{"id":459056,"date":"2021-01-08T11:44:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T18:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=459056"},"modified":"2021-04-04T09:13:42","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T16:13:42","slug":"when-water-polo-play-becomes-sexual-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/when-water-polo-play-becomes-sexual-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"SPECIAL REPORT: When Water Polo Play Becomes Sexual Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is the sort of thing that has the potential to wreck lives,\u201d said Therese Langan,<\/strong> an authority on the treatment of sexually abused teens.<\/p>\n

Langan was referring to the downstream effects of sexual assault on the young players under the tutelage of Bahram Hojreh<\/strong>, a one-time age group water polo coach in Southern California. While head coach for his International Water Polo Club (IWPC), Hojreh is alleged to have physically abused as many as 13 former players. <\/strong><\/p>\n

But the assault on their persons is not the allegation at the heart of the explosive criminal and civil allegations leveled against Hojreh, nor the one that occasioned Langan\u2019s comment. The charge is that Hojreh encouraged, even coerced, his players to perpetrate sexual violence against another underage person.<\/p>\n

These accusations are not proven; the former coach\u2019s guilt or innocence will be determined in the Superior Court of The State of California, and the case has not yet come to trial.<\/p>\n

[USA Water Polo aware in 2017 of sexual assault allegations against California coach and his club<\/a>]<\/p>\n

But what seems certain is that, on at least two separate occasions, players on Hojreh\u2019s 16U girls squad deliberately sexually assaulted their opponents during competition.<\/p>\n

The certainty stems from the number of sworn depositions that have been entered by Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, the Irvine, California-based firm who bill themselves as \u201cAMERICA’S LEADING SEXUAL ABUSE LAW FIRM,\u201d\u00a0into evidence in a civil suit to be tried early next year. The consequences of this particularly heinous accusation\u2014for Hojreh, for USA Water Polo (which was responsible for overseeing the coach and the competition where the alleged abuse took place), and, most important, for the victimized athletes themselves\u2014will almost certainly be life-altering.<\/p>\n

Shocking\u2014but <\/strong>more common than one might think<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In depositions last year, parents of opponents accused International Water Polo Club\u2019s 16U girls, in pointedly descriptive and disturbing language, of attacking their daughters three years ago.<\/p>\n

A key consideration\u2014and a question being probed in the legal action\u2014is why teenaged girls would intentionally assault their peers in the heat of a competitive match, using tactics occasionally employed by age group boys. It has been alleged that Hojreh actually demonstrated the technique in the water on his players as a means of grooming them for subsequent sexual abuse.<\/p>\n

Water polo is a highly physical sport. Grabbing of arms, legs and suits, in defiance of the rules, is common. To minimize this, suits, in particular those for girls, are skin-tight, allowing less play for groping hands. Not that opponents don\u2019t try; anyone who watches polo at any level will notice the tell-tale sign of a suit grab: a player abruptly stopping or being yanked backwards.<\/p>\n

\"Ripped_polo_suit_JAN20\"

Photo Courtesy: FINA<\/p><\/div>\n

Given that their suits have more surface to cover, female polo players are more likely to be the recipients of a strategic pull. The majority of contact, which takes place under water, is almost impossible to detect, but evidence is available all over the Internet, where images of displaced, even mangled, suits proliferate.<\/p>\n

The grabbing of genitals, though, is rare\u2014although not unknown\u2014among age group boys. It\u2019s rare one suspects, because it\u2019s likely to be met with a punch in the face, or the victim loudly screaming, \u201cHe grabbed my …!\u201d<\/p>\n

But such incidents of assault involving girls are almost non-existent, which is what makes the allegations in this case that much harder to comprehend.<\/p>\n

A 2016 much-publicized incident<\/a> in a Chicago suburb involved Rebecca Dabrowski<\/strong> who, playing on a boys\u2019 team, alleged that she was sexually penetrated by a male opponent during a high school match. The incident\u2014not prosecuted by local police\u2014was reported in an interview with the alleged victim and met with firm denials by the accused perpetrator.<\/p>\n

Last March in Canada, allegations<\/a> were made against a female player in Calgary who was accused of assaulting opponents. What distinguishes this is that it was a solitary individual, and the assumption is that\u2014like boys engaging in extreme gamesmanship\u2014the attacks were for competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

A coach well-known in California, and damaging allegations against him<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the third quarter of a June 2017 Junior Olympic SOPAC Zone qualification match between IWPC and Alliance Water Polo Club in Southern California, an Alliance player yelled of her opponent: \u201cshe grabbed my vagina!\u201d. The referee responded by excluding the outraged complainant from the match. Astonished, she stormed off the pool deck.<\/p>\n

