Lady Knights Water Polo: Small Squad With Lots Of Heart
By Jack Danilewicz
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Castle’s Alex Connelly prepares to get the ball past Kayla Ponce of Aiea. Photo by Byron Lee,
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Should the Castle girls water polo team make the Local Motion State Water Polo tournament next month, the Knights can credit the strength of their schedule in preparing them for the post-season.
Indeed, as Castle approached the midway point of its season last week, Knights’ coach Ted Norris and his squad were very aware that they’d already faced most of the league’s upper tier.
“They know they were front-loaded (schedule-wise),” said Norris, whose team took a 2-4 record into the weekend.“The key for us is to stay determined and resilient. We need to be able to come back from our standing and be very focused and driven. We have a good chance to have a good winning percentage over these last six games, and that would put us right in the playoff mix.”
The Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs will take place the first week of May, with the top four finishers within the league’s own format earning bids to the state water polo championships.
Norris has set his sights on “the fourth spot” out of the OIA, a task that would be made easier if Castle could finish its regular season strong to gain a “middle seed.”
A middle seed would likely allow the Knights to avoid playing perennial powers Kahuku and Roosevelt in an early-round game.
Both schools have played for the OIA title each of the past five years, with Kahuku winning all five meetings.
“That (going to the state tournament) has been our goal from the start,” said Norris, whose team returns to action this Saturday when the Knights meet Kalani in a game that will be played at 10:15 a.m. at Kaimuki High School. “It is what we’ve been working toward. Our three philosophies are to have fun, to play at 100 percent, and to learn something from every game. And these girls have accomplished that.”
The Knights have relied on a nice mix of veterans and relative newcomers so far this spring, led
by seniors Emily Pak and Darrah Hokama and sophomores Liana Ratoza and Katie Norris in addition to first-year goalkeeper Shanelle Spencer.
Ratoza is the team’s leading scorer, having tallied 11 times heading into the weekend, with Pak right behind with 10.
“Liana is a natural water polo player,” Norris said. “She came from the Kamehameha junior program. We were fortunate to get her as a transfer. Her knowledge of the game and her scoring ability are her strengths. Emily’s strength is her defense and her aggressiveness.”
Tak is one of two co-captains on the team alongside Hokama.
“(Hokama’s) strength is her leadership and her sprit. She’s our cheerleader.”
Norris, who is the coach’s daughter, is a second-year player, although only a sophomore.
“She’s progressed immensely from last year to this year,” Ted Norris said. “She’s become a top scorer this year.”
Spencer is in her first year of water polo and has had several solid outings to date, according to her coach.
“She’s done a tremendous job for a first-year goalie,” Norris said. “She used to be a soccer goalie, and that came into play. She’s good at blocking balls.”
Interest in water polo, which is in its sixth year as a sanctioned sport by the OIA, continues to multiply, a fact that Norris is hoping will help his program’s long-term development. He played at Iolani for three seasons in the mid ‘70s, and spent last season as an assistant at Castle before being tapped to take over the program.
“We have 14 kids this year, but we could still use more players,” he said. “When we played Kaiser, they came at us with 30. It would be nice to have some incoming freshmen come in.”
The Local Motion State Water Polo Championships will take place May 10-12 at Central Oahu Regional Park. Pairings for the tournament will be announced May 6.
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