Sports
Local clubs take spotlight at Junior Olympics
Something clicked for Shane Boyd when he first jumped in the pool and took a shot on the cage. Lap swimming was just too repetitive for him, but water polo, well, that was exciting.
“Water polo became a passion,” Boyd said. “I found joy in it.”
Boyd and the Tiburon Peninsula Central Marin Sharks followed their passion all the way to the Junior Olympics in Orange County toward the end of July, where the athletes from three different clubs in Marin County took the national spotlight.
The Sharks U14 Boys team, joined by AJ Fox and Brogan Corridan from Marin Water Polo, claimed silver in the Classic Division, part of a historic medal count for the Sharks. Of the five Sharks teams that qualified for the Junior Olympics, three took home medals, the first time in the 16-year history of the program the Sharks have earned such a haul.
“It was one heck of an experience,” said Boyd, whose brother and sister also play for the Sharks. “At the beginning of the season, the whole team doubted themselves. They didn’t think they’d qualify for Junior Olympics. But the whole team showed up and we ended up with a better seeding than we expected. Everyone was really excited, they worked hard and trained hard. Junior Olympics was a great experience. Qualifying was a treat and Junior Olympics was the cherry on top. We were all great friends before, but being together in that environment was outstanding.”
The Sharks U10 Coed team, with Shane’s sibling Colton Boyd in the pool and mom Mandy on the deck as an assistant coach, took home silver in the Gold Division. Lincoln Matthews, the brother of former Redwood High and current UCLA standout Max Matthews, is carrying on the family tradition with the Sharks.
The Sharks U12 Coed A squad, which has placed in the top three in the nation each of the past four years, captured the bronze medal in the elite Platinum Division. The Sharks U14 Girls team finished sixth in the Classic Division, and the U12 Coed B team placed eighth in the Gold Division.
The Sleepy Hollow Aquatics 18U Girls team took silver in the Championship Division after going 5-3. The SHAQ 18U Boys went 9-2 to take third place in the Classic Division. The SHAQ 12U Girls finished 17th overall in the Championship Division after a 10-9 win over Greenwich, Conn. The SHAQ 10U Boys took 16th overall in the Championship Division after a shootout loss to Davis.
“SHAQ was very competitive at the Junior Olympic tournament this summer,” said SHAQ coach Matt Swanson. “I am very proud of our performances across all of our age groups. We had 11 teams and over 130 kids competing this summer. It’s great to see our 10U boy and girl athletes competing on the national stage, getting the experience playing against teams from all over the country in front of big crowds. It was great for our graduating seniors to come home with medals in their final competition with our club. We wish them all the best in their college careers.”
The Sharks went 4-0 in U14 Boys group play, with a pair of thrilling one-goal victories. The Sharks lost to Tsunami, 14-9 in a quarterfinal matchup, but a pair of wins set up a championship rematch. Tsunami again got the better of the Sharks, 13-7, for gold.
The Sharks U14 boys missed out on Junior Olympics last year, so they were motivated to qualify for the tournament this year.
“They really wanted to make it,” Sharks and Redwood High boys water polo head coach Rudy Kardos said. “They focused, like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to qualify. We just want to make it.’ And they did. That was the icing on the top.”
Five days after Sam Shemano celebrated winning silver with his U14 Boys team, he was celebrating another victory, this time as an assistant coach. Shemano was on the deck with Kardos and assistant coach Terrance Rohan as the U12 Coed A Sharks beat Merced’s SKIP, 8-7, to clinch third place in the Platinum Division. Shemano’s brother, Max, along with Hazel Schlunt and Jackie Maley, were part of the team that beat SKIP for the U12 Coed gold medal last year.
“Max and I have been practicing together in the pool a lot,” said Sam Shemano. “I trained Max a lot at the beginning of the summer. Watching Max play, I see how I play through him. It’s cool.”
Helping with his brother’s team has given Sam Shemano a different perspective on the game.
“Being a player is easier than being a coach,” he said. “As a player, you just have to play the game and do what the coach tells you to do. As a coach, you realize there’s a lot more to it. Playing just your best players the whole game is not the way you want to coach. All these kids put a lot of time in all year to get to the Junior Olympics, and they’ve earned the chance to play.”
Max Shemano said he enjoyed the time with his brother, and the extra training. The brothers joined the Sharks four years ago, and are both already looking ahead to playing in high school and college.
“He’s taught me a lot, he’s helped me a lot,” Max Shemano said of his brother. “I love playing water polo and getting better every game.”
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