LJ b water polo: Avery for the common man

By Ed Piper

It was 7:05 a.m. All sorts of citizens swimming laps width-wise in the Coggan Pool. Not a La Jolla High water polo player in sight.

Pablo Rayon and a friend showed up. Then Cole Atwell, son of the coach, pulled onto the pool area, parking his bike on the deck.

"I'm not on the varsity," said Rayon's friend when a visitor approached.

Eventually, by 7:20, then 7:25 p.m., the entire slate of varsity and JV hopefuls congregated under the awning at the far end of the pool.

A scorcher the last few days, the sun was already up and shining.

Over on the side, as teammates chatted, Neil Avery, a senior, began to change into his swimsuit, using a towel for cover. A common surfer and swimmer technique by the coast.

"I'm trying out for varsity," said the 5'11", 153-pound athlete. "I've played three years on JV's."

Avery, who doesn't play club water polo, is the ultimate candidate for Coach Tom Atwell's varsity to represent the common man.

Here, in the "Golden Triangle" of water polo, stretching from Del Mar down the coast to Coronado, most of the elites of the sport of high school level populate clubs.

Outside of the triangle, not too many water polo clubs, high school teams, and individual star players flourish. The dominant high school teams, made up of players from the area's select club teams, include Cathedral Catholic, Coronado, La Jolla, and Bishop's, the Vikings' big rival.

Coach Beto Martinez, at University City High, is trying to make inroads against that. Besides working it with his Centurion team in the UC aquatics program, he is spreading the gospel of water polo to kids in Southeast San Diego and elsewhere outside the Golden Triangle.

Avery, a perimeter player, a non-clubber, is swimming against the current, so to speak. He is the rare Viking who doesn't play club, yet aspire to have a role on the team.

"As most of the older players know, eight or nine players are going to be doing most of the playing," Atwell told his hopefuls at the beginning of an evening practice Tuesday night, Aug. 7. "The others are going to be spending a lot of time right here (by the side of the pool during timeouts), listening and learning. Are you that kind of teammate?"

Whether Avery, who played on the JV's the last two years, freshman and junior varsity his freshman year--"the two teams were kind of combined back then"--entertains thoughts of breaking into the top "eight or nine" his coach referred to, or being satisfied with just making the varsity squad this year, isn't known.

But more power to him, a throwback to an era when youth and high school sports weren't as specialized. Not a goalie, not a two-meter player, but a field player offering to contribute at any of the perimeter positions, the modest senior would seem to be a valuable contributor in either of the roles.