Morgan Hill – For more than a decade, the Live Oak boys water polo team has continually produced teams that have competed in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Players on those teams have occasionally gone on to bigger and better things.
For three recent Live Oak goalies, bigger and better meant playing at Division I-A schools – for one it meant the chance to play in Australia.
“I got this opportunity from a man named Doug Cole, who used to be the coach of BYU Hawaii when I played at Loyola (Marymount University),” wrote Kevin Paulsen in an e-mail. “I had a good game against his team and he remembered me. I ran into him two years later at my best friend Sam Vierra’s wedding in Hawaii and the rest is history.”
Paulsen said he learned about the opportunity in September while he was an assistant coach for the boys water polo team. Paulsen graduated from Live Oak in 1998 where he played for three years and took home a CCS championship.
And success continued through college.
Paulsen’s senior year at LMU, the Lions were ranked in the top 10 in the country.
Live Oak coach Mack Haines said he remembers Paulsen being an outstanding player who was never one to boast about his abilities.
“I found Kevin in one of (Norm) Dow’s sports camps,” Haines said. “He was a tall kid who was reluctant to do organized sports.”
Haines said Paulsen eventually agreed to come out and became a standout goalie.
“Kevin gave it a try,” Haines said. “We nurtured that competitive spirit and he ended up be a natural at the position.”
Paulsen said he was taken aback when he learned that he was selected for the Australia team.
“I don’t think I was ever arrogant about playing the sport, but you kind of have to step back and wonder how you got recruited to play in a different country,” Paulsen wrote. “So it can be weird, and I do feel pressure to do my best.”
Paulsen, who moved out to Newcastle, Australia, before Thanksgiving, noted that the biggest adjustment is trying to get settled in his new environment.
“I’m currently staying with people on the team, awaiting my own place,” Paulsen wrote. “It’s tough because I need to get a job, and a phone. But lack of a car, not to mention an idea of where I’m going to live since location in accordance to where I will work is kind of a big deal. Other than that I miss my family. Those things have been the hardest adjustment.”
The biggest adjustment, according to Paulsen, is the food and not being near his family.
“I mostly miss my family and Mexican food. Believe it or not, but the Australians do embrace all different kinds of food around the country so I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Paulsen wrote.
Paulsen described the team, the Hunter Hurricanes, has being very friendly and people who take the sport very seriously.
“The team is pretty good and the competition is NCAA level if not a little better,” Paulsen wrote. “Everyone has been really nice and accommodating. The guys on the team themselves are pretty talented and take the game seriously.”
The success of Live Oak’s goalies is not limited to Paulsen.
Two recent goalies, brothers Justin and Shea Coleman, have both moved on to the college level. Justin, who graduated from Live Oak in 2002, went on to play for LMU for three years, graduating last May.
Justin was a member of the 2000 National Youth B Team, a first-team NorCal selection, MVP in the Monterey Bay League and second team all-CCS. He played two years as a goalie for LMU before moving to the field his senior year.
Shea, who graduated last spring, helped the Acorns advance to the CCS final four. He now plays for West Valley College.
Haines said the biggest difference between the Colemans and Paulsen is their style of play.
“Kevin always played his position according to the percentages and the angles,” Haines said. “(The Colemans) were much more aggressive. … They were two very different styles, but they were exactly what we needed to succeed.”
Haines said he is always proud when his players move on, in part because of the new opportunity for him to learn.
“Every time one of the kids goes to college, they pick up a new set of skills,” Haines said. “When they come back to work with the younger kids, it helps them to mature. That has a lot to do with the water polo program growing over the years.”
