Varsity Water Polo Player Dives into Coaching

The girls’ water polo and girls’ tennis teams both received new coaches that are impacting the team’s’ skills and practices. The girls’ tennis team has started off a great season with new Coach Kip Brady. Brady played for the University of California, Santa Barbara and he was an NCAA All-American tennis player. He is the junior tennis team coach at The Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates. Brady is working on strategies with the girls’ team to help improve their skills.

“There are definitely changes with how each coach ran things, but I think that we are off

to a good start and Kip is thoughtful and his intentions are really thought out and planned,” said varsity captain and senior, Taylor Connelly. “I think we are really going to have a good season.”

According to Principal Dr. Charles Park and freshman Rachel Post, who is on the varsity team, Brady helped bring the team together and move the team from Division 2 to Division 1. The girls’ water polo team has also gone through a transition with coaches. The team went the rst three weeks of the school year without a coach. One player rose to the occasion and took on the responsibility to lead the team.

Senior Izzy Barajas assumed the role of a coach and guided the team through conditioning and workouts so they could get in shape for the upcoming season.

“The situation [was] extremely stressful but I’m willing to do whatever for the team and the program that I love,” said Barajas, varsity water polo captain.

Barajas has been playing for ve years. She has been on varsity all four years and knows how preseason works. Barajas started playing water polo for Trojan water polo team after sixth grade and played there for three years.

She then went on to play at PV water polo club for a season, and now she is playing for SOCAL water polo club in Orange County and is in her third season this year. Barajas has been trying out for the USA National team and has made it to the national training selection camp.

Next year she hopes to attend a Division 1 water polo team.

“I stepped in because I care about this program and love the girls with all my heart, I would do anything for them,” said Barajas.

She along with co-captain Viv LaBreche and a few other returning varsity players have been getting the girls in shape for the upcoming season. Coach Andras Gyongyosi is the new coach for the girls water polo team. He is a Hungarian coach who was in the Olympics.

Gyongyosi lived in Hungary most of his life. He has been coaching at Santiago High School since he moved here from Hungary. He represented the Hungarian national team 240 times as a player and was on the Hungarian Olympic team in the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic games. Gyongyosi recently started coaching for the PV water polo club.

“It will be refreshing and just a change in the norm so hopefully it will go well,” said LaBreche.

The girls team has bonded from practicing without a coach and helping each other. “I think we have an amazing chance at doing great this season. We have the possibility of winning league and our division in CIF, but we have to take it game by game. We have a lot of talent in the underclassmen so I am excited to see what they can do. This year should be super fun because I am playing alongside my best friends,” said Barajas. The team is continuing to practice together and getting closer with a new coach and new teammates.