Hall of Fame: Garth Bergeson (CdM)

Richard Dunn

There’s a certain line that should never be crossed in any

competitive sport, in the World According to Garth.

As a four-time NCAA All-American water polo player at UCLA and later a

head coach at the University of Utah, former Corona del Mar High standout

Garth Bergeson has a good feel for right and wrong.

And, plainly, “I’m all about kids,” said Bergeson, now a high school

coach in Beaverton, Ore., where he lives with his two highly energetic

sons, Alex, 12, and Max, 9.

Bergeson, who still plays world-class water polo at the masters level,

is slightly disgruntled with parents who interfere with their child’s

development because, perhaps, of their own agendas.

“Parents need to understand that they need to back off and let their

kids become whatever they can be, not what you want them to do,” Bergeson

said. “That does nothing but create problems down the line. Support them,

make sure they get (to practice and games), and maybe you’ve got to

motivate them to get them into it, but that’s as far as it ought to be.

“I love kids. I give kids the benefit of my knowledge .. adults who

step in with egos I could give a (expletive) about. They screw it up more

times than I want to recall.

“I tell parents to sit on it in the stands, and I tell other people to

back off and watch. They can enjoy it, but it’s all about the kids.”

Bergeson, the 1970 CIF Southern Section Player of the Year for Corona

del Mar, led the Sea Kings to the CIF title as a junior in 1969 under

Coach Cliff Hooper, but they lost to Sunny Hills in the semifinals in

‘70.

“There is no game where officials have more say than in water polo,

more so than ice skating, because of the fact that water polo is so

interpretive in terms of how someone sees a foul and how someone views

what’s going on in the water,” said Bergeson. “People who officiate,

especially here (in Oregon), there’s a good percentage of them who have

never played water polo. The only reason I mention it is because I’m

trying to figure out whether I’m going to (remain) as coach or not (at

Beaverton High). If it’s for the parents, I won’t. But if it’s for the

kids, I will.”

In the 1970 CIF semifinal game, Bergeson, a two-meter standout, also

felt the officiating destroyed his team’s chances of beating Sunny Hills,

who went on to lose to Newport Harbor in the finals, 5-4.

“They were just killing us,” he said. “The officials didn’t want to

see one person dominate in a semifinal game.”

Bergeson, whose younger brother, James, was a two-time CIF Player of

the Year for Newport Harbor (1977-78), helped UCLA win back-to-back NCAA

championships his first two seasons in Westwood.

He earned All-American honors in all four campaigns, including his

freshman year in the fall of 1971, when freshmen still weren’t eligible

to compete, except in the NCAA Tournament. Bergeson made a big enough

impression in the NCAA Tournament that year to garner honorable mention

All-American accolades.

“Do you know what kind of animal Garth Bergeson was?” said Hooper, his

coach at CdM for four years. “He could do anything. Bergeson and I got

along well. He’s very academic, very aggressive and very sure of himself.

His brother’s an ex-Olympian, his mother (Marian) was the state secretary

of education (under former Gov. Pete Wilson) and his father (Garth) is

one of the best guys you’ll ever meet. It’s a very strong family.”

Bergeson is a former member of the U.S. national team whose Olympic

wounds were healed when his brother won a silver medal for Team USA at

the 1988 Seoul Games and, in an earlier game, scored a game-winning goal

against Yugoslavia.

“That (goal and silver medal) took care of 16 years of competitive

bile,” said Bergeson, who was still bitter about not playing in the

Olympics in 1976 or 1980, the latter when President Carter boycotted the

Moscow Games.

Bergeson, 48, grew up in Newport Beach and spent six years as a

lifeguard, but these days he wouldn’t trade his Pacific Northwest

lifestyle for anything.

“I’m staying here. It’s a gorgeous place,” said Bergeson, the latest

honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame.

Bergeson, a single parent, said he teaches his two sons “all the

games” and that they’re “competitive animals.”

“My job is to teach them how to play (a game or sport), and once they

understand how to play, they understand how to have fun and learn, then,

if you learn, you can learn in life,” he said.

“We have Team Bergeson up here. It’s the testosterone house. We also

have a 140-pound dog, Harrison. I haven’t locked my doors in a decade.”