A three-time charm

Mike Sciacca

It’s Friday, and Chris Stansbury is going through his normal routine.

It’s basically the same one he’s followed since he entered Laguna

Beach High four years ago: off to school, then to practice and after

that, back home for dinner and homework.

Seeing how it’s Friday, and the start to the weekend, he’ll get a

reprieve come nighttime -- no homework.

“That’s pretty much what I’ve done my four years here,” said the

17-year-old senior. “I know the route pretty well.”

The road Stansbury travels isn’t much different than any other

student/athlete at Laguna Beach High. But what does make him standout

from the majority is that he is a three-sport athlete -- and a key

player on each of the teams he plays for, to boot.

In the fall, Stansbury began by playing water polo. In addition to

afternoon practices, there were 6 a.m. calls, too, three times per

week.

In the winter he joined the soccer team and in the spring he caps

his busy athletic year by playing at the baseball diamond.

That’s where the 6-foot-5, 220 pitcher/first baseman can be found

now, playing for Coach Mike Schubert.

Stansbury got a late start with the baseball program as the soccer

season overlapped the start of baseball practice.

It’s not uncommon for a prep athlete to jump from one sport to

another, nor for that athlete to miss out on the start of one season

while wrapping up another.

In Stansbury’s case, water polo overlaps the beginning of soccer

season, the latter doing the same come baseball time.

“He joined our team late and in our first game last week, you

could tell his timing was off,” Schubert said. “But he’s a great

athlete and Chris will be his old self soon.”

Stansbury’s prep career began with water polo his freshman year.

“That’s the first sport I went out for,” he remembered. “I was

expecting to play both water polo and then baseball later in the

school year. But soccer was an afterthought. My dad suggested I give

it a try. We talked about not having the chance to do something like

this again, so I went out for soccer.”

Stansbury has gone on to have a two-year varsity career in all

three sports. Not only that, but he has excelled in each arena: a

two-meter defender in water polo, he has been an All-Pacific Coast

League pick and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division I

Third Team; in soccer, the Breakers’ goalie has been an all-league

selection; and in baseball, where he hit .400 last season, he is a

returning all-league player.

When the fall water polo season ended for Laguna last November

with a second-round loss to eventual Division I champion, Long Beach

Wilson, Stansbury went from the water to dry land for soccer.

Coach Andy Thomas said his arrival in late February was much

anticipated.

“Chris missed our preseason practices but joined his right at the

start of the season -- and we were waiting for him,” Thomas said. “He

came out late but if he didn’t come out, we would not have made the

playoffs.

Laguna did qualify for the playoffs with Stansbury being a key

force behind that qualification.

“As a coach, you make allowances for kids who want to play

multiple sports,” Thomas said. “High school is one of those last

chances to get that opportunity. With Chris, he’s an all-around

competitor and a phenomenal athlete. He’s so mature, very focused and

was a great leader for us.”

The well-spoken Stansbury, who carries a 3.3 GPA, says there are

great benefits to playing three sports. Not only has his sports

seasons overlapped, he said, but so has his training regiment.

“It’s great cross-training,” he said. “Water polo really improves

your overall strength, like with your legs, and in soccer, you really

work your legs. With baseball, you work a little bit of everything.”

The end of the prep baseball season in June will end Stansbury’s

high school sports career. He said for how much of his time was

consumed by school and sports, he wouldn’t trade any of it.

“I’ve had a blast,” he said. All coaches, honestly, would prefer

for an athlete to concentrate on just one sport. My coaches have been

great and all of them know how much I love playing all three of these

sports.

“They have all been very supportive all these years. One of the

main things I will miss about high school is playing sports.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. He can be reached at 494-4321 or by e-mail at

michael.sciacca@latimes.com.