Hide Article Text (OCR)
'■Vi' \ •* .. ? I t •;{•i, fi1 / 1^ *». ■ •ilt;, ! ,V.is' »•4! 1w •II » #iSi* i' ': V.•T\Kif'.t,— v•'..'I, i ■ t . %•‘t.» •• * s •I •ki,i• . «r. •a vAaiii-cgioicr ■ ■■%-i;CLOSEUP: Water polo dominated by countyFROM 1and improve throughout the year. Club teams also give players not yet of high school age the opportunity to play and learn the game.• “I just think one of the biggestreasons why El Toro and Corona del Mar are great year after year is because their kids have been playing together five or six years before they ever get to high school,” Costa Mesa coach Jason Lynch said.This year’s El Toro squad has nine seniors who have played together since they were 8 years old, dating back to the first water polo team offered by Saddleback Valley Aquatics.El Toro’s CIF-SS Division I championship group last season followed the same pattern and was basically a replica of the team that won the gold medal at the 1989 Junior Olympics, with players who included Daniel JVlathqtV John Simmons, Brent Stoll and Brandon Stout.“If you have a club team play together before they get to high school, you’re going to have a successful program,” El Toro coach Don Stoll said. “In a summer program, the kids are playing 40 to 50 games — that’s 200 games in four years. The more games you play, the more experience you get.”, One of the first things Steve Yancey did when he took the coaching job at San Clemente in 1981 was start a club summerCounty teams dig deepfor water polo successEQUIPMENT: The record shows that playing or practicing in 50 meter pools leads tochampionships.Although Corona del Mar u without a 50-meter pool until l1 and won CIF titles in 1974, 19 1985, 1987 and 1988, Stoll said I Sea Kings regularly practiced Newport Harbor during the years.By DAN ALBANOThe Orange County RegisterOrange County’s water polo talent pool takes advantage of the first-rate swimming pools in the county. $El Toro coach Don Stoll said he conducted an independent study last year of the different pool facilities in the area and found high school teams that played or practiced in 50-meter pools were among the more successful programs.Sunny Hills, which won CIF ties in 1976 and 1986, does i have a 50-meter pool, but pn tices and plays its matches Independence Park in Fullertrwhich does.Stoll experienced the highs a lows as a coach at WestminslSince 1974, six different county teams have won the CIF Southern Section Division titles, all of which either practiced or played in a 50-meter pool, which is regulation length and has at least one deep end. “At Westminster, the shallend is 3| feet deep and 4| feetthe deep end,” Stoll said. “Si had kids standing on the Sottc and shooting... but when we we to Newport Harbor, guess whlt; there’s no bottom.”Stoll said one of the main rlt; sons why he moved to El Toro 1979 was because the school h a 50-meter pool.program.“About eight to 10 years ago, we all made the decision to hang out with the Joneses — the Newport Harbors and the Corona del Mars —• who competed during the summmer and really paid the price,” Yancey said. “My high school team is my club team.”Costa Mesa senior Sam Grayeli, who played water polo for the first time as a freshman, said clubs give Orange County an advantage.• “We have a lot of age-group programs which give younger kids an early start and an aquatic background before they get to high school,” said Grayeli, who was among five county players selected to the National Youth team during the summer.Sunny Hills coach Keith Nighs-wonger agreed that the influx of club teams has made Orange County high schools more competitive, but said it happened because of the affluence of the area.Newport Harbor, which has won seven titles in the past 19 years, has a 50-meter pool and the coaching stability of Bill Barnett, who has guided the Sailors during those seasons.“I took a back seat as an as tant coach because I knew ] have a 50-meter pool to train ki in,” said Stoll, whose Charge won CIF Southern Section Di’ sion I titles in 1990 and 1992. 4 (a 50-meter pool) doesn’t gue antee success, but it sure helpsHOME OF CHAMPIONSThe CIF Southern Section has crowned 28 sectional water polo champions in the past 10 years. Of them, 18, or 64 percent, have been Orange County teams. The county teams to have won Southern Section titles in the past 10 years:3-A, El Dorado 2-A, Costa Mesa19884-A, Corona del Mar 3-A, El Toro19844-A, Newport Harbor19894-A, Corona del Mar 3-A, El Toro19854-A, Corona del Mar 3-A, El Dorado19904-A, El Toro19864-A, Sunny Hills 3-A, El Dorado19914-A, San Clemente19874-A, Corona del Mar1992I, El ToroII, EsperanzaIII, Costa MesaIV, Los Amigos“Where I coached before (Los Angeles County), parents wouldn’t have the money to send their kids to club teams,” Nighs-wonger said. “We have a lot of kids that have been able to put a lot of time in, sometimes five hours a day. If these kids had to work after school, they wouldn’t be able to put that kind of timewater polo than in the inner citin.Trabuco Hills coach Chris Shore said that more high school athletes in Orange County choose“In those areas, kids are loo ing for a way out,” Shore sai “So they turn to tradition sports: football, basketball ar baseball. You never hear of a k living in the inner city getting oi on a water polo scholarship, bi you hear that in Mission Viejo.
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Orange County Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Tue, Nov 23, 1993
Page 25
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 11 May 2019
Other Publications Near Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana Pacific Weekly Blade
Santa Ana Excelsior
Santa Ana News
Santa Ana Evening Blade
Santa Ana Orange County Register Evening
