U.S. Water Polo’s National Junior Olympic is the cauldron wherein many of the nation’s finest water polo players define their future in a sport dominated by clubs from California.
More than 120 boys and girls from 805 Santa Barbara Water Polo Club qualified to compete at the Junior Olympics.
805 Santa Barbara is among the most successful clubs in the United States, particularly on the girl’s side, where their 14-Under, 16U, and 18U teams all advanced to last year’s title games. Santa Barbara’s 16U girls are defending National Junior Olympics Champions.
Santa Barbara qualifies multiple teams and optimizing playing time for athletes, many of whom are seeking to impress the legion of college coaches that attend JO’s. Collegians emerging from this year’s class include Jesse Brummett, Kate Coski, Kristina Garcia, Hailey Gellert, Lara Kostruba, Brenda Rodriguez, and Arija Walsh.
The boys tournament started on Saturday in Northern California, with 805 Santa Barbara’s 16U, 14U, boys team competing. The 10U girls competition is also under way. Girls teams will begin competition on Friday and include two 18U, four 16U, two 14U, one 12U and one 10U teams.
Led by Connor Levoff and Cathy Neushul, Santa Barbara fields a host of veteran coaches, including Makenzy Fowler, Shannon Hamilton, Betsy Hendrix, Charlotte Hendrix, Kelsie Hendrix, Keith Leggett, Megan Linder, Stephen Neushul, Chris Parrish, John Roemer, Pam Tanase, Dennis Van Alphen, and Sienna Van Alphen.