Six Fallbrook water polo players compete in Junior Olympics

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Junior Olympics water polo tournament took place July 22-25 in Orange County, and six players from Fallbrook competed with the Pacific Polo club in that tournament.

Kai Maestas, Doug Pearce, Ian Ritchie, and Kayden Trafford played for the boys 18-and-under team. Grant Fukunaga and Calvin Martin were members of the boys 14-and-under team.

"Junior Olympics was a success for both the 14 and the 18 boys," said Pacific Polo coach Heather Calvin.

The positions are based on brackets which reflect wins and losses in each round rather than on overall win-loss records. The 18-and-under boys placed 41st in the nation among 275 teams while the 14-and-under boys were 53rd in the nation.

The matches were played throughout Orange County although all of the Pacific Polo games took place in Buena Park. The 18-and-under boys played nine games, winning four and losing five. "We lost both of our back door opportunities," Calvin said.

Had the 18-and-under team defeated their San Jose opponents Pacific Polo would have been among the top 24 tournament teams.

"I just loved the way the kids played. They played hard," Calvin said. "The boys just stayed in the game as much as possible."

Calvin noted that the Fallbrook players applied lessons from their losses and watched other teams play so that the Fallbrook players could learn and improve. She also noted that the 14-and-under Fallbrook players were asking the 18-and-under coaches for advice.

"It really impressed me," Calvin said.