FAST Water Polo hosts tournament

The second annual FAST Water Polo Tournament was held January 27-28.

In addition to the Fallbrook High School pool which is the home facility of the Fallbrook Associated Swim Team club, the tournament also saw matches held at Palomar College, The Wave in Vista, Frog’s Club One in Rancho Bernardo, Mount Carmel High School, Rancho Bernardo High School, and Cathedral Catholic High School. A total of 63 teams from four states competed in six divisions.

“It was a great tournament overall. The competition was very intense in all divisions,” said Jeremy Piasecki, the head water polo coach for FAST and the tournament director.

The FAST Water Polo Tournament is intended to be a developmental tournament. “There were just so many high-echelon teams that were there, it becomes a championship tournament as well,” Piasecki said.

One difference between the FAST tournament and championship-oriented tournaments is that FAST implemented a “mercy rule” which ended a match if one team was ahead by ten goals. “It just really makes teams think about how they’re going to play the game and really work on the fundamentals,” Piasecki said.

The tournament was sanctioned by USA Water Polo, which is the governing body of the sport. Because it occurred during the girls high school water polo season, no girls over age 14 participated. The tournament had 18-and-under, 16-and-under, and 14-and-under boys divisions, a 14-and-under girls division, and 12-and-under and 10-and-under co-ed divisions.

Janet Dubnansky’s daughter plays for Fallbrook High School, so Dubnansky did not have any children in the tournament but still helped with organizational and on-site components. Dubnansky and FAST swim coach Sean Redmond were the honorary tournament directors.

Although Dubnansky’s daughter could not play in club competition during the CIF season, Katryna Dubnansky served as the site director for the Fallbrook High School pool. Janet Dubnansky, Teri Heyneman, and Scott McCook also served as site directors.

FAST had 12-and-under coed, 14-and-under boys, and 14-and-under girls teams in the tournament while the Fallbrook-based Tribe Water Polo fielded a 16-and-under boys team. Piasecki coached FAST’s 14-and-under girls while Robert Turner coached the 14-and-under boys and Jeremy Heimbegner coached the 12-and-under team. Fallbrook High School boys water polo coach Bob Lamont coached the Tribe squad.

FAST’s 14-and-under boys had the best showing of the Fallbrook teams, placing sixth among the 11 teams in that division. FAST defeated Los Alamitos by a 7-5 score before an 11-1 loss to Rose Bowl of Pasadena, a 15-5 defeat at the hands of the Capistrano Valley Aquatic Club team, and a 12-2 setback from Elite of Murrieta.

Rose Bowl won the 14-and-under boys bracket, and Matthew Schwartz of Rose Bowl was named the division’s Most Valuable Player.

The Tribe squad placed 14th among 21 teams in the division. The Fallbrook club lost to the Pacific team which practices at Westview High School by an 11-10 score before a 17-11 win over Saddleback-El Toro, a 7-6 victory against Poway’s Titan Water Polo Club, and a 17-10 triumph at the expense of Los Alamitos. Tribe concluded the tournament with an 11-10 loss to Neptune Aquatics of Carlsbad.

Capistrano Valley Aquatic Club won the 16-and-under division, and CVAC’s Kyle Teftman earned Most Valuable Player honors.

FAST’s 14-and-under girls finished last among the division’s seven teams. “Our girls had two close games. We just couldn’t pull it out,” Piasecki said.

The FAST 14-and-under girls began the tournament with an 11-1 loss to Gold Coast Aquatics (Ventura County) and a 10-1 defeat against CVAC but then played two competitive games, falling 13-6 to Neptune Aquatics and 12-9 to Carlsbad Women’s Water Polo Club.

The 13-6 loss was close until the fourth period, and Piasecki noted that many of FAST’s 14-and-under players were eligible for 12-and-under competition. “We have a fairly young team,” he said. “It’s just great experience.”

North San Diego Stars, which is based in Vista, won the 14-and-under girls division. Victoria Williams of North San Diego Stars was the Most Valuable Player.

FAST’s 12-and-under team finished last among the division’s 11 squads, losing all four games but by a combined total of 14 goals. “All of our games were close,” Piasecki said.

The losses consisted of a 13-8 match with Saddleback-El Toro, 9-8 and 7-5 contests against Los Alamitos, and a 14-8 competition versus Rose Bowl.

CVAC took the 12-and-under division championship with Freddie Mannion of CVAC earning the MVP award.

The 18-and-under boys competition consisted of nine teams. Carlsbad earned the championship and Jay Shafer of Carlsbad took home the MVP designation.

The 10-and-under division featured four teams and was won by Commerce. Mark Naranjo of Commerce was given the Most Valuable Player award.