Call-Up

Erika Figge’s fourth-quarter goal Sunday in the championship game at the Canada Cup women’s water polo tournament did little to impact the outcome--the United States lost, 14-8, to Australia--but it was monumental for the team’s youngest member.

Figge, 16, a sophomore at Santa Margarita High, joined UCLA freshman Thalia Munroe as one of two teenagers who made their debut last week with the women’s national team, part of a new effort by U.S. Water Polo to identify and develop younger players and future Olympians.

While driving home from the airport Monday, Figge said she was pleased with her performance--it was her first goal against senior international competition--and honored to participate in the five-day tournament in Montreal.

“It’s a huge step for the future of the sport,” Figge said. “I’m glad I can be one of the first.”

Figge’s invitation to join the team as a junior member was extended by Guy Baker, coach of the women’s national team, who said gazing down the pipeline is just as important as preparing his team for the world championships next month in Fukuoka, Japan.

“We need to look to the future,” said Baker, who coached the national team to a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. “We think we’re going to have a good team in 2004, but we want to make sure we have good teams in 2008, 2012 and so on.”

Baker is also the national team director, which means he oversees the junior and youth programs. This allows him to stock those squads while keeping an eye out for potential contributors to the top-level team.

Baker is modeling his program after those in Europe, where players as young as 12 are identified for future Olympic teams. He is also following the lead of U.S. women’s soccer, whose strong feeder program built the national team into World Cup champions in 1999.

“Mia Hamm was 16 years old when she started playing with the national team,” Baker said. “You have to keep bringing in young players and keep the core group playing together to keep it fresh.”

One of the fastest growing sports in America, the number of collegiate division I women’s water polo programs has increased from 10 to 26 in the last five years. The number of club programs in the U.S. numbers more than 100, up from about 30 only five years ago.

This dramatic boost in the number of talented players available for U.S. national team selection makes it crucial to identify and develop top players early in their careers.

“Our success in the 2004 Olympics may depend on the younger players identified at the tryouts,” said Bruce Wigo, executive director of USWP.

The West Coast, and particularly California, has provided most of the players to the national team--10 of the 14 Olympians from last summer were born in California. The first step in Baker’s plan was to test the waters nationwide with eight player-identification clinics held last month around the country, including one at the U.S. Water Polo Training Center in Los Alamitos.

Of the 335 who participated in the clinics, Baker identified eight to 10 whom he expected to spend time with the women’s team during the next few weeks. In addition to Figge, UCLA-signee Amber Stachowski, The Times’ Orange County player of the year at Capistrano Valley High last season, will see action with the team.

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” Baker said of the talent pool observed during the clinics. “The growth of the sport as been phenomenal over the last six or seven years. The athletes’ swimming and shooting abilities have grown by leaps and bounds.”

Baker has a history of coaching good teams year after year. He is the national team’s first full-time coach, and led the UCLA men’s team to an NCAA title in December, his fourth in 10 years at the school. He also coached the UCLA women’s team to three titles.

Not long ago, there weren’t many women participating in the sport.

Maureen O’Toole, the legendary water polo player who retired after the 2000 Olympics and a career that spanned more than 25 years, credits the growth to Title IX gender-equity mandates.

“It’s a pretty exciting time,” said O’Toole, who has been named the world’s player of the year seven times, and has competed in more world championships than any other U.S. team member. “The level of player gets higher and higher every year.”

O’Toole, who came out of retirement to play in Sydney, believes the sport is just beginning to hit its stride. With the commitment by the U.S. to find quality players at a younger age, she expects the U.S. to stay alongside the world.

“By the time these girls will be 20,” she said, “they will be experienced players at the national level.”

O’Toole said some questioned the selection of 19-year-old Ericka Lorenz to the 2000 Olympic team, wondering whether she was too young and inexperienced. But Lorenz proved her worth, scoring six goals in seven games in the 2000 Olympic qualification tournament in Palermo, Italy.

“She only played one year of junior national water polo,” O’Toole said. “And she played a huge role on our Olympic team.”

Figge was planning to attend the Los Alamitos tryout when Baker told her she already had a spot.

“It came sooner than I thought,” Figge said of the selection. “My goal for the future was to play for the national team, however, I was planning to play for the youth team, or probably make the junior team, this year.”

Figge showed her talent and versatility for Santa Margarita last season, helping the Eagles reach the Southern Section Division I final. A strong defender and quick swimmer and one of the county’s best playmakers, the Eagles ran much of their offense through her. She finished with a team-leading 70 goals.

Figge said she’s prepared to make sacrifices to stay on the national team.

“If it means traveling to the world championship and the Olympics and things like that, heck yeah,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll live another 15 or 20 years and then I’ll have a lot of time to finish school.”

Baker acknowledged the sacrifice many of the women make, but he doesn’t expect Figge’s high school experience to be affected.

“With someone like Erika, we’re going to bring her along slowly,” he said.

Still, Baker said Figge has a good opportunity to make the 13-person roster that will compete at the world championships in Japan. He thought she played exceptionally well against her first Olympic-caliber opponents.

“She has great speed and a great shot,” he said. “She said the game felt like it was going 100 mph, while she was only going 50 mph. I just told her, ‘Eventually, the game slows down.’ ”

Figge didn’t play in the national team’s current four-game exhibition against Australia in Northern California and took final exams this week. But she plans to rejoin the team June 20. The next tournament will be the Holiday Cup, July 4-8, in Los Alamitos.