Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Heather Deyden - Newport’s brick

wall

Tony Altobelli

So how would Newport Harbor High girls water polo senior Heather

Deyden describe her level of play as a freshman goalie three years ago?

“I stunk, plain and simple,” she said with a laugh. “I couldn’t even

throw the ball past half tank. It was pretty funny to watch out there.

Fortunately, I’ve gotten bigger and stronger over the years and I’ve

gotten a little better.”

Not only has the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week gotten bigger and

stronger physically, but she’s also buffed up mentally in the pool as

well.

“If you make mistakes as a goalie, you can’t let it affect your game,”

Deyden said. “You just to put it out of your mind and try the best you

can on the next play. As a goalie, sometimes it’s not that easy because

as the last line of defense, a mistake usually means a goal.”

A great example of Deyden’s mental toughness came on Feb. 1 in the

Irvine Tournament against crosstown rival Corona del Mar.

After the Sea Kings scored three first-quarter goals and led by two,

Deyden slammed the door on the Sea Kings’ scoring opportunities, allowing

only two goals the rest of the way.Newport rallied to beat the Sea Kings,

7-5.

Perhaps a psychologist in the making, Deyden can not only focus her

frame of mind, she tries to throw off the opponents’ concentration as

well.

Newport (15-8), ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division I,

trailed the Division IV’s fourth-ranked Sea Kings, 3-2, and was on the

verge of a 4-2 hole thanks to a four-meter penalty shot for CdM.

As Sea Kings’ sniper Christina Hewko set up her scoring opportunity,

Deyden, of all things, smiled at her before she shot the ball.

“I try to throw off the shooter by smiling at them,” Deyden said. “It

sometimes makes them worry about why I’m smiling rather than focusing on

where they are going to shoot.”

In the exchange of pearly whites, Deyden managed to see where Hewko

was shooting and made a big-time save, turning the momentum over to the

Sailors. She finished with seven saves as Newport ended the 32-team

tournament in sixth place.

Deyden grew up playing other sports and doing other activities, other

than water polo.

“I got into softball as a kid and did the usual girl stuff,” she said.

“I even got into dancing classes, but I realized pretty quick that

dancing wasn’t in the cards.”

Upon her tenure at Newport Harbor, Deyden began playing water polo. “I

wasn’t sure where I wanted to play, so I tried goalie,” Deyden said. “It

seemed fun, so I stuck with it.”

After a year and a half at the lower levels, Deyden was brought up to

varsity and watched the Sailors win the CIF Southern Section Division I

title in 1999.

“This year’s team has a chance to go a long way,” Deyden said. “If we

play defense very well, our offense will feed off of that. It all starts

with our defense, though.”

On the topic of playing for longtime Coach Bill Barnett, Deyden

welcomes the opportunity. “He (Barnett) raises our standards every

practice and every game,” Deyden said. “I like that. I’d rather play for

a tougher coach and continue to get better than play for a laid-back

coach and not improve.”

Deyden would like to continue playing after high school. She’s looking

to several schools such as Cal Baptist, San Jose State and UC Irvine, but

nothing has been decided yet. “It’s a close decision,” she said. “I’m

going to take my time, look at my options and decide in a couple of

weeks.”

Whatever and whenever the decision occurs, chances are Deyden will

have a smile on her face when she does it.