Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Tide is high for Southern Nevada water polo program

LAs Vegas Water Polo Team takes Gold

Steve Marcus

Abbi Magee defends a shot on goal during water polo practice at UNLV’s Natatorium Thursday, May 4, 2017. A Las Vegas female water polo team won gold in their division during the Utah Summer Games.

Las Vegas-Henderson Water Polo Team takes Gold

Water polo team members pose before practice at UNLV's Natatorium Thursday, May 4, 2017. The team won gold in their division during the Utah Summer Games. Players from left: Abbi Magee, top left, Nina Barretto, lower left, Madison Meldrim, Kayla Szczublewski, Sarah Defusco, Summerly Morton, Maci Taylor, Ally Burke, and Madison Szczublewski. Not pictured:  Brynn Walsh and Meghan Beaudet Launch slideshow »

Water polo basics

• Water polo is a combination of swimming, wrestling, soccer and basketball

Each team has six field players and one goalie in the pool at a time.

• Four quarters lasting five to six minutes, depending on level

• 30-second shot clock

Fouls in water polo include:

• Touching the ball with two hands

• Taking the ball underwater

• Pushing off a defender while in possession of the ball

• Sinking an offensive player not holding the ball

• Standing on the bottom of the pool

The subtle sneers start the second they assemble around the pool.

Whenever Team Vegas-Henderson Water Polo travels to California for a tournament, players sense their opponents don’t see them as a threat.

“Water polo is so big there that they think, ‘Oh, they’re from Vegas, they don’t have a chance,’ ” said Maci Taylor, a member of Team Vegas-Henderson’s elite-level squad. “The satisfaction of proving them wrong is awesome.”

It’s also become a common occurrence as the sole program in Southern Nevada has grown in size and stature. What started in 1994 with Water Polo Hall of Famer Sandy Nitta and a few colleagues has grown into more than 100 players.

The program is split between five levels ranging from Splashball for small children to Masters for adults. The Surfs, the elite team for high schoolers, has found particular success.

The Surfs girls’ team claimed a gold medal for the second consecutive year at the Utah Summer Games in April, beating Utah’s Kearns Water Polo Club in overtime of the championship game.

“They’re like our rival, so we always go all out to beat them every year,” said Sarah Defusco, a Coronado High senior and Surfs’ offensive star.

Defusco will continue her water polo career at University of the Pacific, where she plans to pursue a political science degree. She’s one of three Surfs girls going on to play collegiately next year, with Taylor committed to California State University, East Bay, and Megan Baudet headed to Arizona State.

Last year, the Surfs sent seven athletes to college.

“We pride ourselves on sending girls to college,” assistant coach Chris Magee said. “It’s a really nice avenue, especially for girls to have an opportunity. It’s hard in other sports. There are so many basketball players, so many volleyball players, and not so many water polo players. ... You’ve got to be good, but it’s easier to be seen.”

Magee, a former UNLV swimmer, has worked alongside Nitta since she started the program. They rely largely on word of mouth to recruit new players.

Both Taylor and Defusco have played for Team Vegas-Henderson for a decade after their brothers initially stumbled into water polo while swimming competitively. Swimmers often get into water polo, but many team members come from less traditional backgrounds.

“My kids were not even from a swim team,” said Amy Szczublewski, who has four daughters in the program. “They were just regular kids, doing regular swimming through the pool, and they invited us to try it out.”

The team has traveled as far as Brazil to compete in tournaments, but one of the most memorable opportunities came locally. Before the 2012 Olympics, the national team made a stop in Las Vegas and spoke to the program.

Magee, who works for MGM Resorts International, arranged for the Olympic team to scrimmage at the “O” Theater pool at Bellagio. They shifted the bottom of the pool up and down to give the Olympians valuable training time at different depths.

When the women’s team went on to win the gold medal, they cited the experience at the “O” Theater in helping to prepare for London’s shallower pools.

“That was kind of nice to hear,” Magee said.

It was a sign of the program’s growth, just like the expanding trophy cases on display at the Henderson Multigenerational Center and the Whitney Ranch Recreation Center.

Another recent achievement for Team-Vegas Henderson was finishing 19th in the platinum division of a national Junior Olympics competition last year. The experience helped colleges notice Coronado senior Cameron Schiable, who will play at La Salle University in Philadelphia next year.

La Salle added water polo this school year, meaning Schiable should fit right in with another under-the-radar program.

“When we go to California, they don’t take us seriously at all,” Schiable said. “You can tell when we win, they feel awful because they lost to a team that’s not from California.”

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