In a small town where football is king, Sonora High School alumnus Josh Martin has worked for over two decades to put the sport of water polo on the map in Sonora.
Before graduating in 2010, Martin played varsity water polo for the Wildcats all four years, collecting numerous accolades along the way. He returned in 2012 to coach for Sonora and took over the boys program in 2017.
Now after eight years at the helm, Martin is stepping away to prioritize being present for his family, spending more time with his wife and their two daughters, 5-year-old River and 2-year-old Harlow.
“I’ve spent so much time watching other kids grow up, being involved with them and missing out with my kids,” he said. “I just wanted to have some time to connect with my children. There are some health issues in our family that we’re going through, trying to be present for and work through. We’re meeting those head on. We hope to put those in the past soon, and when all of that is done, I’d very much like to come back and pick up where I left off.
“I’d be more than happy to help with the new regime, but I get that sometimes a new regime doesn’t want the old one involved, which I totally respect. If they want the help, I will be available this year to help in some capacity, because I do live and breathe this program and want to see it be successful.”
In his day job, Martin works for Tuolumne County as the recreation department supervisor. The Martin family purchased the Bagel Bin in 2024 and officially took over the South Washington Street restaurant on October 1.
“The Bagel Bin is not the reason that I can’t coach,” Martin said. “I can juggle working and coaching. I can’t juggle working, coaching and being there for my own kids. I want to make them the priority right now, and then get back to it.”
Martin was born in Fremont. As a 6-year-old, his family moved to Sonora, when he began attending Curtis Creek Elementary. Martin played four sports throughout his youth: baseball, basketball, football and swimming. On the gridiron, he lined up under center as the Jr. Cats’ quarterback.
However, when he was 10 years old in 2002, Martin’s life changed forever as he was introduced to water polo. Without much equipment available around the county, the Sonora co-ed club team used what they had, creating a goal with two trash cans and 2-by-4 lumber.
Four years later, Martin bypassed playing football for the Wildcats in favor of becoming an attacker on the inaugural boys water polo team, which was self-funded for its first few years.
“When I was in high school, I traveled to every away game to watch my friends play. I love the football program. I’m kind of a psycho sometimes, and a big catalyst was that I wanted to do something different,” he said. “Growing up in a small town, you know how big football is, it’s the most important thing. I wanted to be part of a culture that isn’t very well known and see how that goes.
“One of the main things, too, is that when you’re on a football team around here, you’re with 30 to 40 kids. Our water polo team was so tight-knit. We had different backgrounds and made a really good hodgepodge group of really talented athletes that played most conventional sports, decided to come together and see what we could do in the pool.”
Martin stacked several awards during his career. Playing in the Division I Tri City Athletic League, he earned a league honorable mention as a freshman. Then as a sophomore, he was selected to the All-TCAL second team.
During his junior year, Martin led the nation with 136 goals, setting the Sonora single season record, which still stands today. He hopes that Justus Roberts shatters his mark during his senior season in the fall.
“Records are meant to be broken,” Martin said. “Nothing would be cooler to own the record and then coach the kid who beat my record. I fully expect that to happen and plan on being there when it does.”
Martin earned the TCAL co-MVP as a junior and was chosen for the all-league first team as a senior. Over four years, Martin tallied 330 goals, which still stands as the most scored by a Wildcat boy during a career.
Sonora achieved team success as well, winning the TCAL championship in 2007.
“To be a second-year program with a bunch of mountain kids who grew up playing water polo two months out of the year, to win our first-ever championship was pretty special,” Martin said. “We were all just a bunch of kids that for the most part liked grunge music, off the beaten path and kinda anti-establishment if you will. We were all pretty successful in football, but wanted to see what we could do on something new to make waves at the school and put attention on it.”
Martin played water polo and basketball every year for the Wildcats, and swam for the first three years. He was inducted into the Sonora Hall of Fame in 2021, where he is currently the only water polo player to be inducted.
“Playing sports for Sonora High was some of the best memories that I had growing up, both during basketball and water polo season,” he said. “Amazing friendships, a lot of shenanigans, winning and competition. That’s what I live for is competing. I had a great time playing here in high school. I love to win, and we did a lot of that while I was here.”
After graduating, Martin planned to play collegiate water polo at UCLA and then Cabrillo College. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, those plans fell through. Then his Pop Warner football head coach, Don Perkins, reached out and asked if he wanted to join his team as an assistant.
