Even though the San Benito High girls water polo team finished just 4-8 in Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division play last season, first-year Haybalers coach Ronni Gautschi said she expects her squad to compete—if not win—the league championship this season.
“It’s all a matter of how much they’re willing to put into it,” said Gautschi, who was a standout water polo player for both Live Oak and San Diego State before playing two years professionally in Italy. “So far the girls are putting in the work and doing what it takes to improve.”
Gautschi doesn’t take kindly to excuses—just ask her players.
“Coach is pretty intense and very business like,” said Erin Hepner, the team’s returning senior hole-set. “If we’re not doing things correctly, we’ll get yelled at once in a while, but it’s all constructive criticism.”
San Benito will know where it stands right out of the gate, as it plays its season-opener against perennial league heavyweight and Central Coast Section power Soquel on Sept. 4.
Gautschi, 25, is the daughter of former Olympic swimmer Lynn Gautschi, who won a silver medal in the 400 individual medley in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and a bronze medal in the 200 IM in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
Even though Gautschi is a no-frills, no-excuses type coach, she still makes practice fun and jokes around with the players once they’re out of the pool. She’s excited that the girls have taken to her approach.
“I coached a lot of the kids during the summer on my club team, so they know what they’re getting into,” Gautschi said. “Practice and play the game like you mean it. There’s no half-ass (effort) here.”
With a new coach instilling a new attitude and work ethic into the players—Gautschi coached around half of the team’s roster this summer on her club team, the Morgan Hill Manta—the Balers aren’t putting any limits on what they can accomplish this season.
“We’ve been doing a lot of swimming, conditioning and a bunch of leg work because she wants us to be fit and ready for the season,” Hepner said. “I think we’ll get there really fast by the way things are looking so far.”
Gautschi and Hepner both said the players will be fitter, stronger and possess a superior skill set from a year ago.
The Balers return virtually their entire starting lineup from 2013, including senior goalie Rachel Smithee, junior attacker Grace Larson, senior attacker Heather Smith, junior attacker Hayleigh Smith, junior attacker Shannon Stevens and senior attacker Riley Drexler.
“The Smith sisters have gotten better, and they’ll be a huge asset for the team this year,” Gautschi said.
The same can be said of Hepner, who spent a good portion of the summer practicing against male high school players so she in turn could bully her opponents this season.
“I got to practice against a lot of guys who are bigger than me, and I’m sure that’s going to help me once the season starts,” said Hepner, whose younger sister, Ceily, is a freshman utility on the team and figures to be a key reserve. “With all of the seniors we have on the team, we’re hoping to win the title.”
Gautschi and Hepner’s connection go back a long way. Lynn Gautschi coached Hepner’s dad, Walter, when he swam at Live Oak. The longstanding connection made Gautschi think twice before taking the San Benito job.
That and the fact that as a 2006 Live Oak graduate, Gautschi wasn’t exactly keen on helping the rival Balers to a return to glory.
“I’m always cautious when it comes to coaching the kid of a family friend,” she said. “Plus, I’m an Acorn, and I couldn’t coach Hollister because that wouldn’t be right. In the end, I wanted to coach because I want to be a helpful guide for players who want to play in college, and give them the best information so they can make the right choices.”
Gautschi was a nationally-ranked swimmer in the junior ranks before she decided to carve out a path in water polo. Simply put, she wanted to get out of her mom’s immense shadow and create her own identity.
That’s not to say Gautschi didn’t express appreciation and love for her mom; rather, the constant comparisons and questions could get old really quick.
“I was a swimmer until I decided I didn’t want to live in my mom’s shadow,” Gautschi said. “But I’m glad I swam for as long as I did, because it helped me in water polo.”
Now it’s Gautschi who is helping her players improve their skills.
“Overall as a team we’ve put in more time in the summer, and the improvement is noticeable,” Hepner said. “Coach pinpoints our weak points and helps us improve on them.”
Gautschi played two years for Firenze Pallanuoto, a team in Italy’s top professional division. She returned to the states in May 2013 and is currently waiting to get into nursing school.
Gautschi hasn’t ruled out playing for Italy’s national team one day, but for now, she’s plenty happy in trying to lift the San Benito girls to new heights.
