Caitlin Schafer has managed to stand out for the San Benito
girls’ water polo team the last two seasons, but doing the same
among the very best within the Olympic Development Program isn’t as
easy. But starting out as one of roughly 100 water polo players,
who hailed from all parts of the Bay Area and as far south as
Carmel, the San Benito sophomore outlasted near-countless tryouts
and practices, starting in November and lasting through March, to
make a rather select 12 as part of the ODP’s Pacific Regional
”
Red
”
team, an
”
A
”
team made up of 11th-graders and under.
HOLLISTER
Caitlin Schafer has managed to stand out for the San Benito girls’ water polo team the last two seasons, but doing the same among the very best within the Olympic Development Program isn’t as easy.
“It’s really hard,” she said. “You play with girls from all different areas and they’re very experienced, so it’s pretty hard.”
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Starting out as one of roughly 100 water polo players, though, who hailed from all parts of the Bay Area and as far south as Carmel, the San Benito sophomore outlasted near-countless tryouts and practices, starting in November and lasting through March, to make a rather select 12 as part of the ODP’s Pacific Regional “Red” team, an “A” team made up of 11th-graders and under.
Schafer, though, who in two seasons with the Balers has compiled 137 goals, 173 steals and 75 assists, was just one of three sophomores who made the cut.
“I was hoping I was gonna make the team. I was hoping to at least make the ‘B’ team,” Schafer said. “But I was completely shocked to have made the ‘Red’ team.”
The ODP, which acts as a feeder program for the national team, develops talent by identifying the top players on a state level through a series of tryouts. Players are recognized on a yearly basis.
Schafer said she was stressing out while waiting for the e-mail that announced the team, much more so than when she was actually trying out for the team itself.
“That wasn’t as bad,” she said. “I’m used to trying out.”
Trying out is one thing, but standing out from the rest of the competition is a completely different situation.
Schafer’s journey started in November at San Mateo City College, where a two-day, eight-hour tryout tested the pool of players — approximately 100 in all — on everything there is to be tested on in water polo. At the very end a scrimmage took place, where ODP coaches and evaluators observed the players in action, and graded them on how well they used the drills from earlier in the day in a game situation.
The field of potential players was then cut to 48.
“The first day, it was hard because there were so many kids,” said Schafer, who’s been playing water polo since she was 5-years-old. “For me, I just tried to do my best the entire time because I didn’t know if they were looking at me or the girl next to me.
“I tried to show my skills and their skills (that they taught). I tried to show them I could do that and more.”
The field of 48 was only the start of the process, however.
In December, there was a practice at Sacred Hear Prep, while in January, Schafer attended a training camp at Campolindo High, then later an evaluation camp at the Moraga high school with the Central ODP team.
It was back to the Bay Area a month later, this time to Acalanes High School in Lafayette, for a final training camp with the Pacific ODP team. Two days later — two long days for Schafer — an e-mail was sent out to announce the teams.
Nine players from the remaining 48 were cut, while those left figured into the ODP’s three Regional teams — Red, Blue and White. It was the farthest Schafer has ever advanced in her four years of training through ODP.
And the process wasn’t over just yet.
She then traveled to Clovis to compete in a seven-team tournament that included all three teams from the Pacific Region, as well as teams from the Central Region and Hawaii.
Schafer and the Pacific Red team went 3-0 in pool play, and advanced to the tournament championship before falling to Central’s “A” team, 9-7. From there, a 12-member Youth Training Squad was picked among the seven teams present, and only one sophomore was selected.
“I think I played really well,” Schafer said. “They were really aggressive and I wasn’t afraid of that.”
Although she fell short of making the next level, Schafer still has another of two years of eligibility remaining.
“This year, I got a lot farther and gained a lot more experience,” said Schafer, who’s played at the club level for approximately eight years, and has attended the Junior Olympics four times. “Next year, I think I’ll have a better chance of going even farther.”
The selection process starts all over again in November.
