Fountain of Youth : Middle-Age Players Renew Water-Polo Careers on Championship Team

When Phil Weintraub and Bob Myman taught their sons to play water polo nearly a decade ago, they had been away from the sport for 20 years.

Weintraub and Myman were teammates on the water polo team at what was then known as San Fernando Valley State College--now Cal State Northridge--from 1965 to 1968. They figured their sons, then ages 10 and 12, would enjoy the game.

Little did the fathers realize how much they missed playing.

“A bizarre thing happened,” said Weintraub, 49, an insurance security broker. “I started playing and so did Bob and before you know it the whole thing snowballed and a bunch of guys our age came out.”

That was the beginning of Second Effort, a team of men who wanted to play competitive water polo after college.

Most Saturday mornings Second Effort members practice at the Valley College pool. On Thursdays some members work out with high school and college players at Beverly Hills High’s swim gym.

Half of the team’s 30 players are older than 40. Only a few are in their 20s.

A core of 13 Second Effort players who are 45 and older make up the region’s only competitive, traveling team of players that age.

Mike Garibaldi, 50, Pierce College’s water polo and swimming coach, is among Second Effort’s top players. Garibaldi also competes in national masters swimming events. But playing for Second Effort provides a camaraderie missing from the individual nature of swimming.

“I want to win, but I also enjoy it because it’s a lot of fun,” Garibaldi said. “It’s not high pressure and it’s good exercise.”

Last year, Second Effort won the 45-and-over U.S. Masters Championship at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. Early next month, the team will defend its title at UC Santa Barbara.

Second Effort also will travel to London near the end of June for the

World Masters Championships, which are contested every two years.

In 1994, the team won a silver medal at the World Masters Championship in Brisbane, Australia.

“That was very exciting,” Weintraub said. “They had a ceremony like in the Olympics and the ambassador presented us with our medal.”

Weintraub said six to eight teams are expected to compete in the 45-and-over division at the world championships next month in London.

Australia, South Africa and teams from Great Britain are expected to be among the toughest, Weintraub said.

Bob Myman’s brother, Harvey, 47, is among the players who will travel to Santa Barbara and London. Harvey Myman is a television producer with little free time, but he always manages to squeeze pool time into his hectic schedule.

“It’s special at this point in my life to be able to play a team sport,” Harvey Myman said. “Besides, I hate exercise and this is a great way to do it.”

Second Effort is more than a team of men who are good for their age. At a recent practice in Beverly Hills, six team members held their own against much younger competition--including some high school players.

“My dad’s pretty good,” said Weintraub’s 20-year-old son, Kevyn, who practiced against his father that afternoon. “He keeps up.”

Phil Weintraub says some younger competitors used to tease his players about their age, but that has changed through the years.

“They may have youth, but we have experience,” Weintraub said. “They’re faster, but we’re stronger. They know that.

“They used to say, ‘We’re playing the old guys tonight,’ but not so much anymore because we do good against them.”

What Second Effort lacks in stamina, it makes up with enthusiasm. Weintraub and the rest of his teammates are thrilled to still be playing the game they grew up loving.

“It’s fabulous,” Weintraub said. “When we first started we said, ‘Remember when we used to do this?’

“Now here we are doing it.”