Indiana University Athletics
Water Polo Team Brings California Connections to Hoosier State
3/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
March 12, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -
By Jeremy Rosenthal
IUHoosiers.com feature writer
The IU women's water polo team will be traveling 2,309 miles to Santa Clara, Calif. for a week of competition, but for junior Lauren Wyckoff she will be just 10 minutes from home.
Wyckoff will not be alone, as 11 of her teammates also hail from the Golden State of California. In fact on the IU women's water polo roster only one athlete out of 21 calls Indiana home.
Sophomore Sara Joseph, a native of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., said she is excited about going back and seeing lots of familiar faces.
"It's fun because all of our family and friend are out there," Joseph said. "A lot of people we played in high school and on our club teams go to schools in California and around the area."
In California water polo is played at over 500 high schools. Even in the wintertime crowds flock to outdoor pools to see teams compete. IU coach Barry King estimates that about 90 percent of the available athletes in the United States are from California.
King, who was born in Madera, Calif., coached water polo in his hometown for a couple years before coming to Indiana to pursue graduate studies. One of King's age group swimming coaches had swam for legendary IU coach Doc Counsilman (coach of Mark Spitz).
King, who coached the club water polo team at IU starting in 1994, said he was well aware of the tradition of swimming at Indiana.
"I had been inundated with Indiana lore growing up swimming," he said.
After a few years of hard work, in which King said he credits the kids on the team for wanting to be competitive at the collegiate level, the team achieved varsity status.
Now, with his California connections, King tries to recruit talented athletes to come to Indiana, going to California about eight times a year. One of the things he highlights is how different it is.
"There aren't any quintessential college towns in California," he said. "If a kid is looking for an experience other then going to school in the midst of 12 million people, this offers a really unique opportunity for California kids."
Freshman Kym King, a native of Carlsbad, Calif., was coached in high school by former Hoosier water polo player and three-time All-American Kristin Stanford.
King said she wanted a unique experience.
"I wanted something different," she said. "I've lived in California all my life. I wanted a change, and I had never been to the Midwest before my recruiting trip. I absolutely loved it. I love the seasons and I love the team and the coaching."
King also said friends warned her how cold it would be in Indiana.
"It was cold," she said. "There were a couple times I walked out in my flip-flops and had to turn around and go back inside. Walking back from practice a few times my hair turned to icicles, that was always fun. I've never been happier to see spring time."
Joseph said she enjoys going back to California and trying to recruit her friends to come to IU.
"Some people say they don't want to come to Indiana because it's too cold, but once they see that half the roster actually is from California it makes a difference," she said.
Over time what started out as a club sport and then turned into a varsity team, has come a long way. Currently they are ranked No. 16 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll. The Hoosiers have posted a 60-7 record in CWPA play since 2001, and in 2003 advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
Still, water polo does not have nearly the same popularity in Indiana as in California. Kym King said people are oblivious to the game in Indiana.
"In Southern California everyone knows what it is," she said. "Out here people are like `we have a water polo team?' When we are in the airport people are like `that's like volleyball in the water right?' Not quite. In Southern California everyone knows about it and comes to the games."
The sport of water polo, which began in the late 19th century, originated as a form of rugby played in rivers and lakes in England and Scotland. It involves teams of six players and a goalkeeper, with the winner being the team that scores the most goals.
Wyckoff, who scored 42 goals last year and is the leading returning scorer, said the sport can be very physical and aggressive, with suit pulling and lots of kicking and pushing. To be successful takes a lot of hard work.
"We have a weight lifting regimen that we do, that I think is key in our performance," Wyckoff said. "You have to have extremely strong legs in order to tread water and in order to tread another 150 to 200 pounds on your back."
Wyckoff's sister Cassie is a goalkeeper on the team and their father coached both girls' club team. With the Hoosiers traveling so close to the Wyckoff household, they will have a team dinner there and get to see a lot of friends.
Although the Hoosiers are in the middle of nowhere when it comes to water polo programs, they still believe they can challenge the elite teams.
"It will be good to go out there and prove a Midwest team can go and compete to be the best, even in California," Kym King said.
