COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Brazilian Water Polo Star Turns Golden West Into State Power

Henry Rabello made a few changes in his life last August.

He packed up, left his family in Brazil and moved to Huntington Beach.

He stopped playing water polo for the Brazilian junior national team and started playing for Golden West College.

While these might seem like major life-style changes to most, Rabello sees them as part of his plan to earn a degree and play water polo for a Division I college in the United States.

“I have my goal,” said Rabello, 19. “If I have something in mind to do, I don’t resist. I go after it, and this is what I want to do.”

Rabello started swimming before he was 2 and was competing by age 7. He started playing water polo at age 11 in his home town of Rio de Janeiro, and became a member of the junior national team at 15. He graduated from high school in December 1987, but continued playing for the junior national team. He attended college, but the team took up most of his time.

Rabello was recruited by several American colleges, including UCLA, Pepperdine and the University of the Pacific.

He visited Southern California last spring in an effort to find a place to play. But being in the United States wasn’t all that big a deal to him. He previously had been in the United States twice, coming in 1980 with his family to go to Disneyland and to play in a tournament in 1985.

During this trip, UCLA Coach Bob Horn told Rabello that he would be better off playing at a community college for a year to get his grades in order. Community colleges have easier entrance requirements for foreign students than most four-year schools. Rabello knew some people who had played at UCLA and they told him Golden West would be a good place to go for a year.

So, he called Golden West Coach Ken Hamdorf and said he was coming in the fall.

So far, Rabello has been a big part of Golden West’s early-season success. The Rustlers are 18-1 and ranked third in the state. Golden West’s only loss was to second-ranked Cuesta, 12-9, early in the season.

Rabello, who is the hole-man for Golden West, leads the team with 78 goals.

“I’ve always been offensive-minded,” he said. “But I like to play defense as well. I want people to think of me as a well-rounded player.”

Breaker, Breaker: Saddleback’s football team has had plenty of problems this season, losing its first three games.

Even in a 15-14 victory over Mt. San Antonio Saturday there were some unexpected problems of a strange nature.

The Gauchos had recovered a fumble at the Mt. SAC 26 with about a minute left in the first half. Saddleback assistant coach Bill Cunerty then tried to call a play from the press box.

But his wireless head set was picking up police and fire calls and he couldn’t be heard by Saddleback Coach Ken Swearingen.

“I kept trying to call the play, and I was getting someone saying ‘Breaker, 10-4,’ ” Cunerty said. “The way it was going, I was expecting to hear Gage and DeSoto (of the television show ‘Emergency’) next.”

Football poll: El Camino (4-0) remains in the No. 1 spot in the weekly Southland Poll. The Warriors rolled past Golden West, 38-14, Saturday and are averaging 35.8 points a game.

Rancho Santiago (4-0) is second. The Dons lead the conference in scoring, averaging 41 points.

Riverside (4-0) is third, Moorpark (4-0) fourth, Ventura (4-0) fifth, Orange Coast (3-1) sixth, Bakersfield (2-0-2) seventh, Los Angeles Southwestern (3-0-1) eighth, Long Beach (3-1) ninth, and Pasadena (3-1) 10th.

Community College Notes

Golden West and Orange Coast, two of the top water polo teams in the state, meet today in a nonconference atch at 3 at Golden West. Golden West is favored to win the South Coast Conference and Orange Coast (14-3), ranked fourth in the state, is the pick in the Orange Empire Conference. It will be the second time the teams have met this season. Golden West defeated the Pirates, 10-9, Saturday in a pool-play tournament. The Rustlers also beat Ventura, 16-4, and Palomar, 12-4. DeAnza is the top-ranked team and Cuesta is second. Cypress (15-4), which is ranked fifth, also swept three matches over the weekend.