Home is on the horizon

Mike Sciacca

Call them road warriors. They are the student athletes in the boys’

and girls’ water polo and swim programs at Huntington Beach High.

What else would you deem a group that has traveled from place to

place, looking, searching, for a venue in which to play? They have

continually hit the road, all for the love of a sport.

But all that is about to change.

Since 1991, the school’s aquatics programs have been without a pool on

campus. They have held home games, meets and practices just about

everywhere in the area, from the Army base pool in Los Alamitos to Golden

West College. Through the generosity of Fountain Valley High and its

aquatics coach, Ray Bray, the Oilers have had a place to practice.

But the road does take its toll, although spirits among the team

members have remained high.

“I think a lot of these kids have adapted to the travel,” Huntington

Beach water polo and swim coach Jeff Russ said. “That is the unfortunate

truth. The big deal to me is that these kids never have had the chance to

experience what other high school athletes do -- and that is play on

their home turf, so to speak. They have never been able to practice right

after school either.”

Russ was in one of the last classes to use the pool when he swam and

played polo for the Oilers in 1987. It was closed down and drained in

1991 because of dilapidation.

For 10 years it has remained closed, yet Russ still took over coaching

duties from Robert Williams in the spring of 1997 with the knowledge that

his teams would have no home pool.

“I have always wanted to coach at my alma mater,” he said. “I’m glad

I’m here. I knew somewhere down the line -- but I didn’t know exactly

when -- we’d get a new pool. And now, we are.”

Soon after Russ’ hiring, in December of 1997, the grass-roots

campaign, Take The Plunge sprouted up.

Tom Shaw, vice president of the Huntington Beach High School

Foundation, is the co-chairman of the campaign. Shaw was involved with

the school’s aquatics booster club and had two sons, Jared, a 1995

graduate and Logan, a 1999 graduate who went on to become an all-star at

Golden West College, swim and play polo for the Oilers.

“We went out on our own and began fund-raising, then the campaign

hooked up with the high school and later, we formed a partnership with

the city and school district,” Shaw said. “This project would not be

complete without the tremendous help and support of several groups and

individuals.”

Individuals throughout the community and individuals such as community

services director Ron Hagan and then-Assmeblyman Scott Baugh, who, said

Tish Koch, assistant superintendent of business services for the

Huntington Beach Union High School District, helped Take The Plunge

secure two, $100,00 grants from the state budget.

Initially, a $600,000 renovation price tag was put on the project but

plans to work with the existing pool were scrapped.

The new price tag was $1.8 million.

The larger portion of the project came from the Huntington Beach High

School Foundation and the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

The city will pay an estimated $601,000.

The pool is scheduled to open on Dec. 5, one month into the girls’

water polo season. The Oiler girls are set to host Trabuco Hills on Dec.

6 in the new pool’s first event.

“Our goal is to have a pool at every one of our high schools,” Koch

said. “Water sports and water safety are very important to us and it’s

also very important for schools close to the beach to have their own

pool.”

For the many individuals in the community and school district who have

worked diligently this is an exciting time, Koch said. “There’s a running

joke around here that when the pool is complete, we’re all going to jump

in the water,” he added.

For students, there is no doubt it will be a blessing.

Like many who came before them, varsity water polo team captain Brian

Anderson and teammate Ryan Evans, both seniors, practice from 3:30 to

6:30 p.m. at Fountain Valley High and don’t get home until the early

evening.

The freshman and sophomore teams don’t get to practice until 5:30 p.m.

and wrap up at 7:30 p.m.

“That makes for a long day,” said Anderson, whose sister, Lauren, a

1997 graduate, swam and played polo for the Oiler girls’ teams. “It’s

tough driving and having to be on time everywhere. It’s the little things

that add up.”

Russ said that despite having no pool, the number of participants in

his programs has not dwindled. In most years, he said, anywhere from 80

to 90 students participate in the aquatics program and that roughly 35

boys and girls come out each season for water polo.

“We’ve played at so many different school pools that I’ve lost track,”

said Evans. “I have a lot of good friends on this team. We have all stuck

together and we are still hanging in there after all these years. We

can’t wait for our pool to open.”

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.