Quick Learners Make a Splash

Five days after winning its first league title, Temple City had a successful debut Tuesday in the Southern Section girls’ water polo playoffs, defeating Glendora St. Lucy’s, 12-5, in a Division III first-round game at Temple City High.

Not bad for a second-year program.

“We’ve totally come from nothing,” said junior Tammy Trejo, who scored four goals against St. Lucy’s. “Some of us couldn’t even throw the ball five feet when we started last season.”

Temple City Coach Brian Roth, a 1992 graduate of Temple City who played water polo and coached at UC Santa Barbara, has been the architect of the development.

Roth began with the basics. There was no other choice. He started by teaching standard shooting motions--where to position the elbow and when to release the ball.

Some players, like Trejo, didn’t know how to shoot the ball on a line, instead lobbing it with the arc of a rainbow.

Soon, everybody was throwing the ball with the trajectory of a dart. And, best of all, players were enjoying every minute of practice.

“The kids devoured it,” Roth said. “Three hours wasn’t long enough for them.”

The Rams finished 9-16 last season and placed fourth in the Rio Hondo League. They missed qualifying for the playoffs with a season-ending one-goal loss to San Marino.

The team graduated nine players, but four starters returned--Trejo, Ivone Garcia, Linda Calvert and Rebecca Maichrawicz. Now they’re in the second round of the playoffs, and will play Sherman Oaks Notre Dame today at L.A. Valley College.

Trejo has much in common with her teammates. She’s new to the sport but capable and more than willing to learn. She was a seasoned youth soccer player who played junior varsity as a freshman.

She was on the swim team in the spring that year and decided to try water polo the following winter, the first year it was offered at the school. New to the sport, Trejo was eager to master the most basic drills.

“I felt comfortable asking coach why a certain drill was important,” she said. “He would tell us and then incorporate the drill into a game situation.”

Roth has been fortunate to attract players from other sports, but that’s not the only place he has found contributors. While helping decorate floats for the 2001 Rose Parade, Roth convinced fellow volunteer Jessica Jen to try out for the team. A little more than a year later, she’s the starting goalkeeper.

“I like working with developmental kids,” Roth said. “These girls don’t lose, they absorb.”

Close calls: If Tuesday’s first-round games are any clue, the next 10 days could be wild in Division III.

Three of the 10 games were settled in overtime, including Covina Charter Oak’s 9-8 victory over Alhambra Keppel in sudden death.

Amy Beverlin scored two of her seven goals in overtime to lift Palos Verdes Chadwick against Whittier La Serna, 13-11. Beverlin also scored with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score, 9-9.

In the other overtime game, Pico Rivera El Rancho edged Walnut, 8-7, as Miriam Quintanilla scored her second goal from seven meters out with 1:20 to play.

That’s a no-no: Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons confirmed Wednesday that Etiwanda Coach Chris Carlson was forced to resign last week after violating Blue Book rule No. 305, which forbids section schools from conducting practices with players who do not attend the school.

A small group of Etiwanda graduates who played boys’ water polo practiced with the girls’ team earlier this season, Simmons said.

According to Simmons, Etiwanda Principal Lynne Ditfurth reported the violation and, as a result, pressured Carlson to resign.

Simmons said the section could have forced Etiwanda to forfeit two matches for each time the violations occurred, but Ditfurth’s strong stance led the section to limit Etiwanda to one-hour practices for the remainder of the season.

The Eagles clinched the Mt. Baldy League title for the fourth time in the last five years last week and will open the Division V playoffs today under interim Coach Amy Davis.

Dan Arritt