Carson Silva has a secret go-to maneuver in water polo that’s been working like a charm for him lately.
The move is pretty simple: Be quicker and stronger than everybody else.
“I’m bigger than most people,” the 13-year-old from Lompoc explained. “I’ll usually shoot over people. I’ll do a move where I jump up and fire a shot to the goal. Or I’ll drive and sneak around defenders and put shots up.”
The left wing has six years of competitive swim experience to thank for that special combination of strength and agility in the water. Silva was on the Lompoc swim team for years before discovering the sport of water polo. He joined the One Way Water Polo Club in Santa Maria about three years ago.
“Water polo is my favorite sport so far”and I’ve played just about every sport,” Silva said. “It’s the only sport I look forward to going to practice every time.”
Silva recalled how a former One Way teammate convinced him to join the One Way club.
“When I was on the swim team, there were always pick-up water polo games at the aquatic center in Lompoc,” he said. “A girl there who played on One Way would always tell me to go check out one of their practices. I finally did, and I loved it.”
Silva quickly turned into an offensive weapon on the team. His goal-scoring ability played a vital role in the U14 One Way team capturing first place in the Ventura Summer League on July 16.
“Carson was our leading scorer,” One Way Club coach Miles Whitfield said.
Both the U14 and U12 One Way teams brought home the Ventura Summer League championship, which was the culmination of a nearly two-month period playing two matches every other weekend. Silva said the two age groups joined forces and practiced together six days per week.
One Way teams are also co-ed. While the U14 team is all-boys at the moment, Silva said the squad that gave One Way the most trouble in Ventura was a mostly-girls team from Los Angeles, who they played to a tie.
“The girls are so tough,” Silva said. “We almost lost to them.”
Silva is getting ready to start eighth grade and says he’ll probably attend Cabrillo High School, where he definitely plans to continue playing water polo.
What’s his favorite aspect of the sport?
“The leadership part,” Silva said. “And helping your teammates. Everybody’s helping each other out.” Then he added with a laugh: “My favorite thing really is you can’t get hot playing water polo.”
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 4, 2016.