Following in the footsteps of Perkins, former Wildcats water polo head coach Matt Personius and his father, Frank Martin, Josh Martin coached youth on the gridiron for three seasons before eventually returning to his alma mater.
“We don’t have water polo in the Mother Lode without Personius,” Josh Martin said. “I had amazing coaches growing up. They had a huge impact on my life and who I am as a person today, helping me through a lot of tough times. I could tell that they had a purpose, really respected that and wanted to do the same. If I could have the impact on one kid the way Perkins, Personius and my father had on me, then I’d call that a win.
“I feel confident that I had that impact on quite a few kids. That’s why I started doing it and kept doing it through everything. For the most part, I’ve always worked two full-time jobs. I continued to coach through it all and loved every minute of it.”
In 2012, Josh Martin was driving through town one day and decided to stop by the school pool. He asked Personius if he needed any help, which ultimately began a 12-year journey coaching at Sonora.
Josh Martin got his start coaching the Wildcats boys and girls in strength and conditioning, which he did until 2017, and became the boys junior varsity water polo coach in 2013. Despite not winning the Valley Oak League in his first varsity season, Sonora went on to play for the 2017 section title, which it lost to Christian Brothers by 1 point in overtime.
With Josh Martin at the helm, the Wildcats won their league in four straight campaigns, in the VOL in 2018 and 2019, and Mother Lode League in 2021 and 2022. Sonora played for another section championship in 2022, but fell short again.
“Being able to represent us in two section title games, even though we didn’t get to bring it home, that was always my goal. I always told myself that I wouldn’t quit as the coach until we win that,” he said. “Now that fuels me. If I’m ever blessed enough to come back and coach, that will be the goal to finally hang that banner.”
Even though the Wildcats didn’t accomplish their ultimate dream during his first tenure, Josh Martin proclaims that he would “absolutely not” be bummed if Sonora won a section title without him as the head coach.
“I got into coaching because I don’t want to see the program die,” Josh Martin said. “I want to see them be just as successful as our volleyball and football teams have been lately. I want them to be part of that echelon of athletes to have those memories. It’s not about me and my success, it’s about the kids. My heart breaks to not go to war with them this year.
“I plan on coming to games as a fan and heckling the refs from a different position.”
Each spring, Josh Martin also led the co-ed swim team. The boys have won their league every season since 2015, and the girls have done so since 2016, with Josh Martin leading the charge in the MLL until 2025.
Amid rumors of his impending departure, four Wildcats wrote speeches about Josh Martin at the end of this past campaign. The swimmers read them after Sonora won the Trans Valley League for both genders, achieving school history as the first teams to hoist respective TVL titles.
“He is truly one of the kindest people I have met and inspires me every single day to be a better person,” junior Joelene Beach said.
Beach was joined by senior Elias Wang and fellow juniors, Maylone Suess and Melissa Vassar.
“Josh has always been and probably always will be the loud, passionate, and albeit, alarmingly-excited coach,” Vassar said. “Despite his busy schedule, he still makes time for us in his day, and it has made the difference between my unconfident start as a swimmer to now understanding what it means to love the competition. Every time he cracks a joke, whether it is a little too personal or not, it always brings a smile to my face.
“I would not trade my experience with him as my coach for the world.”
While reflecting on his first stint as the boys water polo head coach, Josh Martin credited Perkins, Personius, Casey Slater and JohnJay Verheul for his success. He also mentioned his dad, mom, Sue Martin, and his wife, KateLynn Martin.
“One thing that goes under the radar a lot is there is no great coach that’s married without an amazing, supporting wife behind them, allowing them to chase these goals,” Josh Martin said.
With this chapter now behind him, Josh Martin has been honored and humbled to be such a key figure in Tuolumne County aquatics.
“I was a knucklehead, for sure. If you asked me when I was 18 if I thought I’d be coaching kids and making bagels, I would’ve told you that ‘you’re insane!’ It’s a blessing and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m super lucky to have been able to be a part of it,” he said. “Some of these kids in one way or another have saved my life and given me so much more purpose than I ever could’ve dreamed of.
“Quitting was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do, which says something about my life and how blessed I am that that’s one of my biggest things I’ve dealt with. I did not want to quit. It was the last thing I wanted to do and it was not a decision that I was wanting to make, but more needed to be made.”
Contact Shaun Holkko at sholkko@uniondemocrat.com or (209) 588-4526. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and X at @shaun_holkko. Check out his weekly sports podcast, Stats Over Politics, on YouTube and all streaming platforms.





