Wald Emerges as Top Player for Rosary

In only two years, Rosary’s Julia Wald has gone from novice to a standout in water polo.

Wald, a 5-foot-4 senior, has helped the Royals defeat two No. 1-ranked teams in Orange County this season. That was good enough for Rosary (6-1) to be No. 3 in the county.

“Nobody heard of Rosary before,” Royals’ Coach Todd Sprague said. “We’ve just been blessed with good athletes here.”

Wald is one of the best.

Last season, she scored 137 goals, helping Rosary finish 21-5 in only her second year playing the sport. This season, schools, including USC, UC Santa Barbara and Massachusetts, are offering scholarships.

“I think she’s the best two-meter [player] in the county,” Sprague said.

That’s a long way from where Wald started.

Although she swam for six years, Wald didn’t try water polo until she was a sophomore. Sprague coached Wald in swimming as a freshman, but he also wanted the all-around athlete to try out for water polo.

As a freshman, Wald was named the girls’ volleyball frosh-soph team’s MVP. She has also tried her hand at basketball, softball and soccer.

So why didn’t she stick with any of those sports?

“I didn’t like all the running around in soccer,” Wald said. “Softball got kind of boring for me, standing around in the outfield.

“But water polo is so physical and it’s fast-moving.”

And eventually, Wald saw her future unfold in this sport.

“I had no idea that there was that much scholarship money available in women’s water polo,” Wald said. “And honestly, I’m not tall enough to play volleyball, and there’s so many more girls playing volleyball.”

Sprague said USC will have eight full scholarships available in women’s water polo next season, one indication of the sport’s growth as many colleges seek ways to address gender equity issues.

Rosary addressed its situation this season in its opener against the preseason No. 1 team in the county, Los Alamitos.

Last season, goalie Jackie Frank, who has accepted a scholarship to Stanford, helped Los Alamitos finish 24-0 and win the season-ending Southern California Championships tournament.

“We were so scared going into that first game,” Wald said. “We knew they were a great team and Jackie is awesome.”

But that day, Rosary was up to the challenge and topped the defending champs, 4-0.

Although Los Alamitos would hand the Royals its only loss of the season at the Esperanza Benson Splash tournament, Rosary rebounded to defeat Marina, ranked No. 1 at the time, in overtime.

“In that game, Natalie Golda scored three goals and Julia had one,” Sprague said. “But that’s how this team is. They find a way to win.”

And that suits Wald just fine.

“Last year, we lost to Marina, 9-7, and I scored all seven of our goals,” Wald said. “This year, everyone stepped up.

“I didn’t know we could be this good, but everyone knows their roles and we’re all working together as a team.”

And the Royals are an early-season favorite to march through the Southern Section Division III playoffs later this season, the first time there have been section sanctioned championships in the sport.

“I believe Rosary will go all the way,” said Canyon Coach Mike Giles, who worked with many of the Rosary players during club water polo season.

Giles coached at ORCA (Orange County Aquatics) and was impressed by Wald and the rest of the Rosary players.

“It’s one of the most committed, well-motivated group of players,” Giles said.

And Giles, like Sprague, is a big Julia Wald fan.

“She has one of the best arms in the game,” Giles said. “There’s so much power in her shot.”

It was powerful enough that Giles moved Wald to the perimeter with ORCA’s top team, which finished third in the 19-and-under division at the Junior Nationals tournament in Annapolis, Md.

Wald played alongside some of the county’s best, including Villa Park’s Morgan Meyer and Kristyn Pulver, Santa Margarita’s Katie Ferguson and Esperanza’s Caroline Guidi.

“Julia was an anchor,” Giles said.

And it’s no secret that Wald fulfills the same role at Rosary.

“We rotate people around and try to take advantage of our matchups,” Sprague said. “But Julia is our go-to girl.”