{"id":362906,"date":"2019-04-07T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=362906"},"modified":"2019-04-07T13:49:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T20:49:13","slug":"vavics-presence-looms-large-over-usc-water-polo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/vavics-presence-looms-large-over-usc-water-polo\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Firing, Vavic’s Presence Looms Large Over USC Water Polo"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, CA. In the aftermath of a scandal such as the one that has upended the water polo community at USC, attempts at restoring normalcy start with the strong familial bonds at the core of any successful program\u2014and for the past two decades, Southern Cal has been among the best in that regard.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question that the wreckage resulting from head coach Jovan Vavic\u2019s<\/strong> stunning fall from grace mere weeks ago\u2014a result of allegations that will likely transform<\/a> all Trojan athletics\u2014has severely tested a program that boast the reigning men’s and women’s national champions.<\/p>\n

[After a Quarter Century in Troy, Jovan Vavic Fired as USC Men\u2019s & Women\u2019s Head Water Polo Coach]<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Applying salve to these wounds are Casey Moon<\/strong> and Marko Pintaric<\/strong>, Vavic\u2019s long-time assistants, now elevated to USC head women\u2019s and head men\u2019s coach, respectively. And many players\u2019 parents, whose pride and devotion to both the program and school remain intact, are eager to calm the turbulence surrounding SC polo\u2014almost to the point of obliviousness.<\/p>\n

Trojan pride runs decades deep<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At last weekend\u2019s home match against Stanford, the nation\u2019s second-ranked team, Trojan families were out in strength, many of them rallied by a social media missive<\/a> from USC Athletic Director Lynn Swann<\/strong>. Cheering wildly from the expansive bleachers overlooking the Uytengsu Aquatics Center pool, to take an example, were Lindy<\/strong> and Scott <\/strong>Brownsberger<\/strong>. Their daughter Kaylee is a junior on the squad, and represents a Southern Cal legacy that goes back to her grandparents.<\/p>\n

[Stanford Women\u2019s Water Polo Storms into Uytengsu and Beats USC, Snapping 36-Match Win Streak]<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Kaylee\u2019s mom is charmingly zealous, perhaps reflecting her USC undergraduate days as a cheerleader. Shouting over the din of rabid fans, Lindy said that being a Trojan was her daughter\u2019s sole collegiate aim.<\/p>\n

\"starbucks-fight!-mar19\"

Fight On! Even at the USC Starbucks<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis was the number one place she focused on. She wanted to play water polo here\u2014she pursued it, worked so hard\u2014and she\u2019s playing here.\u201d Mom adds with pride, \u201cNow she\u2019s a national champion.”<\/p>\n

Lindy and Scott\u2014who played tennis for the Trojans\u2014were careful not to pressure their daughter to follow in their footsteps. But the lure was great, and the results reportedly couldn\u2019t have been better for Kaylee, who registered a hat trick last year in an NCAA quarterfinal match<\/a>, as the team latched on to the sixth women\u2019s title of the Vavic era.<\/p>\n

Key to the Brownsbergers\u2019 experience is the feeling that they too have joined a team\u2014enjoying a deep well of support provided by other Trojan parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the other players\u2019 parents that we\u2019ve met\u2014they\u2019ve become a new family for us,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach remains at the head of the polo family<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Moon has only been the Trojan women\u2019s head coach for four matches, but as the top women\u2019s assistant for the previous 12 years, he\u2019s intimately familiar with Vavic\u2019s paternalistic approach: coach-as-loving-father-and-exacting-disciplinarian. Vavic employed it to great effect, skillfully knitting tight bonds to SC and the program, while emphasizing a high bar for success\u2014and public recrimination for failure.<\/p>\n

\"No.

Marko Pintaric and Casey Moon. Photo Courtesy: John McGillen<\/p><\/div>\n

Moon may not be able\u2014or wish\u2014to replicate his mentor\u2019s piercing stares and sharp rebukes when redressing player mistakes. He has his own manner and will develop his relationship with his players over time.\u00a0 But he\u2019s all in on the importance of the close connections that draw in new recruits and link existing players to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you come here to play water polo, [and] for a great education,\u201d said Moon of USC\u2019s culture. \u201cBut it\u2019s all about the relationships, and the girls truly believe it. And that\u2019s what\u2019s made us so successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis idea of family is what we preach from the beginning, and it starts from the top\u2014from our department to our coaching staff\u2014and it goes down to that number 16, 17, 18 girl,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cThey truly love each other\u2026and it shows in how they play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The model of coach as father figure, of course, is not unfamiliar in polo, nor is it peculiar to Southern Cal: Kathy Neushul<\/strong>, who has had three children play for Stanford\u2019s Head Coach John Tanner<\/strong>, including current freshman Ryann, stresses her daughters Jamie\u2019s and Kiley\u2019s continued ties to a coach and a program they graduated from years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t really know what goes on in other programs, but I do know that all three of [the Stanford coaches]\u2014Kyle, Susan and John\u2014they care about them as people, not just players,\u201d Neushul said of the Cardinal coaching staff after her youngest daughter\u2019s team had just beaten USC in overtime. \u201cWhen my daughter had an issue with something in life, not just water polo, she went to John. And he counseled her. That\u2019s five years since graduation!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re in it for the right reasons. This is absolutely their purpose and their goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, that assessment would likely have been liberally applied to USC polo before Vavic was arrested by the FBI on a criminal racketeering charge related to the Varsity Blues<\/a> investigation.<\/p>\n

