Takahashi leads water polo

By Jessica Ballweg

With no returning seniors and a more competitive schedule this year, including some nationally ranked opponents, the Santa Clara men's water polo team will be looking to sophomore Nick Takahashi to score more goals and to provide leadership to a team comprised mostly of underclassmen.

Takahashi joined a competitive swim team in second grade and continued through to seventh grade. While at swim practice, however, he always had his eye on the water polo team.

He remembers saying, "That looks like fun and this is boring." He started playing water polo and continued playing during his four years at Loyola High School in Los Angeles and with his club team, Rose Bowl Aquatics. While swimming may have lacked the fun that water polo provided, Takahashi does not forget to acknowledge that without that training he wouldn't be playing at the level he is today.

What Nick loves about the sport, besides its fun nature, is that it is a highly competitive, physical and aggressive game.

"You don't have to play composed, he said. "I'm an emotional player who plays with intensity and in this sport it is just easier to play with heart."

On the goal-scoring front this season, Nick has already found the net 35 times to lead the team in scoring. He is a dangerous player who is deceptive and hardworking.

Santa Clara's first year head coach Keith Wilbur said, "He is our best offensive threat and our go to guy in terms of being a shooter. He can also play many different positions." Nick credits an off-season weight lifting program for helping him develop a better shot.

Losing seven players from last season, including Jay Moorhead who scored 172 goals in his career and earned second team All-WWPA (what does this stand for?) honors, Nick has had to start taking on a different role from the previous season.

"Last year my role on the team was to help the team by playing as hard as I could," said Takahashi, "but this year it is to take that old role plus help lead the team and help teach others to play at the college level. I just try to be a positive leader.

He came into this season ready to help his three junior teammates lead the team and that is exactly what he has been doing.

Coach Wilbur agrees, saying, "He definitely has good knowledge of the game coming out of high school and is one of our leaders in the pool."

Takahashi believes that his club team experience was invaluable in this regard. The team competed in a higher age bracket and, while still in high school, he was competing against collegiate athletes.

"It was like playing varsity for six years now," he said.

Sophomore Mark Perlite said, "Takahashi brings a lot of experience and leadership. He shares his knowledge and experience of the game with the younger and less experienced players. He has helped me with things that I needed work on."

Takahashi's goals for this year seem to be the same as those of his coach and of his other teammates: to see the team continue to work hard and to grow and develop throughout the season. That should produce good results at the end of the season and be a building block for next year.

Their first and only home game is on Nov. 17th against UC- Santa Cruz, the Broncos' rival team. The team will need a lot of support and, as Takahashi says, "We better have a huge turnout."