Staying Above Water

Crystal Hoskins never worried about a sour response from her teammates on the boys’ water polo team at Garden Grove Pacifica High. They didn’t seem to mind last season.

And Hoskins, a junior, certainly hasn’t been intimidated by bigger, stronger opponents. After all, she played quarterback on her freshman football team.

Hoskins has always felt comfortable competing against boys, from the time she convinced her fifth-grade principal to allow her on the after-school flag football team through playing goalkeeper for the Mariners.

“I used to be a major tomboy, but now I’ve matured beyond that stage,” Hoskins said. “I consider that the child side of me.”

Tonight’s game against Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos at Golden West College could be Hoskins’ last on a boys’ high school athletic team. But it’s not because she doesn’t enjoy the competition.

The Garden Grove League will offer girls’ water polo for the first time this winter, and a Southern Section rule requires athletes to compete with their gender if the same sport is available to both.

“I think that’s outrageous,” said Hoskins’ mother, Melody McLane. “If my daughter can play football, I think she should be able to play water polo with the guys.”

Hoskins was nearly forced to make the switch this year, but the Garden Grove Unified School District did not conclude it had enough funds to field girls’ water polo until after the current boys’ season had begun, section spokesman Thom Simmons said. One opponent questioned Pacifica officials about Hoskins’ eligibility, forcing her to sit out a league game until the question could be answered.

“It was a big concern, for a while,” she said. “It was a big plus when I was allowed to continue.”

Hoskins, 5 feet 7, said she would prefer playing for the boys’ team again next year, partly because the competition is at a higher level, but mainly because she would rather play basketball during the winter, when girls’ water polo is scheduled. She hasn’t discounted playing both sports during her senior year.

“If I can, I would definitely do that,” she said. “It all depends on scheduling.”

Playing two sports in one season is nothing new to Hoskins. She swam and played softball during the spring of her freshman year at Garden Grove Bolsa Grande. That’s where she also started every game for the freshman team at quarterback, throwing six passes for touchdowns and running for another while leading the Matadors to a handful of victories.

Hoskins received a lot of attention that fall, including five minutes in the spotlight on a “Monday Night Football” postgame show. Once the season ended, Hoskins said her mother decided, for safety reasons, it was time her daughter hung up the shoulder pads.

“I was OK with that,” Hoskins said. “I watch a lot less football on TV now, that’s for sure.”

Hoskins said she wasn’t steered into playing sports with the boys as a youngster. She simply played whatever was offered after school and during recess.

Her swim coach at Bolsa Grande suggested she try out for boys’ water polo in the fall of her sophomore year, which Hoskins did after transferring to Pacifica. She played in the field for the first few games before deciding she was better suited for goalkeeper.

“I’m not a big freestyle swimmer,” said Hoskins, who has two younger brothers and a younger sister. “My swimming events are usually the individual medley and the butterfly.”

Hoskins expected to share goalkeeping duties this season, but the Mariners’ other goalkeeper quit.

Pacifica Coach Stan Pfeifroth, who took over the program in August, said five other girls play on the junior varsity and he would have gladly welcomed more.

“I’m not hung up on that, that girls can’t compete with the guys,” Pfeifroth said. “In a lot of ways, girls are tougher.”

Mike Longeuay, who plays for Garden Grove, considers Hoskins among the better goalkeepers in the league. And Longeuay should know--he was a first-team all-league goalkeeper last season.

He and his teammates joked about shooting against Hoskins earlier this season, but the laughter didn’t last long.

“When we started playing, we saw how good she was,” said Longeuay, who is playing driver this season. “We had to hit corners or she would block it.”