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Santa Barbara Aquatics Pee Wee water polo/swim is back for the summer! It begins Monday, June 2, 2014

Please help spread the word to friends in the community about this great program for 5-7 year olds. (8-10 year olds new to water polo are welcome to join our 10 and under program at the same location)

The Focus is FUN in the water while learning basic swimming skills and playing with a small water polo ball. They can wear a wetsuit if they want to stay warm, and should have goggles along with an appropriate swim suit. All participants will get a size 1 ball included in registration.

The sessions will be held every Monday and Wednesday from 5-6pm at the UCSB Campus Pool. Program runs June 2 – July 31, 2014.

The fee for the entire session is $75. To register for the pee wee program, please click ‘Registration’ on the main menu.

Dos Pueblos graduate Sami Hill of UCLA shut down Stanford’s power offense for much of the first half in Sunday’s Division I National Championship game at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Hill, who allowed only one natural goal in UCLA’s 5-3 semi-final victory over defending champion USC, was primed to lead the Bruins in their first NCAA championship game since 2009.

Stanford scored one goal in the first quarter and UCLA led 5-3 at half after a beautiful cross cage upper-left shot from Kodi Hill. Stanford tied the game 5-5 in the third and then powered to a 9-5 victory in the fourth. Senior Annika Dries, the tournament MVP, scored a hat trick on the day including two from center-forward, highlighting Stanford’s superiority down low.

Stanford’s defense keyed the Cardinals fourth NCAA title especially against UCLA extra player advantages. The Bruins were 0-5 on power plays including 0-3 in the second half. Kiley Neushul had two key steals and helped keep the Bruins leading scorers off the board at the defensive end. Neushul’s stuff block and recovery of an Emily Donahoe shot from right hander during a fourth quarter power play defined the perfect five on six defense that won the game for the Cardinal. Sami Hill finished with 12 blocks in the contest. Hill and Kiley Neushul were named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team.

In the third place contest Cal’s Tiera Schroeder and Madeline Trabucco fell to the Trojans of USC 11-8. The Bears, who lose only one senior to graduation, had a stand-out season from Trabucco, a freshman, in goal. Amanda Redfern and the Indiana Hoosiers upended Leah Gonzales and Laurel Kistler of UCSD in the seventh place game. This is Indiana’s third appearance at the NCAA Championships and they are 3-6 overall in tournament play. Seniors Redfern and Gonzales are both attending graduate school in environmental science. Ten Santa Barbara alumni participated in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

Hill is nominated for Water Polo’s Heisman

At the conclusion of the 2014 season, Sami Hill was nominated for the Cutino Award as National Player of the Year along with Annika Dries and Maggie Steffens of Stanford. The Cutino Award is given annually by the Olympic Club of San Francisco in honor of the late Peter J. Cutino, the former University of California Berkeley men’s water polo coach, who passed away in September 2004. Cutino was named “Water Polo Coach of the Year” seventeen times and led UC Berkeley to eight NCAA National Championships. After retiring from Cal Cutino coached Olympic Club teams.

Kiley Neushul won the 2012 Cutino award after leading Stanford to the school’s third national championship during her freshman year. Hill and Neushul were teammates at Dos Pueblos High School where they won three consecutive CIF titles. They are now members of the Women’s Senior National Team and will compete in FINA World League and World Cup tournaments during the summer.

Women’s Water Polo keeps Stanford’s streak alive

Winning the Women’s Water Polo NCAA Championship kept Stanford’s nation’s leading 38-year streak of national championships alive. Stanford’s national championship total stands at 105 second only to UCLA with 110 and followed by USC with 99.

Top seeded Stanford University (25-1) will face second seeded UCLA (24-4) in the 2014 NCAA Championship Game 5:00 Sunday at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatic Center. All of the tournament’s final games are streamed live at NCAA.com. Stanford’s only loss of the season came against UCLA at the Irvine Tournament in February.

Stanford defeats Cal

Kiley Neushul scored a penalty shot and made several assists, including a blistering no hesitation cross pass to a driving Maggie Steffens, in helping lead Stanford to a 12-8 victory over Tiera Schroeder and the Cal Bears. Schroeder also unleashed a pinpoint pass to Roser Tarrago, a Spanish Olympian, who redirected it into the goal. Tarrago’s four goals were not enough to stop the Cardinal. Neushul spend much of the game glued to Dora Antal, a Hungarian Olympian and the MPSF’s leading scorer, who was held to one goal on the day. Madeline Trabucco managed four blocks in the contest but faced a near impossible task once the Cardinal counterattack got into gear. Stanford advanced to their fifth straight NCAA championship game.

UCLA stifles USC

In the second semi-final game, Sami Hill led the UCLA Bruins with 8 blocks in a defensive battle with defending NCAA Champion USC. Playing at home, the third seeded Trojans brought the band, cheerleaders, and a huge crowd of fans. UCLA silenced the crowd by allowing only one natural goal in the entire match. Kodi Hill opened scoring with a cross-cage blast to the upper left corner, beating USC’s Flora Bolayni, a Hungarian Olympian and USC’s all-time leader in blocked shots. Bolayni’s seven stops were not enough to carry the Trojans. Late in the first half, Kodi Hill delivered a flawless power-play pass to the Bruin’s Rachel Fattal for UCLA’s third goal of the match.

USC drew several ejections including three key opportunities in the second half but was unable to penetrate UCLA’s perimeter 5 on 6 defense. Kodi Hill blocked the last of these opportunities helping seal the 5-3 victory for the Bruins and leaving no doubt as to which team deserved a berth in the championship game. USC will face Cal in the third place game.

In the consolation bracket Santa Barbara’s Leah Gonzales and Laurel Kistler’s of the UCSD Tritons fell to UCI in a high scoring contest. UCSD battled back to make the score 9-11 early in the fourth quarter but fell victim to an Anteater power surge that made the final 17-11 in favor of UCI. Gonzales and Kistler will now face Amanda Redfern and the Indiana Hoosiers who lost a second half battle with the Arizona Sun Devils 13-9. ASU’s win was the first was the first NCAA tournament victory in the history of women’s water polo at the school.

Santa Barbara Style at the NCAA’s

Right hand injuries to Kelsey O’Brien (UCLA) and Jamie Neushul (Stanford) cut the Santa Barbara alumni “roster” to eight at this year’s NCAA Championship but enough remained to leave the club’s stamp on the tournament. Santa Barbara’s Hill, Neushul, and Schroeder anticipated drives and fearlessly put the ball exactly where it needed to be repeatedly throughout the tournament. That skill along with body position on both offense and defense are trademarks of Santa Barbara club polo that are taught from 12U on up. Sami Hill’s ability to read the counter attack and pass to inside four meters—assisting from the goal–is another skill honed in Santa Barbara. Starting in goal as a Freshman is practically unheard of in women’s water polo. Madeline Trabucco’s performance for Cal this year sustains a tradition of excellence in Santa Barbara goalkeeping that helped propel the Bears into the bronze medal game.

Regardless of which team prevails in Sunday’s championship Santa Barbara goalkeeping, driving, and fastbreak style water polo is making its mark at the largest and most competitive NCAA tournament in the history of women’s water polo.

Day one of the largest and most talent-filled NCAA tournament in the history of women’s water polo featured ten Santa Barbara Water Polo alumni many of who made themselves heard in the opening round. UCLA’s Sami Hill erected a wall in the cage vs. Leah Gonzales and Laurel Kistler of UCSD. The 2014 Cutino Award nominee blocked ten shots in just over three quarters of play and the Bruins beat the Tritons 12-8. Kodi Hill dished out three beautiful assists to a trio of Bruin scorers whose fast break offense was too much for the Tritons. UCLA is now 26-4 and will face third seeded USC at 5:15PM on Saturday. The Bruins split games with the defending NCAA champions this season. In their MPSF league game Sami Hill stifling the Trojan offense and handed USC (25-3) their first ever home loss at the new Uytengsu Aquatics Center. UCSD falls to 27-11 and will face sixth seeded UCI at noon.

O’Brien and Neushul are casted together

Bruin attacker Kelsey O’Brien was in the mix during the fourth quarter helping stifle a UCSD rally but suffered a spiral fracture in her right hand while defending at center forward. O’Brien joins long time teammate Jamie Neushul (attacker/Stanford) on the injured list. Neushul, who was named to the 2014 MPSF Newcomer team, fractured her right hand in practice two days before the tournament and was not cleared to play. Together, O’Brien and Neushul won Junior Olympic titles at 12, 14, 16, and 18 age levels including two straight 18 titles from 2012 to 2013. Their teams are the most successful in the history of Santa Barbara Water Polo Club.

Stanford defends against the Hoosiers

Kiley Neushul and first seeded Stanford used a stifling defense to stop eighth seeded Amanda Redfern and the Indiana Hoosiers with a score of 18-2 in the first round. Neushul led the Cardinal with four goals. The score does not reflect the twelve extra player opportunities Indiana managed to generate because Stanford’s five on six defense blocked numerous shots and allowed only one extra player goal. Water polo teams strive for at least fifty percent on power plays. Stanford was 8 out of 9. Indiana will now face ASU at 1:45PM. Stanford will face third seeded Cal at 3:30PM.

Schroeder Ices the Sun Devils

Tiera Schroeder, Madeline Trabucco, and the Cal Bears faced the toughest match of the first round in fourth seeded ASU, a team studded with international stars including two-time Chinese Olympian Ao Gao. Schroeder helped Cal get off the blocks fast in the first quarter, driving for an ejection and then immediately dishing a beautiful assist to Roser Tarrago. Schroeder iced the game in the fourth quarter, beating three Sun Devil defenders with a fast break goal to go up 7-4. Schroeder’s goal was Cal’s only score in the second half. Madeline Trabucco was solid in goal for the Bears with 5 saves.

All of the NCAA matched are streamed live at NCAA.com beginning at noon on Saturday when Leah Gonzales, Laurel Kistler, and the UCSD Tritons face the Anteaters of UC Irvine.

Santa Barbara Water Polo Club’s 14U and 12U Girls teams won Bronze Medals at last weekend’s 21st Annual San Diego County Cup, the nation’s largest 8th Grade and under water polo tournament. Led by Cathy Neushul and Connor Levoff, the 14U girls were seeded first as 2013 defending champions. After winning their bracket and advancing to the top four, a 7-6 sudden death loss to Socal Water Polo Club in the semifinals knocked the 14s into the Bronze Medal Game with Diablo Water Polo Club of Northern California. Santa Barbara crushed Diablo in the first half, leading 7-2, and then cruised to a 10-4 victory, easily capturing third place. The 14U Bronze Medalists included Lili Rose Akin, Abbi Hill, Olivia Kistler, Ryann Neushul, Thea Neushul, Chloe Pena, Grace Raisin, Georgia Ransone, Alex Szymczak, and Josie Thorpe. Sophia Trumbull had an excellent tournament in goal.

In 2013 the Santa Barbara 12U girls squad finished second to United Water Polo Club. This year the two clubs met in the semifinals where the12U squad, led by Patrick Reynolds, fell in sudden death overtime. The back and forth duel with United knocked the 12 girls into a tough third place match with perennial power Commerce Water Polo Club winning 10-5. Playing their first match in the larger, championship pool, the 12’s dominated Commerce. The 12U Bronze Medalists included Shannon Connelly, Abigail Hendrix, Claire Kronen, Hannah Meyer, Cassidy Miller, Ella Prentice, and Sabina Shackelford. Anna Cable had an outstanding tournament in goal. Sabina Shackelford was named to the All-Tournament Team.

As the 2014 Women’s Collegiate Season comes to an end 23 Santa Barbara Water Polo alumni will compete for a berth at the NCAA Championship tournament held at the University of Southern California on 9-11 May. This weekend’s conference championships will determine what teams will make the NCAA tournament.

In the East, Charlotte Hendrix (SBWPC/SBHS) will help lead the seventh seeded Harvard Crimson at the 2014 Collegiate Water Polo Associate Championship (CWPA) tournament held at Bucknell University. Hanna Koper (SBWPC/SMHS), a freshman at Brown University, is participating with the fifth seeded Bears. Amanda Redfern (SBWPC/DPHS), a senior at Indiana University, helped lead the Hoosiers to their second consecutive conference championship and a first place seeding at the CWPA championship. Chandler Vilander (SBWPC/DPHS) and the George Washington University Colonials fell just short of qualifying for the CWPA championship after placing fifth in the CWPA Southern Division Championship.

Rose Koper (SBWPC/SMHS), a junior at Claremont McKenna College helped the Athenas to a second place finish in conference play with a 7-1 record. Claremont is seeded second at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship. Claremont’s only conference loss came to top seeded Pomona-Pitzer 7-8 after Koper scored a goal in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Senior Leah Gonzalez (SBWPC/SBHS) and Sophomore Laurel Kistler (SBWPC/DPHS) of the University of California at San Diego will lead the first seeded Tritons at the 2014 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) championships. Gonzalez scored two goals in UCSD’s win over arch-rival San Diego State to claim the 13h Annual Harper Cup (UCSD’s first ever) and was named the Cup’s Most Valuable Player. Brittny Hummel (SBWPC/SMHS) a junior at Sonoma State is also competing at the WWPA championship with the fourth seeded Seawolves. Hummel scored a team leading 26 goals this season and was named to the WWPA First Team All-Conference.

Noelle Mann (SBWPC/VHS), a junior at the University of the Pacific, will compete in the inaugural Golden Coast Conference (GCC) championship for the fifth seeded Tigers. The Big West Tournament will feature a host of SBWPC veterans including fifth seeded UCSB’s Miranda Schrader (SBWPC/RHS), Sophie Trabucco (SBWPC/SBHS), Tess Wardell (SBWPC/VHS), Jade Wentz Fitzgerald (SBWPC/SMHS), and Carly Christian (SBWPC/NHHS). Mackenzie Fowler (SBWPC/SBHS) and Jade Arner (SBWPC/VHS) of Cal State Northridge will lead the second seeded Matadors at the 2014 Big West Championship.

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship will feature Kiley and Jamie Neushul (SBWPC/DPHS) from top seeded Stanford and the trio of Sami Hill, Kodi Hill (SBPWC/DPHS), and Kelsey O’Brien (SBWPC/SBHS) from second seeded UCLA. UCLA’s assistant coach is Molly Cahill (SBWPC/SBHS) a four-time NCAA champion for the Bruins. Stanford enters the tournament on an upswing after conference wins over defending national champion USC and UCLA. The Hill sisters broke the Bruins’ six-game losing streak to USC handing the Trojans their second loss of the season and first ever at the new Uytengsu Aquatic Center. Sami Hill had 13 blocks to anchor the Bruins in goal. Tiera Schroeder (DPHS/DPHS) and Madeline Trabucco (SBWPC/SBHS) will lead Cal at the MPSF tournament. Trabucco is starting in goal as a freshman for the fourth seeded Bears. Alisa Argend (SBWPC/VHS) and Ashlea Coski (SBWPC/CHS) will represent fifth seeded San Jose State at the MPSF championship. The Spartans finished conference play in a three-way tie with Cal and Arizona State University.

SBWPC players garnered a number of individual honors during the 2014 Season. In addition to Hummel’s First Team All WWPA honor and Gonzalez’ Harper Cup MVP award, Kodi Hill and Kiley Neushul were named MPSF Player of the Week and freshmen Madeline Trabucco and Jamie Neushul received MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards. Conference champions will be awarded automatic berths at the 2014 NCAA Championship Tournament to be held at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center on 9-11 May.

Hello Everyone,

We will be offering a summer day camp June 9th-13th at San Marcos High School. This is the week prior to Junior Guards starting down town. Last year we started our camp and had over 25 attendees. The camp was a great success and we are proud to offer it again this year.

The camp will run from 9:00 -2:00 Monday – Friday. We will accommodate drop off at 8:00 and pick up until 3:00.

Throughout the week all attendees will have the opportunity to have their swim strokes as well as water polo fundamentals recorded on video for the coaches and athletes to review. This will be done once at the beginning and once at the end of the week, and each athlete will receive a DVD of his or her own footage to take home at the end of the week. I want athletes to see what they look like in the water, and ways to improve their swimming and water polo skills.

This is not a training camp, however is designed to provide video analysis of athletes . Skills will be emphasized. This will help accommodate athletes who have other practices during the same week so that they are not doing too much. If an athlete has a club practice or other obligation they can arrive late or leave early.

Typical day would look like this
8:00 – 9:00 drop off
9:00 – Stroke fundamental talk
9:20 – Video fundamentals of the stroke
9:50 -11:20 in pool work / filming
11:20 – 12:20 lunch / movie
12:20 – 12:40water polo fundamental talk
12:40 – 1:00 video fundamental of skill
1:00 – 2:00 in the pool for fundamental skills / video

2:00 – 3:00 – continued pool time / free time to wait for pick up.

Cost of the camp will be $285.00 for the week. A sibling discount of $25.00. Will be given to families with 2 or more siblings. Early registration fee discount of $25.00 will be applied for all applicants who have camp application submitted by April 18th.

I will have several athletes helping with the camp. Also Chris Hummel and Peera Sukavivatanachai will be serving as camp counselors.

I realize some have already made plans for the summer. If you are interested please reserve your spot.We will need a minimum of 15 athletes to sign up for the camp to take place. We will assess Camp sign ups on May 24th. If we do no have enough interest we will notify you immediately so that you are able to make other arrangements for the week. Please email Chuckie Roth at:

chuckroth31@hotmail.com

Download the forms below, these must be completed and submitted at time of registration.

Summer Clearance Form

SM Aquatics Camp Athlete Info

San Marcos High School Waiver

All forms and payments can be submitted in person to Brian Roth at San Marcos High School, or mailed to:

San Marcos High School
Attn: Brian Roth
4750 Hollister Ave.
Santa Barbara CA, 93110

San Marcos High’s Chuckie Roth was honored as the CIF Southern Section’s girls water polo coach of year by the California Coaches’ Association.

Roth guided the Royals to a 21-8 record, a share of the Channel League title and to the quarterfinals in CIF Division 1. His teams have made the playoffs five straight years.

The California Coaches’ Associaton is the largest all-sports coaching organization in the state of California with over 2,000 active members. Roth’s name will be submitted to the state as a finalist for the CCA’s State Coach of the Year.

Freshman goalie Madeline Trabucco received the MPSF/KAP 7 Newcomer of the Week award earlier this month. This is the first newcomer award for Trabucco, and the first for an MPSF goalie in the 2014 season. Trabucco made 13 saves, including a handful of high-quality ones, to help the fourth ranked Bears preserve the win over the San Jose Spartans. Trabucco starred in goal for the Santa Barbara Water Polo Club, leading the 18U girls in three consecutive National Club Championship and National Junior Olympic Championship games. Santa Barbara is the two-time defending national champion in 18U girl. Madeline was named MVP at the 2013 National Junior Olympics and is starting in goal for Cal as a Freshman. Trabucco also led Santa Barbara High School to their first ever Division I CIF Semi-Final game in 2013.

The upside for Trabucco is that the Cal Beasrs are loaded with some of the best shooters in the world. Fellow Freshmen Roser Tarrago of Spain and Dora Antal of Hungary helped lead their respective countries to Gold and Bronze at the 2013 FINA Women’s World Championship held in Barcelona Spain over the summer. Both were 2012 Olympians and are among the most prolific scorers in the world. Facing players of this caliber every day in workout will take a goalie’s game to new levels. Madeline’s Newcomer of the Week award is also the first for a Santa Barbara Water Polo Freshman this season. With 26 women competing at Division I schools Madeline sees plenty of former team mates in the pool including her twin sister Sophie Trabucco who competes for UCSB and Cal team mate junior Tiera Schroeder.

Cal is currently ranked fourth in the nation after conference losses to No. 1 USC and No. 2 Cal. The Bears next game is against No. 5 Arizona State on April 12th.

Santa Barbara Water Polo Club’s 18U Girls team will embark on the club’s bi-annual Holland Trip on Thursday. Led by Coaches Cathy Neushul, Connor Levoff, and Siena Van Alphen the team will spend Spring Break training with the Dutch Senior and Junior National Teams at the KNVB Sportzenter in Zeist.

The Holland roster includes Britten Vilander (Dos Pueblos HS), Amanda Longan (Oaks Christian HS), Betsy Hendrix (Santa Barbara HS), Shannon Cleary (Dos Pueblos HS), Ari St. Oegger (Dos Pueblos HS), Toni Shackelford (Dos Pueblos HS), Frannie Kuesis (San Marcos HS), Jordan Williams (Dos Pueblos HS), Kaybree Albright (Righetti HS), Kristina Garcia (Santa Barbara HS), Ryann Neushul (Goleta Valley JR High), and Abbi Hill (Providence Hall).

The Dutch women won the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing and have long tradition of outstanding women’s water polo. Most recently, the Oranje had a strong showing at the 2013 U.S. Holiday Cup with victories over Australia, Russia, and Canada. Santa Barbara’s team can expect some very physical play in Holland that will include competition against past and future Dutch Olympians. This is club’s third trip to compete in the Netherlands. The trip is an opportunity for SB’s 18U girls to prepare themselves for the next level of competition.

Santa Barbara Water Polo’s Holland will be interspersed with a visit to Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn along with games against Dutch clubs at Warande, Utrecht, Barendrecht, and Gouda. The last two days of the Dutch trip will be spent in Amsterdam where the girls are staying on a large sailboat docked in Central Amsterdam and touring the city with visits to Anne Frank’s house and the Van Gogh Museum along with a canal boat tour.

SBWPC’s 2012 Holland Team is now in college. Posing in front of a pyramid commemorating Napoleon Bonaparte’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz are (left to right): Sophie Trabucco (UCSB); Kara Horwarld (Santa Clara); Madeline Trabucco (Cal); Kodi Hill (UCLA); Bess Grode; Laurel Kistler (UCSD); Kelsey O’Brien (UCLA); Hannah Koper (Brown); Charlotte Hendrix (Harvard); Tess Wardle (UCSB); Haley Johnson (San Marcos HS); Jamie Neushul (Stanford); Lauren McCaslin (SBCC); and Jade Arner (CSUN). Twenty-four SBWPC alumni are currently competing at Division I NCAA Colleges.

SBWPC member and former Dutch National Team player Dennis Van Alphen arranged Santa Barbara’s trip and the liaison with Holland’s national program.