When the Santa Ynez High School girls’ water polo team lost to Oceanview High School 10-8 on Feb. 19, Leah Parlato, a Santa Ynez senior guard and co-league MVP, put up a heroic five goals.
“Within the last quarter, I knew it was my last game, so I just kept taking shots and taking shots,” she said.
A versatile player, Parlato can drive, post up, or play hole set. She also has a knack for putting up multiple goals in difficult games against highly ranked teams. In the Pirates’ league final against Newbury Park, she put away four, dragging the game into overtime before a difficult loss.
Swimming at more than 6 feet tall, she is fearsome enough that opposing teams will often double cover her, tasking two defenders to try and shut her down. According to her coach, Jenele Martin, she often draws kick-outs, frustrating her opponents into major fouls and getting them ejected from the game.
Parlato started playing water polo in seventh grade. She supplements her polo at Santa Ynez with club polo in Santa Barbara, where she will continue to play this spring and summer. She also plays club soccer with the Eagles Football Club.
“Diversity between those two sports really challenged me athletically, and I really enjoy the challenge,” said Parlato.
Parlato made varsity polo her freshman year. Martin remembered her as a quiet freshman, skilled but not necessarily confident.
“Over the years, she’s become more and more confident. She knows exactly what she can do, and she does,” Martin said.
Holding a 4.62 GPA throughout the water polo season this year and playing other club sports, Parlato is no slouch out of the pool. She takes on a mess of AP and honors courses.
“She’s a very, very hard worker,” Martin said.
Parlato wants to major in nursing or biological sciences as an undergraduate with the goal of attending graduate school to become a physician’s assistant. Her top choices are UCLA or UC Davis. She plans to focus on her coursework and doesn’t have plans to play water polo at the college level.
“She’s a very determined person, and I look forward to what she’s going to accomplish because it’s going to be good,” Martin said. “She’s going to do very well with whatever path she takes. She’s been with me for four years, and I’m sad to see her go.”
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 5, 2015.