Coach Charlie Bell walks around the Olympic-sized pool, doing three things at once and loving every minute of it. Normally he has twice as many players and coaches, but today they’re in Bakersfield defending the honor of the One Way Water Polo club.
“In fact, I’m kind of bummed I’m not playing with them today,” he says.
So why isn’t he there? Bell spreads his arms wide, taking in the pool filled with about 25 kids, aged 10 to 17, with a grin: “Someone’s gotta coach.”
For Bell, coaching water polo is something of a tradition for his family. His father coached Santa Maria High School’s water polo team for 30 years. Bell, who had been involved with water polo teams at various schools in the area, started coaching the St. Joseph girls’ water polo team three years ago.
And while he swears it’s not him—“I’m no great coach, I just give them an opportunity”—he’s obviously doing something right. In the three years before he started coaching at St. Joseph, the girls hadn’t won a single match. Last year, they finished second in CIF.
All modesty aside, there’s got to be a strategy for success. When pressed on the issue, Bell says he started a summer program, something they’d never had for water polo at St. Joe’s. He also bought a bunch of family passes to the aquatic center.
“They were all my stepdaughters during adult swim,” he adds with a conspiratorial grin.
But then, as if he feels he’s taking too much credit, Bell again foists credit off of himself.
“To be fair, I’ve been blessed with some exceptional athletes,” he explains. “Two of my girls—Sierra Peltcher and Maggie Evans—are playing Division I water polo for Cal State Bakersfield.”
A look at CSB’s roster reveals players from such diverse locales as Puerto Rico and the Czech Republic. Santa Maria is the only town listed twice.
So does Bell think Santa Maria is becoming a hotbed of water polo talent?
“I hope so,” he says. “I’ve got some great players coming up through the ranks.”
One of those players is Cambria Morales, a soft-spoken eighth grader who was selected to spend time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs last summer. Morales’ mother, Patricia, says water polo has been great for her daughter.
“My daughter is shy,” Patricia says, “but once she gets out in the water, it’s like she turns into the Incredible Hulk out there.”
Patricia adds that until she saw something in the paper about the club, she and her husband knew nothing about water polo, let alone that it was available as a youth sport in Santa Maria. Coach Bell hopes to eliminate such scenarios.
“It’s unfortunate, but most water polo athletes don’t get into the sport until their freshman year of high school,” he says. “If a kid is a good athlete, they see it by the fifth, sixth, or seventh grade, by which time they already have a sport.”
Bell says his goal is to provide an opportunity for anyone, young or old, to give water polo a try. Cost, he adds, shouldn’t be an issue for anyone who wants to play.
“We don’t charge for the first few practices. That way they can see if it’s something they would be interested in,” he says. “And if they don’t like it, they’re not forced into continuing by parents who say, ‘We paid for it, now you’re doing it!’”
If someone does decide to stick with it, participation costs $160 a year, all of which goes to pool fees and equipment. Coach Bell and his staff all donate their time.
Their goal is to make water polo as ubiquitous a youth sport as Little League or Pop Warner football. As far as Patricia is concerned, they’re well on their way.
“After their first practice, my kids couldn’t stop talking about water polo,” she says.
Nicholas Walter is going to go swim laps now. Contact him through the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 5, 2009.