Locals show East water polo gaining

Princeton team finishes 26th at Junior Olympics

By: Justin Feil
   Two East Coast teams competed in the recent Junior Olympic Water Polo Championships in San Jose, Calif. One was the Cardinal and Gold boys’ water polo club out of Towson, Md. They finished 45th out of 48 teams.
   The other was a Princeton team that represented a variety of age groups and schools. They finished 26th, and had even defeated the Cardinal and Gold in a JO qualifier in Annapolis, Md.
   "And they got a story written about them," Brad Lewis said with incredulity about a piece on the USA Water Polo Web site. A Hun School junior who played hole set for the Princeton team, Lewis is every bit as serious about his water polo as West Coast players are, which is why he spent Sunday through Wednesday at UC Santa Barbara for water polo camp. It helped him piggyback off his experience at JOs two weeks before.
   "That was the first time I had ever been out west to play," Lewis said. "It’s the biggest national tournament in the country. It was a little shocking at first, but I definitely think it was a good one to come to. Our team is going to try to play in higher level tournaments over the course of the year."
   And no one should be surprised if they start showing they can compete with the country’s best young teams as they did at the Junior Olympics. Judging from the story on the Maryland team, an East Coast team even finishing within three goals of a California team is reason for rejoicing.
   "Everyone expected us to finish a little worse," said Princeton resident Matt Carter, a Lawrenceville School junior who started at goalie. "A couple of the kids on the team I know from school had been to California to play at Zones National. We got the feel of the play out there. I felt like we could prove people wrong."
   Anyone on the outside had every reason to suspect that the Princeton team would struggle, regardless of where they were from. The team is young, so young that the entire team is eligible to come back for next year’s U-18 tournament. Carter’s younger brother, Mike, played at the U-18 level though he was just 13.
   "It’s our first year playing together," the elder Carter noted. "And we practiced probably the least out of any team. We practiced twice a week for an hour and a half."
   The California teams had two-a-days in preparation.
   And then there was the experience factor. Californians are introduced early to the sport. Several of the Princeton players got their start with the New Jersey Sting Rays under Lawrenceville’s Andy Sichet, but the club wasn’t officially founded until 2003.
   "That’s where all the local guys started," said Guy Helmen, a junior at Hun. "As you play in the different leagues, you meet more and more players. We kind of tried to get the best players from all the local players from all around together."
   Even if some of the players weren’t so local originally. Carter became interested in the sport while watching it on television in his native South Africa as an eighth grader shortly before moving to Belle Mead. His old high school, St. John’s College in Johannesburg, has produced several of the South African national team members. Most players come from a strong swimming background. Helman was a year-round swimmer. So was Lewis.
   "I started with the Sting Rays when I was in seventh grade," the Lawrenceville resident said. "I had always been a swimmer. The repetitive motion got boring and I wanted to try something different. I’ve always been a fan of fall sports. This requires a little more skill and thinking (than swimming does)."
   The Sting Rays club starts with age 6, patterning itself after Californian clubs. Helman and Princeton resident Miles Radcliffe-Trenner have been coaching players ages 8 to 13 at the Nassau Swim Club this summer. The future looks good with interest and experience growing, but the current Princeton players still are playing catch-up for now. A tournament like the JOs shows them how close they are getting.
   "The competition was at a much higher level than we were used to playing in the Northeast," Helman noted. "Teams in the qualifier were at the level of JOs competition, but when we played in the Main Line League at Villanova, the level of competition wasn’t nearly as high. We expected out there, with the long tradition of water polo, a little different reffing and higher play, that it would be tougher."
   Princeton opened the Junior Olympics with a convincing 13-6 win over Houston B. They lost, 10-7, to Chino Hills Area Water Polo – Blue. On the second day of competition, they lost to Wind N’ Sea, 7-2. They beat Utah, 8-6, on the third day and then beat Davis of California, 4-3, before falling to Houston their final game.
   "Our team was kind of thrown together at the last minute," Lewis said. "We weren’t sure what to expect. We came together more and more each game. Hopefully we’ll come back strong next year.
   "We definitely have nowhere to go but up. We’re returning the same team. Hopefully, we’ll have more practice time and more experience together. Our main disadvantage is, (in California) a lot of the same kids play on the same high school team and play together year-round. We don’t have that opportunity."
   But the Princeton team had each other for the Junior Olympic tournament, and that was enough to finish in the middle of a strong field. They didn’t have the pressures of outside expectations and they weren’t out there to show off their individual skills.
   "I think the main thing, when we came out here, a lot of these kids are playing for themselves," Lewis said. "There were a lot of individuals trying to impress coaches or someone. We just played together. We beat two or three California teams and put up a good fight. Hopefully, we’ll be in the Top 10 next year. We were kind of the East Coast team and we wanted to impress as a team."
   The Princeton team included Vincent Schiavoni, Kayer Nuik, Ben Wilde, Gordon Peeler, Jeremy and Kyle Maurer, Kevin Diselvestro, Elias Tanner, Joe Dungan, Lewis, Helman, Radcliffe-Trenner and the Carter brothers. It was coached by Princeton University assistant coach Derek Ellingson and by Ryan Mueller, who took over the volunteer coach reins from Mike McKenna, and is one of the masters players who plays twice a week at DeNunzio Pool. Roddy Carter helped with the team’s organizational details and fundraising.
   "We do practice with the Princeton masters water polo team," Helman said. "We all practice together. They have more older guys who have played so there’s a lot of talent there. We also traveled down to Navy for separate little tournaments."
   The Princeton team is hoping that those little tournaments, camps and their own school teams that begin in the next month help them prepare for their next trip west.
   "I think we’ve got pool time at DeNunzio for Sunday nights," Carter said. "We’re trying to practice as much as we can. We all have our school teams, but we’re going to still try to practice together. We’ll try to go to a tournament here and there. We definitely want to try to get as much playing time as we can.
   "We have a better idea how we need to play. I think everyone is coming back. The oldest we have is incoming seniors, and a lot of teams we were playing had incoming (college) freshmen. I think everyone will be returning. We did pretty well. Obviously, we could go down, but I feel like, with our experience, that’s how we feel. The only way to go is up."
   The players are keeping that in mind even as they part ways during the high school season. While Lawrenceville has an established team, Hun is still forging its program, which begins its third year at the club level this fall under Mark Kolman. Pennington Prep will put together a team for the first time this year. It’s a sign of the growing interest among East Coast players, and some of the best ones played for the Princeton Junior Olympic squad.
   "At the beginning, it was something I sort of messed around with," Lewis said. "Now it’s something I’m really interested in continuing and maybe pursuing in college."
   Lewis and his Princeton teammates got a look at some of the best teams in the sport at the Junior Olympics. A 26th place finish is just the start of a learning experience for all.
   "I think it’s good we were able to see California," he said. "I think it was even better they were able to see us."