Athlete of the Month: Kevin Becker

Tony Altobelli

What’s a young man to do?

In the world of community college men’s water polo, being 6-feet-even and

weighing 150 pounds is relative to Spud Webb in the NBA, but Orange Coast

College freshman Kevin Becker is trying to change the situation.

“I’m telling you, I eat and eat and eat nonstop,” Becker said with a

laugh. “I eat anything that moves. It’s not working. It’s my metabolism,

I guess.”

What he lacks in physical size, this Newport Harbor High product more

than makes up in heart and determination for the Pirates.

“He’s a very smart player and he’s understanding his role to this ball

club as it relates to our system,” Coach Chris Oeding said. “What he

lacks in size, he makes up with speed, intensity and focus.”

His high school coach, Bill Barnett agrees.

“He has such speed and quickness and can throw the ball so hard, it’s

scary,” Barnett said. “He’s a real intense player who really, really

wanted to win while he was here.”

Becker is a driver for the Pirates, which enables Becker to utilize his

speed and quickness in crucial situations.

“It really allows me to be involved in the game,” Becker said. “I think

my strength is on the counterattack. I prefer to pass rather than score.”

Despite his zest for passing, Becker is also doing an abundance of

scoring, leading the Pirates with 67 goals.

It all adds up to selection as the Daily Pilot’s College Athlete of

the Month for October.

“My biggest goals for our freshmen each year is to get them acclimated

with our system and for them to understand what role they need to fill in

order for our teams to be successful,” Oeding said. “With Kevin, it’s

nice to get players who come from such a successful and well-coached

program as Newport Harbor or CdM.”

Like Oeding, who doubles as the United States Olympic water polo captain,

despite being smaller than the average player, Becker learned the value

of fundamentals at Newport and is refining those fundamentals at OCC.

“Whatever the coach has to say, I’ll listen to him,” Becker said.

“Obviously, with all that he’s gone through and the things he’s

accomplished in this sport, I’d be foolish not to.”

Becker is also leading by example in his family. He has a younger

brother, Eric, 14 and sister, Paige 12 and both play water polo as well.

“I’ll try to throw in little tricks whenever I can to them,” Becker said.

“Anything to help.”

Becker started to play water polo his freshman season at Newport Harbor,

with some encouragement from his best friend, the late Gray Lunde, who

died from a heart attack that same year.

“He’s the one that got me into it in the first place,” Becker recalled.

“Growing up I played all the sports; baseball, football, soccer and

swimming.”

Becker started off as a goalie and, in fact, scored the game-winning goal

against rival Corona del Mar with a goal-to-goal shot at the buzzer,

giving the Sailors a 2-1 win.

“I scored that goal the day before Gray died,” Becker said. “It’s

definitely something I’ll never forget.”

Looking ahead, Becker would like to reach water polo’s next level

following his career at OCC, which is something that his former coach

believes is possible.

“With his speed and quickness and his powerful shot, what school couldn’t

use him,” Barnett said. “You can’t have enough speed on a team.”

Oeding also thinks the sky is the limit for Becker, provided that he

keeps doing the right things in and out of the water.

“I think he has the natural ability to move on from here,” Oeding said.

“He’s got a firm grasp of the fundamentals, which he will have to master

to play at a four-year school, plus he’ll only get bigger and stronger

while he’s here.”

As for Becker, born and bred in California, he would like to stay on the

west coast.

“I would love to play at a school like UC Santa Barbara or perhaps Cal,”

Becker said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I enjoy

playing here and I’m going to make the most of my opportunity while I’m

here.”