A scrum of parents, players and coaches ensued, and accusations were lobbed at Hojreh, IWPC\u2019s coach. The Riverside County Sheriffs\u2019 Department was contacted, and a report was filed.<\/p>\n

In his deposition, the father of the player who allegedly had been violated, stated: \u201cBoth during and following these games, I learned that players on the IWPC team, coached by Hojreh, had been and were assaulting players on opposing teams, including, but not limited to, grabbing other players’ genital areas, inserting their fingers inside the vagina of opposing players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporting the Alliance parent\u2019s claims was a parent whose daughter, a player with Redlands Renegade Water Polo Club, was assaulted the following month.<\/p>\n

\u201c[M]y daughter as well as other players on the Renegades team were sexually assaulted by players on the International Water Polo Club team.\u201d the Renegades\u2019 parent said in a deposition dated August 31, 2020.<\/p>\n

Hojreh, a long-time boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 age group coach in water polo hotbed SoCal, purportedly trained his players, as a means of grooming them, to attack their opponents. It will take the justice system to sort this out; in addition to the civil case filed against Hojreh he is also subject to a criminal trial in Orange County Superior\u00a0Court.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost unheard of<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But, accusations above to the contrary, when it comes to girls systematically abusing girls in the water, there is little precedent.<\/p>\n

Swimming World<\/em> contacted a number of water polo coaches regarding the claims. Responses ranged from outrage about the practice to skepticism about the nature and timing of SW\u2019s inquiry. One prominent age group coach stated that her teams had faced Hojreh\u2019s squads many times, and never had any of her players mentioned anything like what has been charged.<\/p>\n

In addition, the same coach speculated that it would be extremely hard for physical contact of this sort to occur in a fast-paced match where most interactions are not sustained (the exception to this is in set or in transition, with the grabbing that occurs between the hole set and the center defender being the most likely opportunity for abuse).<\/p>\n

But why would the players acquiesce in such flagrantly off-limits\u2013\u2013and risky\u2013\u2013behavior?<\/p>\n

A plausible explanation is suggested by Rich Foster<\/strong>, one-time board chair for US Water Polo, who believed that the behavior is modeled on how boys play dirty. \u201cIt happens a lot on the boys\u2019 side,\u201d he said, and then suggested a scenario as to how the ICPW coach may have pressured his players to commit abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s highly likely that the conversation went like this: Girls, on the boys\u2019 side, players actively grab private parts of the other players to gain an advantage,\u201d Foster said. \u201cIt you want to be like the boys, you\u2019ve got to do it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan Stewart<\/strong>, a partner at Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, who are the lead plaintiff\u2019s attorneys in the civil case, said that the practice was encouraged by a coach the girls trusted and believed it to be an essential element of their success.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Hojreh] told them that they needed to be prepared for this behavior, to expect it [to be] done to them as they moved onto college,\u201d Stewart said in an email. \u201c[I]f they were willing to engage in this behavior to make them better, they could play in college and even onto upper levels like the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must just be horrifying.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Matt Swanson<\/strong>, a successful age group coach for Sleepy Hollow Aquatics (SHAQ) in Northern California, is deeply disturbed by the behavior. In 2016, he started a thread<\/a> on Water Polo Planet about the illicit practice, entitling it: \u201cEradicating the grabbing of balls\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a recent phone conversation, the disgust in the voice of the former UCLA men\u2019s player\u2014who won NCAA titles in 1995 and 1996\u2014is evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you injure someone, if you\u2019re overly physical, it will reward you,\u201d he said, adding that this is often a winning strategy. \u201cYou can get away with it in water polo, and you will succeed because of it. That means\u2026 you\u2019re coaching a team and a style that wins by playing dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to imagine this sort of practice with girls, Swanson paused to consider the implications.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about 14-, 15-year-old girls. It must just be horrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swanson then seemed to equivocate just a bit, which, to SW<\/em>, presents problems, because it begs the question: where does sportsmanship stop and abuse begin in a sport known for excessive contact?<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the girls, it\u2019s a lot more suit-grabbing because they\u2019re wearing a full-body suit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t dirty; If you get caught, you get kicked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just like with the guys. If you grab the side of a guy\u2019s suit \u2026 that\u2019s the game. You\u2019re not trying to injure them, you\u2019re trying to gain an advantage. That\u2019s a whole different ball game than: I\u2019m going to come in and injure this person.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded with a shot against any coach who could accept this style of play; in his club it\u2019s strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a coach who\u2019s okay with that\u2014parents are happy, you\u2019re winning ball games, you\u2019ve got a program with trophies on the wall,\u201d Swanson said contemptuously. \u201cIf you can sleep at night by doing that, so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outrage, of course\u2014but some skepticism as well <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Reaction to the case has been strong, especially regarding the now-disgraced head coach. Stewart, lead attorney to the plaintiffs, has suggested that Hojreh\u2019s actions bear similarities to Larry Nassar<\/strong>, the physician formerly attached to the USA Gymnastics program who is now serving 40 to 175\u00a0years in jail after being convicted of sexual abuse against at least 150 female gymnasts.<\/p>\n

