Ronni Gautschi stood pool side Monday evening organizing a rowdy group of 13 swimmers for a scrimmage to help prepare for Junior Olympic qualifications this weekend.
She is gearing up the South Valley Water Polo Club to make another run at JOs just like they did last year.
This time, the boys have a bit of a challenge in front of them. Roughly half of 33 teams will advance to the Junior Olympics from the Pacific Zone later in July from two qualification rounds starting this weekend.
And unlike last year, the teams the local group will face off against will be older.
Last year, SVWPC competed in the 14U category. This year, they have a few 15 year olds on the team, so they leveled up to the 16U division.
“(My brother) Ryan and I are the types to play them up and make them better players,” Ronni said. “We don’t care if they dominate in their levels of age. We want them to do well and play against tough teams. And they will.”
And a couple of the team’s best players will be starting for other clubs in JOs. The price of a smaller club plus quality coaching.
But about half of the players on the club team did play in JOs last year, so the experience won’t be completely new to all of them.
“JO’s for us is a learning process,” Ryan said. “It’s really more taste of what the big teams are doing out there. Seeing the strong Southern California teams and even the valley teams and seeing where we’re at.”
The goal for the club, Ronni said, is the give athletes the tools to be good in water polo and to help bolster the interest in water polo within the community.
Ronni is joined by her brother Ryan, both of whom were stalwarts on the Live Oak water polo teams a decade ago, but chlorinated water runs strong their veins and they can’t give up the sport.
Both coach water polo at the high school level, coaching the Acorns boys and girls teams.
They have been working with the South Valley Water Polo Club for the last six years and work with players all year round.
Players join the squad from Morgan Hill, Gilroy and even from Santa Cruz.
They, along with fellow coaches, including Live Oak assistant coach Dawn Wilson, help to give students a firm foundation in water polo, teaching the basics along with more advanced techniques.
They said during the high school water polo season, most of the players stick with their school teams, but they have a few non-high school players who stick around in the fall and winter. There is a two week break in August.
Ryan said it’s sometimes odd to look out and only be training a handful of kids, but he wants to be committed to those boys just as much.
The club serves players age 7 on up
Both coaches said they want to give back to the polo community. They want to see Morgan Hill rise in water polo once again.
Sobrato has been the polo school of late, especially on the girls side where the Bulldogs have advanced to the CCS playoffs the past few years.
On the boys side, the Bulldogs last year advanced to the second round for the first time.
Ronni said the club has players from both Live Oak and Sobrato. She said the goal is to get both sides strong again and hopefully bring the girls teams along as well.
But the goal is for both schools to be good in polo and help those who have fallen in love with the sport to get the tools to play in college—no matter if it is a powerhouse or a humble program.
“We want them at the next level. This is for the players who want to get a scholarship, want to go to college, want to get to the next level,” Ronni said.
The club practices Monday through Thursday starting at 8 a.m. at the Live Oak High School pool.
