I more or less fell into playing water polo, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I started swimming at age four, and growing up played every sport I had an opportunity to play – tennis, soccer, softball, volleyball, golf, basketball…you name it, I played it. While education was always stressed as being of primary importance, sports were a very close second.
In high school, after completing my first swimming and basketball seasons, I was ready to head out on the golf course as a member of the golf team, however I was waylaid by a couple of swimmer friends who told me I just had to come out and try water polo. I had never played, but figured it couldn’t be too hard – boy was I wrong! My first day out I nearly drowned, but I had always been good at every sport I tried, so I was determined to make this no different. Fortunately, I picked it up very quickly, and within a week had fallen in love with it. It’s a great sport, very similar to my other favorites, hockey and basketball, and because it was a growing college sport, at least on the west coast where I grew up, it became apparent to myself, my coaches, and my parents that there would be an opportunity for me to play in college.
From then on I devoted myself to developing my talent in the sport. Most importantly, however, I made sure that I was excelling in school, because while there was nothing I wanted more than to play water polo in college, my dad would constantly remind me that it was a means to an end, and that ultimately I would be attending college to get the best education possible. I also think this helped my recruiting process, since all the coaches needed to focus on was getting me an application, because my grades and test scores were good enough to get me in on academic merit alone.
Because the water polo community is pretty small, I already had either played with, for, against, or at the very least had crossed paths with numerous coaches at various tournaments, so in terms of recruiting I had a jump start on the process without even having to try. The complicated part, however, lay in trying to figure out the recruiting rules. I was also being inundated with mail from various schools, most of which had water polo programs, but it was difficult for me to discern who was really interested in me as a player. This is where NCSA would have been an invaluable resource to me.
I had several offers from schools, all of which I would have liked to attend, and ultimately chose to play at UC Berkeley because not only did I like the coach and the team immensely, I felt it had the right balance of academics and athletics, and could offer me a great college experience.
Looking back I realize I was very lucky, and that my recruiting process, while confusing and stressful, was a relatively easy one. That’s why I chose to work for NCSA – because I feel that the work we do here really helps student athletes and their families navigate through the recruiting process and helps put their goals within reach.