\"nassar_PBS_JAN20\"

Larry Nassar. Photo Courtesy: PBS<\/p><\/div>\n

But a striking difference in this case is that the number of plaintiffs is significantly smaller\u2014Stewart currently counts 13 who have joined the civil action\u2014and the doubtful likelihood of a scheme in which a coach could groom his subjects so effectively that they would perpetrate his crimes against others with spectators present.<\/p>\n

Colleen Lischwe<\/strong>, who since 2018 has led both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s polo teams at McKendree University in Illinois, is livid about the allegations\u2014and also the sullying of a coach\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our role as coaches is to serve as positive models for our athletes, to teach skills that better our team both in and out of the water, and act as a support system throughout the growth process,\u201d <\/strong>she said via email.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Our athletes rely on us for guidance, constructive conversation, and encouragement. To manipulate and abuse these athletes in the way that this coach [allegedly] continued to do for years only shows that his goal was to groom and gain power over his athletes in order to fulfill his own personal agenda over the needs and safety of those he was entrusted to support and guide.<\/p>\n

Lischwe concluded with force: \u201cThis man is not a coach, he is a predator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Davidson<\/strong>, an age group coach in San Diego involved with USA Water Polo as head coach for the US. Boys Development squad, is torn by what he knows of the case. His San Diego Shores girls\u2019 teams had faced off numerous times against Hojreh\u2019s IWPC teams.<\/p>\n

“Nothing was ever reported to me. Braham\u2019s teams played incredibly hard, extremely physical and at a high level for the age group” he said in a recent phone call. “Being retrospective of the time period is very challenging, especially within the context of the information that continues to surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admitting that it\u2019s a \u201cdifficult thing to grapple with,\u201d Davidson tries to reason how someone who had spent so much time trying to create polo opportunities for his players could be so devious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always want to see the good in every person,\u201d he said of Hojreh, whom he does not consider a friend, but who he assumed was similarly devoted to the sport. \u201cSomeone who gave up that much time, to be on the pool deck that much, to not make that much money?\u201d<\/p>\n

Simultaneous victims and perpetrators<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Stewart has said that at least one of the IWPC players has admitted to the behavior\u2014and that only two have been accused. It will take a trial to sort out these details.<\/p>\n

No matter the legal ramifications, the girls will almost certainly be affected long term by the events and the fallout from them\u2014especially those who could have been prosecuted for a crime, even as juvenile offenders. According to Therese Langan, a licensed social worker, experienced in treating both adolescents who have been sexually abused and those who have caused sexual harm, this is a life-defining event.<\/p>\n

Noting that the influence of the authority figure in circumstances such as these is a powerful factor, Langan believes that this is why impressionable teenaged girls could be coerced to sexually assault their opponents in public.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s in the pool\/in front of spectators [parents], it\u2019s known to be a violent game where players scratch and pull and kick,\u201d she postulated in a phone call. \u201c[It\u2019s] not such a stretch for sexual assault to take place, especially if it is encouraged by a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, she added: \u201cSexual assault within a sport can become normalized when systemic acceptance of sexual assault is so prevalent in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Langan believes all of the Manly, Stewart & Finaldi clients in this case will need extensive therapy to recover from their trauma. For her, taking responsibility for harm caused as well as healing from the inflicted trauma are important parts of treatment for the victimized perpetrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork in both of these areas has to take place for the healing to happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The case has the potential to be devastating for the sport itself as it becomes widely known that, in spite of being entirely taboo, there is tacit acceptance of grabbing genitalia during water polo competition.<\/p>\n

A technique for intimidation and dominance in a highly physical sport\u2014 where half of all action is hidden from officials\u2019 view\u2014it will ideally draw universal condemnation from the watchful eyes of would-be polo players\u2019 parents nationwide.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: In response to this article, USA Water Polo provided the following statement regarding it’s relationship with Bahram Hojreh:<\/em><\/p>\n

Even in the instance of JO qualification a club hosted a sanctioned event but USA Water Polo staff did not run the event and were not on-site. To say USAWP was responsible for overseeing the coach and competition would suggest that USAWP staff were to be on-site and that is not accurate. That would be the case for say a Champions Cup or Junior Olympics or another USAWP hosted event.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Swimming World is committed to protecting the privacy of victims of sexual abuse as well as the identities of underage athletes.<\/em><\/p>\n

With Chip Brenner<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is the sort of thing that has the potential to wreck lives,\u201d said Therese Langan, an authority on the treatment of sexually abused teens. 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