By Ed Piper
The trajectory of Viking goalie Vincent Vega the last few years has been toward NCAA Division 1 competition. It is no accident. It also has required a measure of sacrifice by Vinny's family for him to pursue his playing career.
First, Vinny showed promise.
Then, his family relocated from downtown San Diego to the La Jolla High attendance area, renting out their home in downtown, for him to play for LJHS.
Vinny, whose sister is the starter for Coach Amy Jennings' Vikings girl water polo team, played for Coach Tom Atwell on the La Jolla United club team offseason. That led naturally into wanting to play for Atwell at La Jolla High.
Vinny was named First Team All-Western League in Fall 2023, and Second Team All-Western League in 2022 as a junior, as her finished high school furthering that earlier promise and preparing for competition in college.
This past season, he was named First Team All-CIF San Diego Section in goal.
He and his family checked out some Division 1 college programs. He could have opted for the University of Arizona, but he chose UC Irvine.
"He got along well with the group at UC Irvine, and it seemed like a more cohesive group," his father remarked recently.
Meanwhile, over the winter of 2023-2024, after the Fall 2024 school season at La Jolla, the senior took part in workouts for the Olympic Development Program (ODP) Youth Academy team. He was selected as one of the small number of goalies who would play for the U.S. team.
His practice and participation in the past year required travel to and from sites elsewhere to prepare.
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