Vargas Making Big Waves as Corona del Mar Water Polo Coach

John Vargas almost always appears relaxed. But looks can be deceiving.

As the water polo coach at Corona del Mar High School, he usually can be found pool side with the look of peaceful indifference.

While his team practiced in the pool recently, Vargas sat nearby, tilting his chair against a chain-link fence. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, sunglasses and loafers, it seemed to be a tossup over what concerned him more--the team or a decent tan.

Until a mistake was made.

A Sea King player had a shot blocked, with the ricochet landing at the coach’s feet. This brought Vargas out of his chair to explain, very directly, what went wrong.

“You just can’t catch it and shoot it,” Vargas shouted. “You’ve got to turn away from the defender and look for an opening. Be patient.”

The next moment, Vargas again was relaxing in a chair, catching a few rays.

“I want the players to enjoy this,” Vargas said. “We do a lot of joking around and sometimes I get into the pool and practice with them. But . . . “

There’s always a but.

Vargas wanted to play water polo, not coach it. But, at 5-foot-10, he wasn’t tall enough for international competition.

He also campaigned to coach the United States’ junior national team last year. But he couldn’t muster enough support within the U.S. Water Polo, Inc.

Vargas isn’t bitter about either setback. He is, after all, an easygoing fellow. He only seems intense at times.

If Vargas demands perfection from his team, it’s only because he expects no less from himself as a player and coach.

For the past six years, Vargas has driven the Sea Kings to play with the same dedication and competitiveness that made him one of the top college players in the nation at UC Irvine.

It’s a formula that has worked. The Sea Kings have won three of the past four Southern Section 4-A championships, including the last two, and have reached the final five consecutive seasons.

Even in Vargas’ least successful season, Corona del Mar reached the semifinals. That was in 1983, Vargas’ first year as coach.

Some coaches attribute this success, in part, to the never-ending pool of talent in the Corona area. But most give Vargas his due.

“It certainly helps to have that type of talent, but John is the one who makes the difference,” said former Sunny Hills Coach Jim Sprague, now an assistant at USC. “He’s a natural teacher and that makes him a great coach.”

Yet Vargas never wanted to be a coach. It just happened.

The youngest of three sons, Vargas was destined to play water polo. Family tradition demanded it.

Vargas was reared on water polo. His older brothers, Joe and Chris, were standouts at Los Altos and UCLA. Joe Vargas was even a member of the United States’ Olympic team in 1980 and 1984.

“We used to draw lines for a goal at the end of the pool and take turns guarding each other,” John said. “I think they liked beating up on their younger brother. But they taught me how the game should be played.”

John followed his brothers, becoming a standout at Los Altos. He also was a two-time All-American at UC Irvine.

He led the nation in scoring as a senior, helping the Anteaters to the national championship. His next goal was to make the United States’ national team and then the Olympics.

After the season, Vargas continued playing for the Newport Beach Water Polo Foundation, a club team featuring some of the top players in the nation. It was a natural step toward the Olympics, because the coach was Bill Barnett, who coaches the United States national team.

Also playing for the foundation’s team was Jeff Stites, who then was coach at Corona del Mar. When Stites resigned, he told Vargas about the opening.

Barnett, who also coaches at Newport Harbor, and UC Irvine Coach Ed Newland told Vargas to apply for the job, but he wasn’t quite sure. He still preferred to concentrate on playing.

“Actually it was my girlfriend who convinced me (to take the job),” Vargas said. “I was very casual about it, but she said to give it a shot. If I didn’t like it, I could move on to something else.”

Vargas walked into a program that already was one of the best in the Southern Section. After all, the year before he arrived, the Sea Kings won the 4-A championship.

However, when Vargas took over, the entire starting lineup had graduated, leaving him with a group of players who had little or no experience.

This, though, didn’t concern him.

“I figured the guys who were coming back had at least practiced against the Southern Section champs the season before, so they must have learned something,” Vargas said.

The Sea Kings won their first 15 games and might have gone even further than the semifinals had it not been for a few injuries. From then on, Vargas was hooked on coaching.

He has borrowed techniques from the coaches who had taught him--Barnett, Sprague and Newland. But he also developed his own ideas, stressing fundamentals to young players rather than game strategies.

Vargas works with all of the teams at Corona del Mar, from the freshman squad to the varsity. It has required him to spend many hours at the pool, but he says the time has not been wasted.

“It took me a little while to learn, but you got to stick to the basics at this level,” Vargas said. “I was used to playing with guys who did things naturally. They had already learned the fundamentals. But with younger kids, you have to keep pounding it into their heads.”

Vargas’ pounding has created a water polo factory at Corona.

The team has had at least two All-Southern Section selections since he took over.

“John has a lot of self-discipline and can teach the game,” Barnett said. “Those traits are very good for teaching young players.”

Vargas also has continued to play while coaching. He made the United States national team in 1986 and nearly reached his goal of playing in the Olympics.

In fact, he was the last player cut before the 1988 Seoul Games.

“I had a lot of problems against the taller players,” he said. “I mean, the Polish national team had a couple guys who were 6-10. That made it pretty tough for a guy my size.”

After being cut in August 1988, Vargas concentrated on coaching and gained his third 4-A title.

The Sea Kings beat Sunny Hills in the final, the third time in four years that Corona had eliminated Sprague’s team.

“I’m certainly glad I don’t have to coach against him anymore,” Sprague said. “He has a great water polo mind. We certainly need more coaches like him on the national level.”

Yet, at a time when Vargas is being recognized as one of the top young coaches in the nation, this might be his last year as a coach, at least at the high school level.

At 28, he has been pondering the future. As a walk-on coach, his salary doesn’t amount to much, and because he no longer is a part of the national team, he has lost some of his living expenses that were picked up by U.S. Water, Inc.

Vargas would like to remain in water polo, possibly as a college coach. But he also realizes that he may have to walk away from the sport to earn a decent salary.

“Financially, it’s been tough,” Vargas said. “My parents have been very supportive--extremely supportive. But I’m ready to move up in the ranks. If I don’t, I may have to go out and earn a living.”

Vargas already has tried to move up this year. But maybe too far, too fast.

He campaigned for the junior national coaching job, a position voted on by members of the national organization. Vargas was soundly defeated, however, and Richard Azevedo was elected instead.

“You have to understand, it’s a large group (that votes) and sometimes it gets very political,” Barnett said. “That’s not to say that Richard is not a good coach, but sometimes the best politician wins.”

Vargas has taken the defeat in stride, choosing to laugh about it.

“I thought I was witty and entertaining,” he said. “But . . . “