Agoura Standout Corso Immersed in Water Polo

There’s only so much that parental encouragement can do to motivate a young athlete to succeed. In the end, passion must come from within.

It’s clear that 16-year-old Meghan Corso of Agoura has made the choice to devote almost every day to becoming a water polo standout.

The sport was introduced to her at an early age. As a first-grader, she’d sit in the pool-side bleachers with crayons and a coloring book, waiting for her father, Rich, coach of the U.S. Olympic men’s team, to finish practice.

Before Meghan learned how to swim, she was taught how to pass and shoot in the shallow end of the pool.

“I’ve been around it all my life,” she said.

At 8, she was learning the game as she played on a boys’ team. Any questions, she could always ask her father, one of the most knowledgeable water polo coaches in America.

“He just has an awesome understanding of the game,” she said.

As a 5-foot-8 sophomore at Agoura this season, Corso has scored 86 goals in helping her team gain a No. 4 seeding for the Southern Section Division IV playoffs. She plays for a club team based in Canada. She has traveled to Europe for competitions. Water polo has become as much a part of her life as school.

“It’s just fun and I like meeting new people,” she said. “It’s a great team sport.”

Her father is an assistant coach for this year’s U.S. Olympic team and coaches the boys’ team at North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake.

“She knows how to mix it up,” he said proudly.

Rich Corso might know a lot about water polo, but his daughter has been studying and listening to him for years. Could she one day challenge him as a coach?

“He knows the game pretty darn well,” she said. “I don’t know if that day will ever come and I don’t know if I want to be a coach.”

She’ll settle for being a top player, which she’s on her way to achieving.

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As an offensive player, 6-1 senior guard Christian Smith of Harbor City Narbonne has few peers in the City Section.

He’s averaging 28.8 points, has made 53 three-pointers and scored 44 points against Gardena and 43 against Carson.

“He’s definitely explosive,” Coach Marco Pantoja said. “When he’s on, you need to pick him up once he passes half court.”

Smith needs to improve his defensive effort, but he’s a slam dunk to be All-City.

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Blake Wildt of Oak Park is a 6-5 junior making steady progress as a basketball player. He was the top player in the Tri-Valley League, averaging 19.5 points and nine rebounds while shooting 56% from the field and 85% on free throws for the league champions.

He has a 4.0 grade-point average, and Coach Ed Chevalier believes Wildt has the skills to become a college prospect.

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After a one-year hiatus, Troy Starr is back as football coach at Woodland Hills Taft and talking confidently of returning the Toreadors to the City championship game in December.

“We were there five out of seven seasons,” he said. “We’re a program, not a lucky team.”

Starr has high hopes for sophomore-to-be Malcolm Smith, the younger brother of USC receiver Steve Smith. He played running back and linebacker for Taft’s 9-0 freshman-sophomore team.

“His athletic ability is on the extreme side,” Starr said. “We may play him in the middle so he can be ‘Malcolm in the Middle.’ ”

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The next hot young general manager candidate in major league baseball could be 27-year-old David Forst, a Harvard graduate who played shortstop for Brentwood and the Crimson. He’s expected to move up to the No. 2 position behind General Manager Billy Beane with the Oakland Athletics. His parents still live in Encino.

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Rain usually causes baseball teams to cancel practice, but the two highly competitive coaches at Chatsworth and Woodland Hills El Camino Real, Tom Meusborn and Matt LaCour, didn’t give their players any break Wednesday.

Meusborn had his pitchers throwing in the hallway of a school building. “Tell [LaCour] we went home as soon as the bell sounded,” he said.

LaCour, a former Meusborn assistant who has been nicknamed “Mini-Meusborn,” had his players practicing on concrete.

The two schools are favored to meet in the City championship game at Dodger Stadium on June 8. They open West Valley League play March 23 at El Camino Real.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com