Goalie Suits Onyshko Just Fine

It is roughly the size of a dinner napkin or a small dish towel, but more than enough to make Tom Onyshko of Royal High want to quit water polo.

After playing football for five years--and wearing equipment from head to toe, a modest Onyshko needed some time to get used to the uniform of water polo: the Speedo swim suit.

“It was awkward,” Onyshko said. “I always had a lot of gear on and it was down to nothing. Almost like being naked.”

It was just enough to make Onyshko think he had chosen the wrong sport.

“I wanted to quit, but my dad pushed me to stay through the session,” said Onyshko, who was encouraged by his father, John, to try a different sport after years in youth football and baseball.

Within three months, eighth-grader Onyshko was so comfortable with the game and its uniform he was introducing himself to Royal Coach Steve Snyder after a Highlanders’ game.

It was a meeting that left a strong impression on Snyder.

“I was just so impressed with his maturity, his whole demeanor,” Snyder said. “Most eighth-graders don’t even know how to look an adult in the eye, let alone introduce themselves.

As impressed as Snyder was three years ago, it doesn’t compare to the admiration he has for his standout goalie today.

In two varsity seasons, the 6-foot, 160-pound Onyshko has proven himself among the best goalies this region has ever produced.

“He has a great feel for the water and a feel for the cage,” said Rich Corso, Harvard-Westlake’s coach and former U.S. men’s Olympic coach. “He doesn’t flinch at all. This kid could be a big-time superstar.”

In a program that has produced several All-Southern Section goalies, Onyshko set Royal records this year with 346 saves in a season and 642 career saves. And he’s only a junior.

“He’s a very talented athlete,” Snyder said. “He has exceptional hand-eye coordination and quickness, and an extreme hard-work ethic to the point of being driven.

“He’s his own harshest critic. He has the ability to know what his strengths and weaknesses are and go to work on the area that needs work.”

Passing was considered a weakness a year ago, but Onyshko has made remarkable strides in that facet of the game.

So much so, this season he ranks second on Royal with 51 assists. When he passes three-quarters the length of the pool on a counter attack, Onyshko delivers the ball with the marksmanship of an efficient quarterback.

“We have a couple of players who break fast,” he said. “I just look deep and try to get them the ball.”

Said Snyder: “He adds a whole new dimension to our game. It’s the old cliche coaches have about getting in the zone . . . when he’s in that kind of zone, oh my Lord, it just really frees us up to do a lot with our counter attack.”

Snyder gets nearly all the best water polo players in Simi Valley because rival Simi Valley High doesn’t have a team. Onyshko lives closer to Simi Valley, but attends Royal because of water polo. His younger brother, Chris, is a football player at Simi Valley.

Simi Valley’s loss was Snyder’s gain. With only two seniors on the team and Onyshko the last line of defense, Marmonte League-champion Royal figures to be a section title contender at least through next season.

Royal, a section champion in 1995, has won 18 of the last 19 league championships. Strong goalies such as Ralph Radka, Kyle Finley and Garret Herzer have been pivotal to the Highlanders’ success, Snyder said. Now the coach has Onyshko to provide that warm, safe feeling on defense.

“It’s kind of like pushing the snooze button and knowing you’ve got a lot more time under that nice, warm cover, but knowing that at some time the cover has to come off,” Snyder said. “I don’t even like to think about two years from now.”