You will find Cinderella stories in every sport, water polo included. With that in mind say hello to the 48th and final seed in the 16 and under boys S & R Sport Junior Olympics, Hanford Water Polo. Hanford makes their way to Southern California from Central California about 45 minutes south of Fresno. A town of about 50,000 boasts a lot of farm country and just two high schools, Hanford and Hanford West.
Vince Roeber is the water polo coach at Hanford High and for the Hanford club and in 14 years with the club had never been to a Junior Olympics until now. Roeber readily admits this isn't your average California water polo club as he has assembled a mix of farm boys and military kids with the neighboring Lemoore naval base bringing families from all over to the area.
It was not an easy road for the team to get here out of the Central California Zone. Considering they have never been, most didn't expect a walk in the park anyway. They were one of 14 teams fighting for six spots, up from five thanks to a zone reallocation. In a game against Clovis B that would have decided whether they had a shot at finishing 5th/6th or 7th/8th the team dug themselves a hole early. They trailed 5-2 headed to the fourth quarter before staging a miraculous rally and outscoring Clovis 6-1 in the final frame to come away with an 8-6 win. They had clinched a spot and were headed to the Junior Olympics.
Roeber says the team was so excited that the game that followed to actually decide who was fifth or sixth wasn't exactly high on everyone's priority list. Now was time for a reality check for the boys from Hanford. On the high school level Hanford usually dominates their area, in addition the club while not making Junior Olympic had built up a pretty good tradition. Then the seedings came out.
"We didn't qualify in 2007, and then this year we are the lowest seed in the tournament, so our feeling was if we win one game we have improved," Roeber said. The normally confident Hanford squad came into Irvine with their tails somewhat between their legs after competing in a pre-JO tournament hosted by CHAWP. After being on the wrong end of a few double digit losses the team knew they were in for a test, and a different brand of water polo.
"We are at the top of our division in Hanford, the CHAWP tournament really put it in perspective for us," said Hanford goalie Ryan Dias who just started playing the game a year and a half ago. "I don't think it set in for any of us, we didn't know how big Junior Olympics was until we got here, our first game was against Florida, then a team from Texas, it really is a national championship," he concluded.
As for the Junior Olympics, after shaking off some opening day jitters Hanford came out and got that win they were looking for taking down Houston B 8-5. Bolstered by a strong group of supporters the team was able to pull away in the fourth quarter and assure themselves they may have started 48th, but won't finish there. "We qualified for 25th-42nd place, a big accomplishment for little Hanford, nobody gave us a shot and we'll place higher than anyone thought," said Dias, who describes Hanford as "cow town, baby."
Now that they have had a taste of the Junior Olympic experience it has become a goal to make this trip an annual experience. "The first year you get your feet wet and hopefully we develop a hunger in these kids to play at a higher level and make it back here," Roeber added.
So while his team adjusts from going 25 yards with wall cages to 25 meters with floating goals Roeber and his group plan to make the most of it, "It's such a great experience, even to be 48th you are still better than those that didn't qualify and it's big for any kid to play in an event like this."
