For the most part, water polo is still a fairly new game in the United States. Most of what we know about water polo comes from the Olympics—one of the only times there is television coverage of the sport.
Despite this, water polo has experienced increased interest since its debut as one of the first team sports entered in the Olympics in 1900. The sport is most prevalent in eastern European nations. Stateside, the places where water polo is more popular—California, the Northeast, and Chicago—have greater populations of eastern European immigrants.
Last month, two Ernest Righetti High School water polo players had the opportunity to train with the Montenegro and Holland water polo teams for 10 days. Junior Kaybree Albright and senior Colter Knight were selected to attend the bi-annual trip led by their club team, Santa Barbara Water Polo Club. Coaches Cathy Neushul, Connor Levoff, and Siena Van Alphen traveled with the girls’ and boys’ teams.
“I had never been out of the U.S. before,” Albright said “I was nervous to be on the plane for 10 hours.”
Albright went with 12 other players to train with the junior and senior Dutch teams; the Dutch women won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“My first impression of Holland was everything is green. The atmosphere is very different there,” Albright said. “I really liked it!”
The junior utility player has been with the club since her freshman year of high school but has been focused on playing for Righetti. This last season, she was a key leader and top scorer for her team, earning PAC-7 First Team Honors for her efforts.
The team trained abroad for five days each week, Albright said, and they would practice two to three times a day.
“Then we would scrimmage a highly competitive team who was having tryouts,” Albright said. “They were a tier below the national team in play.”
The junior said players there are older and a lot stronger physically.
“The referees let the games get a lot more physical; you really have to work for your calls,” Albright shared. “The players are a lot more aggressive.”
Albright also observed some differences in coaching style, too. While her coaches were very vocal and spent the game walking up and down the pool deck, the European coaches remained sitting, opting to review the plan of attack with the team before every quarter.
The trip was an enjoyable learning experience for Albright.
“It taught me to be more aggressive and strive to do more. In order to do that, I have to become more of a key player on defense and offense,” she said.
Meanwhile, in nearby Montenegro, Knight was scrimmaging against three clubs: Primovac, Budva, and Kotora. The driver said they were the three strongest teams in a 20-mile radius.
“The opportunity for this trip came up with the SB water polo club,” Knight said. “Fortunately, they selected me as one of 15 players to go on this trip.”
Knight has been training with the club prior to high school, but has focused on high school play for the last three years. Now that his senior season is over, Knight will spend more time training in Santa Barbara.
“I’ve traveled before, but I was really excited,” Knight said. “Eastern Europe has really strong teams.”
Knight said the team trained twice a day and in the evenings; they would scrimmage four local club teams.
“They play a lot more conservatively, but I did notice some similarities,” Knight said. “But we learned to develop our shooting and passing; they are all strong shooters and passers.”
For Knight, the most interesting part of the experience was witnessing the popularity of water polo in that part of the world.
“One night we got to watch a professional game and citizens paid to come watch,” Knight said. “One of the assistant coaches told me it’s comparable to the NBA.”
Both Knight and Albright had time off with their teams to explore and sightsee. Knight said his team would go hiking or mountain climbing in their free time. His favorite spot was a church at the top of the mountain above the city.
Albright and her team even had time to explore Amsterdam, and spent three days in Zeist.
“We went to pancake houses, did a tour in Amsterdam, rented bicycles—we got to see a lot of things,” Albright said.
Albright has one more year with Righetti and plans to work on what she learned in Holland. She wants to play water polo collegiately and is still touring universities to find the right fit. Knight will be training with the club. His eye is aimed at UC Davis.
Eric Albright, Righetti’s athletic director and Kaybree’s father, was excited his players had this opportunity.
“It’s a huge plus for our players because it’s a whole different style,” Eric said. “It’s very physical and it is great training.”
Staff Writer Kristina Sewell dreamed of playing softball in Italy. Contact her at ksewell@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 8-15, 2014.
