Courtesy of Jerry Kohler
Eva Stein’s life is all about water polo.
This year, a typical day for her was going to Kearns for morning practice, going to school, practicing in Park City and then heading back to Kearns for more training. All that hard work has paid off for Stein, who was a senior this year. She signed to play water polo at the University of Hawaii for the next chapter of a journey that has included traveling across the west to play the sport she loves.
“I am so determined to be the best I can possibly be, especially even before going to Hawaii,” Stein said. “I want to be there and be able to compete for a spot or whatever. … I just want to be as prepared as possible to fit into that environment and be able to compete and help the team out in any way I can.”
Stein is a relatively new convert to water polo, as she started playing just before her freshman year of high school. Stein is 5-foot-10 now and was a middle blocker in volleyball in addition to being a competitive swimmer and a former basketball player. A few family friends pushed her to try the sport, and the rest is history.
“They needed a goalie for our 14U Junior Olympics team, and so they were like, ‘You’re tall, you’re just going to do it,’” Stein said. “I was like, ‘OK,’ so pretty much a month after I started playing, I did that. I came back, and they were like, ‘You’re the new varsity goalie.’”
Stein’s background in other sports has helped as well. Park City water polo coach Heather Flynn has seen that firsthand.
“I think there are a lot of different aspects of the sport of volleyball which can help,” Flynn said. “You have to keep your eye on the ball, you have to move all the time, you have to anticipate what the other team is going to do. All of those things translate really well to water polo.”
Flynn has also seen the lengths Stein will go to improve as a player. When Flynn held a series of high-intensity interval training workouts over the winter, Stein was at every session. Stein also swam for the high school team, for which Flynn served as the assistant coach.
“And while it’s not essential, she’ll be the first to tell you that it’s not her favorite thing in the world to do,” Flynn said. “She knew – and this speaks again to her level of dedication – she knew that it would improve her speed in water polo. As a goalie, while it’s not as important as a field player to be a fast swimmer, reaction times are really important. And if there is a loose ball and you have the skills to get to it, you’re going to earn the possession. And that’s what she did a lot of times this season.”
While Stein had plenty of training and game experience playing in Utah, she knew that she needed to leave the state if she wanted to take her game to the next level. She packed her bags and moved to California to train midway through her junior year of high school. Stein was taking classes online while playing with some of the best water polo players in the country.
Stein is no stranger to moving to a new place. She was born in Philadelphia and lived in New York and Texas before arriving in Park City in eighth grade. Stein fit right in nicely in California and credits her experience out there for helping her become the player she is today.
“I loved living out there and just finally being in an environment where everybody wants to be the best they can be and wants to play at that next level,” she said. “Just having that surrounding you felt really good. Here, that’s not always the case; it’s just not as big of a sport.
“I was lucky enough to be surrounded by people that kind of have the same goals as me and super high level coaches, and so that really pushed me to where I am today.”
Courtesy of Jerry Kohler
Stein’s water polo journey also involved her club team, Team Vegas. She’d join the team for tournaments, usually held in California, and train with the team during the summer.
Sandy Nitta coaches for Team Vegas and has noticed how seriously Stein takes water polo.
“She’s always asking questions – what can she do to get better, to improve her style in the cage,” Nitta said. “She’s constantly learning, which makes her an easy athlete to train. She takes criticism and she takes praise very well.”
Nitta described Stein as “very intense” during games, but she’s a model teammate outside of the pool.
“She’s very friendly to everybody, and it just makes all of the players welcome on the team,” Nitta said. “She’s also very considerate of her teammates. If she thinks that somebody is having a bad day, she’ll go up to them, try to cheer them up without being told. She can just see it in that player, she’s very sensitive that way.”
In the pool, Stein’s height and wingspan make it difficult for opposing players to score on her. If Park City ever headed to penalties, Flynn would use her as one of the team’s shooters in addition to stopping the other team’s penalty shots in the cage. Nitta noted that Stein has an uncanny ability to stop penalties and praised her athleticism.
“She can swim, she can make blocks, she can play goalie, she can probably go out in the field and be just as good in the field,” Nitta said. “That’s just because she’s a very athletic person.”
“Eva would be our first shooter,” Flynn added. “Every time we got into a penalty situation, not only did she score, she would block generally three of their shots. We never ever lost a game that came down to a penalty situation.”
Stein will be heading to a new home again as she ventures to Hawaii for college. She was initially hesitant about Hawaii, citing the distance away from home. But once Stein made it on campus, her apprehension disappeared.
“I had never been to Hawaii before,” she said. “But I went and I saw the facilities, and I talked to the coaches. And I just kind of knew that was where I wanted to be. It’s just such a cool environment and just the program’s values and everything were just totally aligned with what I wanted to do.”
The Parkite heads to a women’s water polo program in Hawaii that finished 16-6 this season and placed sixth in the country in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s final rankings. The sport has been dominated by California powerhouses Stanford, USC and UCLA, but Hawaii has established itself as a solid program. Water polo is a growing sport in Utah, and having someone like Stein sign for a college like Hawaii is a good sign.
Hawaii’s roster this year was mostly split between players from California and international players. As a player from Utah, Stein is sometimes met with various reactions.
“It is hard because, coming from the Mountain Zone, everybody underestimates you,” Stein said. “They don’t believe you’re from Utah, they’ll say you’re lying. … But I don’t know, it’s cool because it’s kind of representing a group of people that I feel like kids and coaches from California count out sometimes.”
Stein hopes that the water polo program in Park City continues to grow and thrive after she and plenty of other seniors move on. Flynn is always looking for players, and Stein knows what it’s like to hear about the sport and be hesitant to try it.
“I would just love to see the program thrive and continue, and I think the only way that will happen is to get more girls and boys to come try it out,” Stein said. “I would say to anyone who is thinking about it, it’s just so much fun. And it really is just like a community and a family.”
The Link Lonk
June 10, 2022 at 07:00PM
https://www.parkrecord.com/sports/eva-steins-hard-work-turns-into-spot-on-university-of-hawaiis-water-polo-team/
Eva Stein's hard work turns into spot on University of Hawaii's water polo team - The Park Record
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment