Inadequacies Surface in Water Polo

Ted Clark, Buena Park High School water polo coach, faces a monumental task each fall when he prepares his team for the upcoming season.

Clark must get his players ready to challenge one of the country’s best high school programs at Sunny Hills, about two miles from the Buena Park campus.

Buena Park, Fullerton, Sonora and the other Freeway League teams have played in the shadow of Sunny Hills, which has not lost a league match since 1969.

But where Sunny Hills’ dominance has really hurt the other Freeway programs is in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Because Sunny Hills is one of the Southern Section’s best teams--the Lancers have won three division titles since 1969 and have placed second seven times--the Freeway League has been designated a 4-A water polo league, the highest level in Southern Section aquatics.

In most sports, the Freeway playoff representatives participate in the 3-A level tournament.

Such is the life of schools that must play in the same league with one program that consistently excels.

When Southern Section officials make up the playoff categories, they take into account past performances as much as enrollment. Buena Park, for instance, has an enrollment of about 1,700. El Toro, a 3-A school, has 2,750 students.

For the most part, the Southern Section has developed a satisfying grouping system, coaches say.

“I think they do the best they can,” said Becky Allec, girls’ athletic director at Mater Dei. “They don’t want one-sided play, either.”

But in some isolated instances, particularly in water polo but also in girls’ volleyball and tennis, inadequacies remain.

It would make more sense for five of the Freeway water polo teams to compete in the 3-A division. But because of Sunny Hills’ success, the schools must play in the 4-A, where they often lose in the first round.

“Sunny Hills has brought us up to the big schools in water polo and swimming,” said Pat O’Donnell, La Habra athletic director.

Said Clark: “We’d do better in the 3-A and really well in the 2-A. We’ve always done well against 3-A teams. We’ve beaten Hacienda Heights Wilson (the 1984 3-A champion) in regular-season games.”

Clark and other coaches realize that their programs have improved dramatically because of Sunny Hills’ presence. That, they say, is the benefit of playing regularly against quality competition.

“Don’t get me wrong, because in a sense it’s good for the league to have Sunny Hills--Jim Sprague (the Lancers’ coach) does a lot for us, and I think he’s one of the best coaches in the county in any sport--but for the last, what, 16 years or so, it’s been literally impossible for the rest of us to beat them.”

And with Sunny Hills struggling against the Newport Harbors and Corona del Mars, the Freeway’s second- and third-place teams have little chance once they enter the playoffs.

“We just deal with the cards we’re dealt,” Clark said. “We’ve never thought we could do anything about it (changing their 4-A status).

Another problem is that once teams move up, their dominance often ends. In the Century League, Tustin, Foothill and Villa Park, once the 3-A’s dominant water polo teams, were forced to move to 4-A because officials thought they had outgrown the 3-A. Since the switch, the Century’s fortunes have fallen.

“We weren’t happy with the move,” said Al Rosmino, Tustin athletic director. “Now, the opportunity to win (a section title) is almost literally gone. There’s no way we can compete with the beach schools in this sport.”

For Clark, the problem is closer to home, what with Sunny Hills just down the street.