Ties that blind beyond tribal boundaries<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At a post-game gathering, Dwayne Hauschild <\/strong>appeared relaxed to the point of nonchalance\u2014belying the competitive fire of the former Division I volleyball athlete at Long Beach State. It was fate and friendship that determined his daughter Paige\u2019s athletic career, he said. The younger Hauschild may be the polo world\u2019s best teenaged female\u2014all credit due to the Neushul clan, according to her dad.<\/p>\n

[Paige Hauschild: Great Expectations for a Special Talent]<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny to figure out why we\u2019re water polo people and not volleyball people,\u201d Hauschild said. \u201cIt\u2019s because of Peter and Ryann Neushul. Ryann befriended Paige at Junior Lifeguards, Peter saw them playing together and said, That girl looks like she should try water polo. The rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though water polo may not have the same appeal for him as other sports, Hauschild has no doubts about Paige\u2019s college choice; she was accepted into the nation\u2019s three top programs, including Stanford, but she picked USC.<\/p>\n

\"paige

USC’s Paige Hauschild. Photo Courtesy: Jorge Daboub<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Trojan family thing is real,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing we found out. Our daughter chose this school, not based on anything other than the girls and the feeling of family.\u201d<\/p>\n

That the Neushuls of Stanford are in the conversation when it comes to USC polo should not surprise anyone. The familial ties to polo in California run deep. In addition to a long tenure with the Santa Barbara 805 Water Polo Club<\/a>, one of the best age group clubs in the nation, Kathy Neushul was head coach for UC Santa Barbara\u2019s women\u2019s team. Husband Peter, who was on UCSB\u2019s 1979 national champions, was a two-time All-American for the Gauchos.<\/p>\n

The Neushul matriarch points out how crucial legacy is for a sport struggling to expand past its California roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a lot of people entering water polo whose parents played,\u201d she said in a post-game chat after the game. \u201cThis is the demographic of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a former NCAA varsity coach, she understands the family mindset that drives coaching culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell my teams this all the time: you don\u2019t necessarily have to like everyone on the team, but you certainly have to function together,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd it\u2019s probably one of the few sports that you cannot do by yourself. You can\u2019t take it to the hoop and you can\u2019t be the forward and run to the goal. You have to rely on many things before ball gets in goal. So you do have to come together very tightly as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s this mindset that exists within USC polo\u2014one that will continue until Vavic’s fate is decided.<\/p>\n

No regrets despite a shocking turn of fortune<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of course, the family most identified with the Trojans are the Vavics. Playing his daughter Monica (2012-15) and sons Nikolai (2010-13) and Marko, former head coach Jovan Vavic won six national titles. Even though most mentions of the Vavic patriarch have been scrubbed from the USC website and even from Uytensgu itself, Marko, a sophomore on the men\u2019s team that won and NCAA title last December, was a visible symbol of his father\u2019s tarnished legacy. At 6-5, his is an unmistakable reminder of his father, down to the well-worn Jovan Vavic Water Polo Camp t-shirt he sports.<\/p>\n

[Catching Up with USC Water Polo\u2019s Marko Vavic]<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In the tumult following Vavic\u2019s abrupt removal as coach on March 12 while his team was training in Hawai\u2019i, senior leaders Amanda Longan<\/strong>\u2014the 2018 Cutino Award winner as the nation\u2019s best female player\u2014and Courtney Fahey<\/strong>, a valued contributor to two championship teams, had a calming influence.<\/p>\n

Fahey\u2019s father Rich, loquacious and impeccably dressed in crimson and gold, articulated the depth of his family\u2019s commitment to Trojan polo. Saying that his daughter\u2019s time with the program has been the \u201cbest four years\u201d of her life, Fahey and his wife counsel that this period is more opportunity than challenge.<\/p>\n

\"No.

USC’s Courtney Fahey. Photo Courtesy: John McGillen<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c[I]t\u2019s just another crowning moment in being proud parents, watching our daughter deal with an enormous amount of adversity that most 22-year-olds aren\u2019t prepared for,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve told Courtney the past couple of weeks is: You were built for this. Life throws you curveballs and it\u2019s how you react to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, in a sound bite that could easily be a pitch to new recruits, he adds, \u201cThe USC experience is genuine; when you\u2019re not in it you can\u2019t totally understand it. When you are\u2014you instantly fall in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese girls love each other, they fight together for each other. They embody the difference between really good teams and ones that win national championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

By any means necessary.<\/p>\n

-Opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, CA. In the aftermath of a scandal such as the one that has upended the water polo community at USC, attempts at restoring normalcy start with the strong<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":363032,"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":[54089,67752,75621,75913,1317,2763,75908,67751,75909,75914,67857,378,62606,60192,50842,75915,75911,65185,75912,75910,60272,63503,26266],"class_list":["post-362906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-amanda-longan","tag-casey-moon","tag-courtney-fahey","tag-dwayne-hauschild","tag-john-tanner","tag-jovan-vavic","tag-kathy-neushul","tag-kaylee-brownsberger","tag-lindy-brownsberger","tag-long-beach-state","tag-lynn-swann","tag-marko-pintaric","tag-marko-vavic","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-paige-hauschild","tag-peter-neushul","tag-rich-fahey","tag-ryann-neushul","tag-santa-barbara-805-water-polo-club","tag-scott-brownsberger","tag-stanford-water-polo","tag-usc-water-polo","tag-varsity-blues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nDespite Firing, Vavic's Presence Looms Large Over USC Water Polo - 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