Three Newport locals in Serbia for water polo tournament
Newport Beach is well-represented this week, even halfway around the world in Serbia.
A trio of incoming sophomores from Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools are there competing for the USA Water Polo Cadet national team in the Darko Cukic Memorial Tournament, which begins Tuesday.
Corona del Mar High attacker Tanner Pulice, as well as center Ike Love and center defender Reed Stemler of Newport Harbor, were among 22 boys from across the country selected for the Cadet team. Then, the three players from Newport Beach were among 13 selected for the international travel team.
The team trained together for three days in Los Angeles at the Harvard Westlake pool, before departing for Belgrade on Wednesday. For the rest of this week, the Cadet team will train in Serbia with the Serbian national team.
The Darko Cukic tournament is known as the unofficial international championship for boys 15 and under. Team USA is in Group A, where it will face Slovakia, Malta, Moldova, Australia, Serbia and the Netherlands.
The team is coached by Nikola Malezanov, with assistant coaches Trent Calder and Justin Kroeze.
Twitter: @mjszabo
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