{"id":297172,"date":"2018-02-20T09:58:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T16:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=297172"},"modified":"2018-02-20T16:54:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T23:54:25","slug":"womens-water-polo-grows-in-our-nations-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/womens-water-polo-grows-in-our-nations-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Fan In The Stands: Women\u2019s Water Polo Grows in Our Nation\u2019s Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

PRINCETON, NJ – Abrupt coaching changes are never a good indicator of an athletic program\u2019s long-term health, but in the case of George Washington University\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s water polo programs, the arrival a scant seven months ago of Barry King<\/strong><\/a> has been a godsend. Last fall, King took the men\u2019s team\u2014inherited when Adam Foley<\/strong> unexpectedly resigned in May\u2014to its first-ever NCAA berth, where the Colonials pushed favored Harvard to the limit<\/a> before dropping a thrilling 15-13 overtime decision in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

\"george-washington\"<\/p>\n

This season, King is producing even more impressive outcomes with a relatively inexperienced women\u2019s squad. At the recent Princeton Invitational, the Colonials<\/a> produced a 2-2 record to continue a strong start to their season. With a starting line-up that features four freshmen, George Washington has already captured five wins following a late season collapse in 2017, when the Colonials dropped their final 15 matches, hastening Foley\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n

In a highly entertaining match Friday night against Iona, King\u2019s squad overcame a heroic six-goal effort by the Gael\u2019s senior star Hannah Schultz<\/strong>, taking a 14-12 overtime decision on the strength of 11 goals generated by four freshmen. Jaleh Moaddeli<\/strong>, of Newport Beach\u2019s Corona del Mar High School, led the Colonials with four goals, while Grace Heck <\/strong>(Santa Barbara, CA) and Alana Ponce<\/strong> (Gig Harbor, WA) knocked in three goals apiece and Dara Bleiberg<\/strong> (Simi Valley) contributed a goal and an assist to complete the quartet of first-year player.<\/p>\n

The achievements represent a break with a past that has seen relatively little success for water polo in Washington, D.C. Eagerly evaluating the action of their daughters\u2014and their new team\u2014from the stands of the DeNunzio Pool were Dave Bleiberg<\/strong>, Dean Heck<\/strong> and Rito Ponce<\/strong>, who traveled from the opposite coast. Not only were they impressed by what King has accomplished just a few weeks into the 2018 season, they collectively are excited for the future of Colonial polo as it fights its way up the rungs of the Eastern establishment.<\/p>\n

An unexpected coaching change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bleiberg, Heck, Moaddeli and Ponce\u2014along with Katherine Atherton<\/strong> and Hannah Hathaway<\/strong>\u2014were recruited by Foley to join a GWU squad anchored by seniors Jacqueline Bywater<\/strong> and Scarlett Hallahan<\/strong>, two of the best players in program history. By the close of her final season in D.C., Bywater, currently first in program history in steals (252), second in goals (202), third in assists (114), and third in total points (316) should hold many of the major records in the Colonial record book. Whatever records she doesn\u2019t own will belong to Hallahan, who is first in the school\u2019s history in goals (222), second in assists (116), and second in points (338)<\/p>\n

But, as Foley knew, fielding two great players simply wasn\u2019t enough to counteract almost two decades of futility; GWU has recorded 13 straight losing seasons and has had only four winning campaigns in 18 years of competition. By relying on freshmen, King has taken the program in a different direction, which the assembled dads clearly agreed with.<\/p>\n

\"B_King_GW\"

Barry King. Photo Courtesy: George Washington Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think Barry\u2019s doing a great job,\u201d said Dean Heck, whose daughter was sold on the school as much as the polo program when she committed more than a year ago.<\/p>\n

Quizzed about the coaching change, Rito Ponce, who traveled East two weeks ago to follow his daughter, said he and Alana were puzzled by the move but decided to stay the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Alana you have an opportunity to go to a different venue but you\u2019ve already chosen George Washington, and it\u2019s a good pick,\u201d he said in the stands overlooking the pool. \u201cI felt that she would get more playing time here as opposed to other schools that might have recruited her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did Alana agree, she\u2019s thrived (a team-leading 19 goals) in her new circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s a leader and can make things happen,\u201d Ponce continued. \u201cShe\u2019s aware of the whole pool and can tell you at any point [in a match] where the ball or [specific] the players are… she reacts to each of those situations very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heck, a club coach in his native Santa Barbara, trusted in the advice of friends in encouraging his daughter to stay the course. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure about this guy\u2014didn\u2019t know him\u2014but had recommendations from some good friends in Santa Barbara that knew him from Northern California and said he\u2019s a really good coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

This advice has paid off for his daughter as well; Grace Heck has 15 goals on the year, tied for second on the team with Bleiberg, who just happens to be a long-time friend from the California club scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea of going to college should be about academics, about a new experience,” Heck added. “Grace wanted all of that by going to the East Coast.,\u201d<\/p>\n

Colonial new-found success born in SoCal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like most successful East Coast teams, the Colonials\u2019 success has been bred in the West. Hallahan and Bywater (11 goals each in 2018) are both from California\u2014San Diego and Riverside, respectively\u2014while Bleiberg, Heck, Moaddeli and Ponce all played club ball in the Golden State.<\/p>\n

Dara\u2019s father Dave pointed to this as a key factor in both present and future Colonial success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s lucky that we\u2019ve got four really good freshmen that came to the school from Southern California; it makes a big difference,\u201d Bleiberg said. \u201cThey played at such a high level in California, that they\u2019re able to contribute big minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heck, who has coached age group polo at Westside Aquatics<\/a> in Santa Barbara, pointed out that success now will beget more success later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more East Coast team that are competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen they play USC or UCLA, it\u2019s not so pretty, Michigan\u2019s in the top ten. If they get a few more of those types of schools, I think the East Coast can slowly grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bleiberg, it\u2019s a matter of time and recruiting for George Washington to succeed, especially when trying to topple mighty Michigan. The Colonials’ rival in the Collegiate Water Polo Association<\/a>, the Wolverines are on target for a third straight NCAA berth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to have to recruit some more good players,\u201d he said of the Colonial\u2019s path to an NCAA berth. \u00a0\u201cMichigan\u2019s a great school with a great coach and great players. It\u2019s going to be tough for George Washington. If they can stay close, that will be a huge step in the right direction to maybe get more players being recruited who will want to come to D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor PRINCETON, NJ – Abrupt coaching changes are never a good indicator of an athletic program\u2019s long-term health, but in the case of George Washington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":297213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[63465,46386,51705,3028,42886,66448,66449,60946,61164,66447,60192,60623,66450,66451],"class_list":["post-297172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-adam-foley","tag-alana-ponce","tag-barry-king","tag-collegiate-water-polo-association","tag-cwpa","tag-dara-bleiberg","tag-grace-heck","tag-hannah-schultz","tag-jacqueline-bywater","tag-jaleh-moaddeli","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-michigan-water-polo","tag-scarlett-hallahan","tag-westside-aquatics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nFan In The Stands: Women\u2019s Water Polo Grows in Our Nation\u2019s Capital - 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