Water Polo: Newport age-group girls back in NWPF

They don’t get the fanfare of the older high school girls. Many of them are just learning how to play the sport of water polo.

But few would argue with Brian Melstrom that successful age-group players are a big part of a successful high school program, especially at schools that train together year-round like Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar.

On Aug. 18, Melstrom was named the successor to legendary Newport girls’ water polo Coach Bill Barnett when Barnett retires after the coming season. Things fell quickly into place.

No longer are the Newport 12-and-under and 14-and-under girls under the Newport Beach Water Polo Club umbrella. They have moved back to Newport Water Polo Foundation, where they were before NBWPC was created in 2011. Newport Beach Water Polo retains control of the age-group boys’ program, as well as the 10-and-under co-ed team.

It’s an important move for the girls. It means that Melstrom will have direction of the age-group program, something he and Barnett didn’t have the last three years.

“It was essential to me that I had control of the age-group girls,” Melstrom said. “The development starts for high school at an early age, 11, 12 years old, even younger. If you have control of what those girls are being taught, it makes that transition of them coming into high school a lot easier. They’re ready to go. They’ve already experienced some of the drills you’re running, and they just fit right in and continue to mature through the program.

“Our administration also felt that whoever is a head coach of a program should have control of the age-group feeder [program]. I had their support, and as things kind of played out with the departure of [former NBWPC technical director and head coach] Robert Lynn, and even before that, I think I was gaining trust and support from the Newport Beach Water Polo Club. The board of directors were understanding that I might want to move in this direction. I didn’t think I was going to get a fight from them. Ultimately I think what they want is what’s best for the athletes, what’s best for the kids and the community.”

Melstrom kicked off fall practice for the Newport Water Polo Foundation 12-and-under and 14-and-under girls on Sept. 2. Twenty-two girls came out on that first Tuesday night, and now there are close to 30.

The coaching staff Melstrom has assembled is impressive. Longtime Santa Margarita High Coach Kevin Ricks is the 14-and-under coach, and longtime Edison High Coach Diggy Riley is the 12-and-under coach.

Kathryn Manderino, who played at Newport Harbor and Concordia and is currently the membership services coordinator for USA Water Polo, is also on the coaching staff.

Melstrom, the Sailors varsity girls’ swimming coach who is entering his 12th year as junior varsity and assistant varsity water polo coach, knows the numbers and hopes they improve. There are only 21 high school girls currently in the Sailors’ program, he said, and 10 of those will be graduating seniors.

For the second straight year, the Sailors will be unable to field a frosh-soph girls’ program in 2014-15, once thought unfathomable at a powerhouse like Newport Harbor that has five CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles and has made the Division 1 championship match each of the last three years.

“It’s been a steady decline over the last three years,” Melstrom said. “Our junior class this year has six girls, our sophomore class has four girls and this freshman class has zero girls that are feeding from Newport Beach Water Polo Club. I’m not trying to burn their club or do anything to harm what they have going. I have respect for what they’ve accomplished in their three years. This just ties [the girls] all together and we become one family.

“That’s the vision, that our girls’ age-group program becomes one group supporting everybody at every level. That’s been the division over the last three years, that Barnett and myself have not that control. The club was doing what they’ve been doing with the 12s and 14s, and we just had the 16s and 18s. There wasn’t that much communication between groups.”

Melstrom made sure to open the lines of communication with the new Newport Beach Water Polo Club director, Dean Crow. Crow, a Newport Harbor water polo alumnus (class of 1984) who also played at UC Irvine, is used to dealing with different groups. For his day job, he’s a middle school principal in the Tustin Unified School District.

“That part is awesome,” said Crow, whose daughter, Alex, is a junior in the Newport girls’ water polo program. “We’ve got a level of communication going on between both the boys’ and girls’ side — and even with the swim club — that wasn’t there before. That’s key. We need to be working together to benefit the kids and the families of Newport. Myself, and the board of directors for the Newport Water Polo Club, we’re 100% behind making whatever is best for the kids in Newport happen. Brian expressing interest in wanting to make this happen for the girls, we’re 100% behind him, and doing what we can to help him with that.”

Crow agreed with Melstrom that having the age-group girls back under the Newport Water Polo Foundation made sense.

“I think it makes every bit of sense in the world to have that kind of flow,” Crow said. “Having that continuity of communication and planning, with the goal of getting the girls ready for the high school coach, is definitely a bonus.”

Riley, a 1981 Newport Harbor water polo alumnus, definitely was happy to be asked to take the position. He already sent a message to Edison aquatics families, telling them his new club coaching position wouldn’t impact his coaching duties with the Chargers.

“How do you not take that job?” said Riley, who has been coaching Edison’s boys since 2001 and the girls since 2005 but said this is his first age-group job. “I was flattered to even be asked, and I can’t tell you how great it feels coaching on Newport’s deck. To say I’m excited is an understatement for sure.”

Although they’re designed to act as a feeder system, the Newport Water Polo Foundation age-group teams are open enrollment, Riley said. He has already brought over one girl, the younger sister of an Edison player, to play for the Newport 14-and-under girls. In the past, Edison standouts like Danielle Warde and Alys Williams also played for NWPF.

“People who live across the bay at CdM, they’re more than welcome to come over and be coached by our staff,” Melstrom said. “Girls down the hill, south-side Huntington [Beach]. At that level, we want to just develop interest. We want to concentrate on coaching fundamentals.

“These girls are going to get quality coaching all the way through. We’re crating this pyramid, from the bottom up. The ultimate apex at the top is the goal, but it all starts with the base.”