Under Gautschi, Live Oak boys water polo returning to basics

Without a senior on the team, Live Oak’s boys water polo squad is going to be young.
But that’s fine for new coach Ryan Gautschi who takes the helm this year.
“The whole season is going to be fundamentals – understanding the game, how to play the game, basic catching and shooting,” Gautschi said. “Not having any seniors, this is going to be the perfect year to do that.”
He said Live Oak also has something to prove. Gautschi said there was talk of moving the Acorns down  a division and now he wants to make sure Live Oak belongs in the Mount Hamilton Division.
“If by next season when our juniors are seniors and everyone has moved up, they are competing in the league,” Gautschi said.
Gautschi will have a bit of a leg up considering most of his players played last year, with some additions to help round out the ranks that were depleted by graduation.
Live Oak will add two new foreign exchange students
Justin Jacobsen will lead that group, having some of the best experience on the squad, Gautschi said.
Jacobsen is versatile, Gautschi said, but will probably land as the team’s primary shooter who might fill in as goalie.
“Plays and the style of play and everything is going to be a little different than I’m used to,” Gautschi said. “But I think in that, it’s going to be fun for all of us. It will be kind of trial and error.”
Also leading the attack will be a foreign exchange student from Brazil.
“What I’ve seen from him so far is great ball handling skills,” Gautsch said.
“My big goal is to get out of the season better than we started the season,” Gautschi said. “The beginning of our season is primarily going to be swimming just so we can keep up with the rest of the group.”
Gautschi said he expects the team to really be in a tight contest with Sobrato, as it was last year. In 2012, the Bulldogs knocked off Live Oak in the Blossom Valley Athletic League tournament to capture fourth.
This year, Gautschi said he looks forward to going up against Sobrato Coach David Letts – a 1998 Live Oak graduate – and Leland head coach Shea Coleman – who played with Gautschi on the Live Oak water polo team.
Overall, Gautschi wants to see the team be competitive at the end of the year.
“I would hope that we are at the same place we were at the end of last year,” Gautschi said. “That’s saying a lot because it was primarily a senior team last year that left.”