Athlete of the Week: CdM’s Storm a master in sign language
Corona del Mar High senior Bridgett Storm calls herself quirky.
“I kind of see myself as a ‘Saturday Night Live’ type of person,” Storm said. “I think that would be fun. I think I would be good at it. I like to make people laugh.”
She gets to use at least some of her creative energy by making signs to bring to games. Before the boys’ water polo Battle of the Bay game this year, Storm indeed made a memorable one. She managed to poke fun at both Newport Harbor’s team and her former girls’ coach at CdM, Ross Sinclair, who now coaches the boys at his alma mater of Newport Harbor.
“Hey Ross! Remember when you used to coach girls?” the sign read, before adding, “Oh wait you still do!!!”
Storm said she was nearly kicked out of the game because of the sign, but she was able to stay until the end and watch CdM edge Newport Harbor, 7-6. She still has that sign. But when the girls’ water polo Battle of the Bay rolled around last week, she was unsure if CdM’s boys’ water polo players would make a funny sign to support her when it was her turn to compete in the pool.
CdM seniors Vincent Ong and Jon Polos answered the challenge. Ong made a sign that, in part, read, “#8 in the water but Bridgett is #1 in our (heart symbol).” Polos’ sign read, “Sailors, be aware of the perfect Storm.”
“I did have some representation,” Storm said, smiling. “They stepped up. I was proud of them.”
Her good friend Jessie Harris, a girls’ volleyball player, also made a sign. It read, “Watch out Harbor, there’s a Storm coming” and had Storm’s head imposed on top of a tornado. Storm has certainly heard the plays on her last name before.
“It’s so old,” she said. “I get that all of the time, but I like the way that she did [the sign]. It was very presentable.”
Harris, headed to Princeton, was the Pacific Coast League MVP in girls’ volleyball. Storm has the kind of talent to earn the same award in girls’ water polo.
She showed it in the Battle of the Bay game, putting together the most impressive 28 minutes of her varsity career. Storm had a game-high four goals and drew six exclusions as CdM won, 9-8.
The center and co-captain, who is headed to UCLA, shined for CdM in its season opener. Storm’s fourth goal ended up being the game-winner, after she drew the exclusion and scored on the power play with 3:01 left in the game.
“There was a confidence when she stepped in, and it was great to see,” CdM Coach Kevin Ricks said after the game. “She has a good feel for when it’s her turn to step up and make the shot. If our opponent makes the adjustment and comes at her hard, she does a good job of making the pass. Tonight, it was her shot to take, and she did a great job with that.”
Storm, a returning stater, wanted to step up after losing to Newport Harbor three times last year, each time by a single goal. She’s off to a fast start for the Sea Kings, who are ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and improved to 2-0 after Wednesday’s 11-4 win over Santa Margarita. Storm scored four goals in that game as well, again leading all players.
It has been an interesting road to this point for Storm, who said she counts former CdM star Maddie Musselman as her best friend. Musselman, who now plays with the U.S. senior women’s national team after de-enrolling from CdM last March, was on the varsity roster as a freshman along with Storm. But their paths have been different, although they will reunite at UCLA.
While Musselman was earning Newport-Mesa Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, Storm said she had a rough time that season. CdM had then-senior Marina Coskinas as center, so Storm didn’t get a lot of playing time.
“It was miserable,” she said. “I was hurting that year. I wasn’t very strong mentally, you know. I was very slow in the water with understanding a lot of the stuff, so I was kind of a defensive liability. It just wasn’t worth it having me in. With Marina Coskinas there, they really didn’t need me going into set.”
She came into last year thinking the center position would be hers alone, but that was before Kaybree Albright transferred into the CdM program. Storm was the starter but she said it was good to compete for playing time with Albright, who now plays for the University of Indiana.
“Having someone to split that time with was so nice,” Storm said. “Playing full games in set is crazy. And I mean, we would always be going against each other in practice. It was so nice having another person who was just as strong or stronger than me, to push me. It kept it competitive. I was a starter, but at any second it could be taken away from me, so it made me push myself.”
Of the two, Albright was more of the goal scorer. Storm had just 23 goals as a junior, but now as a senior she has fit nicely into her role as the team’s leading scorer.
That’s no laughing matter for Storm, whose older brother Nick played on the offensive line for the CdM football team before graduating in 2013. Her younger sister, Mackenzie, runs cross country and track for CdM.
What is funny about Bridgett, though, is her Twitter handle of @BrigdettStorm. It’s intentionally misspelled to make fun of her already unique name, right?
Not exactly.
“I made that freshman year and I just made a typo and saved it,” she said. “Now there’s so many tweets that are linked to it, that I don’t want to change it. I probably should before I go to college. It’s kind of an inside joke with Jessie Harris’ family ... now Mrs. Harris always calls me ‘Brigdett.’”
Call her what you want, just also call her a leader for the Sea Kings.
Storm is showing plenty of signs of that leadership this season.
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Bridgett Storm
Born: Nov. 5, 1997
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5-foot-10
Sport: Water polo
Year: Senior
Coach: Kevin Ricks
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite movie: “10 Things I Hate About You”
Favorite athletic moment: Finding out that she was going to play for UCLA in college.
Week in review: Storm had a game-high four goals, including the game-winner, as CdM beat Newport Harbor, 9-8, in the Battle of the Bay game on Dec. 18.
