got beat up quite a bit.”
But he kept coming back for more. It’s hard to see during the game above the waves just how rough and tumble water polo can be. The game is fast, furious and oftentimes incredibly physical. You get kicked, bumped, elbowed, pulled under water and that’s just the way it is. It’s a physically demanding sport.
The rough nature of the game suited Miller.
“I’ve got all brothers,” Miller said with a chuckle. “I like to play rough. I enjoyed the physicality of it.”
By the time he was a senior Miller was named to the all-state team, and the Tigers took fourth at the state tournament.
His father coached in one capacity or another at Oakville for 10 years.
Miller continued his playing career at Golden West Community College, the most dominant community college water polo program in the nation, for two seasons. He was part of two championship teams during the Rustlers' record streak of nine.
He then played another two years at Salem International University in West Virginia where he was an assistant coach for the women’s team his senior year.
When Miller returned home with a degree in physical education, he was still burning to play. He enjoyed his coaching stint senior year but nothing appeared immanent. Then he got a phone call.
“Oakville needed a coach. Mike Bishop, the athletic director, called me and asked if I’d like to help out,” Miller said. “Now it’s all I do.”
He was an assistant at Oakville for five years before he took the head coaching job at Ladue six years ago.
It’s been a labor of love. Miller coaches club water polo in the offseason too. He still gets in the pool on occasion and whips the ball around with the best of them.
“I like to think of it as a bad habit,” he said.
Miller has enjoyed his time as a coach because of the interactions with the kids. For someone who grew up in the game, he likes sharing what he knows with a new generation. Especially for a sport that doesn’t get mainstream acclaim.
“The game has given me a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I felt like I needed to give back. I have the opportunity to do that on a regular basis.”
