By Ed Piper
Copyright timesofsandiego
LA JOLLA – Stefano Mattesini was talking about why he coaches water polo.
“In Italy (where the La Jolla Country Day coach is from), it’s the third sport. Everybody wants to do soccer. Then, basketball is number two.
“To play water polo, you have to have a passion for it. When I was 10, I was already enrolled in a swim program in Florence. I said, ‘Mom, I want to play water polo. Swimming is boring.’ I see kids playing on the other side and it looks like fun. There’s a lot of action. So, that’s how I started in water polo.”
Mattesini and his assistant coach, Lucas Romaguera, are dealing with a similar situation. They have a small cadre of players on the boys team: Six play on club teams and the school team year-round. The local water polo community is very cross-bred – Romaguera, the assistant, and Mattesini both coach for the La Jolla United club year-round.
But the others on the LJCD team only play for the school, and are basically learning the sport. How do you build that passion, get them to stick with the sport and love it?
Aaron Kalish, the backup goalie to starter/club player Alan Wornovistzky, a junior who used to play for the Del Mar club, might be a good test case. “I haven’t played that much. I’m working on strength in the pool,” says the sophomore.
Asked how he is doing on staying high in the goal to block shots, he says, “The egg-beater – it’s hard at first. But I’m getting better.”
Theodor Nordgaard, another junior, one of three in the Torreys’ core who plays for La Jolla Shores, explains: “I try to show (the newer players) the basics. Specifically, I try to show Daniel (Rianhard, a junior) how to play the ‘one’ position (the 1-2 players are at the far left on offense in the rectangle) and guard.
“I am helping teach Daniel how to catch the ball (in one hand) and shoot. Necessities, you might call it.”
Asked who he foresees making incremental changes to grow in the game, Nordgard says, “Daniel. I enjoy playing with him on the 1-2 side. And Max (Marchbanks, a sophomore).”
After Country Day’s first four games, 11th-grader Nick Mogul had 18 goals and 18 steals. The 6 foot 4 inch tall 16-year-old (“I’m still growing”), who plays in the offseason for Shores, said: “We’ve been good so far. We work really hard as a team.”
He added, “I love the companionship of playing on a team. I love water polo. I started at age 8. We won the Junior Olympics when I was younger.”
As far as studies at LJCD, he says: “I enjoy history. What’s happened and its impact and what’s going to happen in the future. For example? AI. It goes all the way back to radio and TV. In 10 years, I believe we’re all going to have AI agents. We have to be creative.”
