Mission College

John Vlahos was named the interim Athletics Director at Mission College in July 2020. Vlahos began his tenure as Athletics Director at West Valley College in January 2014. He began serving both colleges in 2020-21.

Vlahos has been able to build on the rich tradition of Viking athletics, focusing on academic excellence, athletic competitiveness, community engagement, and capital improvements.

Mission's athletics facilities are in line for nearly $22 million in upgrades thanks to the passage of Bond Measure W in 2018. The baseball field, refurbished with an artificial surface, re-opened in 2020.

Under Vlahos, two Viking student-athletes gave the Valedictorian address at their respective commencement ceremonies and several student-athletes were recognized as Academic All Americans at the state and national levels.

Athletically, the Vikings have won 27 Coast Conference championships since 2014, including six in 2021-22 and five in 2022-23. The men’s water polo team has won four NorCal championships and was the state runner-up in 2017, 2021 and 2022. The women’s water polo team won its first Coast championship in school history in 2018 and has repeated as undefeated Coast champions every year since. In 2019, women's water polo won the first of three consecutive NorCal championships. In 2021, women's water polo became the second NorCal team ever to win the CCCAA state championship. Coach Erika Vargas, also a Vlahos hire, became the first woman to ever win a water polo state championship. The 2021-22 Coast championship teams, in addition to women's water polo, were men's water polo, men's and women's swimming, and volleyball and basketball, which both finished as state runners-up.

Under Vlahos’s leadership, West Valley College has hired six full-time coaches, a full-time embedded Athletics Counselor, two full-time Athletics Trainers, and a Sports Information Director. The Vikings established the beach volleyball program and reinstated women’s tennis after a 30-year hiatus. West Valley College launched a new Presto Sports website in 2017, entered into an apparel partnership with adidas, and has hosted high-profile events such as the 2018 CCCAA Men’s and Women’s Water Polo State Championships and the 2017, 2018 and 2023 CCCAA Beach Volleyball State Championship. Additionally, West Valley athletic facilities have served as a practice site for numerous national teams, as well as the NCAA College Cup. Viking Field hosted the 2022 and 2023 CCS Softball Championships and, most recently, served as the practice site for the University of Florida Gators as they prepared for the NCAA softball regional at Stanford.

Vlahos has overseen numerous capital improvements since 2014. One of the country's most spectacular softball facilities, Viking Field, had its grand opening in spring 2022. A total renovation of the beach volleyball facility now makes it one of the best in the country. The tennis courts have been completely resurfaced. New Nevco scoreboards have been installed at baseball, soccer, beach volleyball and the gymnasium. The gymnasium floor and interior has been redone and updated. The complete renovation of West Valley's baseball field, Valhalla, began at the end of the 2021-2022 season and is slated to reopen for the spring 2024 season. Planning will soon begin for a new Wellness Complex funded by the recent passage of bond Measure W.

Vlahos came to West Valley College in 1997 as an assistant football coach and, from 2002-2008, he served as the head football coach. His 2003 team won the Golden Gate Conference championship. In 2007, one of his football players, Ziad Al-Helew, was the CCCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year. Vlahos and his son, Matthew, reside in Los Gatos.