POOL SHARKS MOMS MAKE BIG SPLASH WITH WATER POLO CLUB.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Susan McElvaney spent years doing what all soccer moms do, running her three sons to practice and cheering for them when they were competing.

But the sport was water polo, not soccer, and there came a day when McElvaney and other water polo moms jumped into the pool themselves and started playing.

They formed the Conejo Valley Moms Water Polo Club. Nearly four years later, this group of women from their mid-40s to mid-50s, many without athletic backgrounds, are hooked on water polo. The sport has become so popular, another team was started in Oxnard.

``We got into it to learn the game,'' Conejo Valley club president Donna Rufi said. ``Now we love it so much you can't stop us. Year-round, if it's raining, 40, 50 degrees out, we're still out there two nights a week. People think we're crazy, but we love it.''

Twice a week, after she has fixed dinner and made sure the kids are doing their homework, McElvaney heads to the pool, where she and dozens of other Ventura County mothers have become the ultimate example of water polo's surging popularity in the area.

As more youth water polo teams popped up and local high schools built new pools for their thriving programs, the mothers on the sidelines grew tired of watching in confusion.

Rufi, McElvaney, Fran Smith, Janette Hartson, Liz Martens and Mary Kay McCartney are the remaining original members of a Conejo Valley program that has grown to about 30 players. They scrimmage against each other every Tuesday and Thursday night at Westlake High and play games against the Oxnard moms and a similar team from Long Beach.

McElvaney is one of the few original players with children still playing at the high school level. Her two oldest sons, Tyler and Austin, completed their third season as teammates at Westlake last fall. Their younger brother, Dillon, plays on an age-group team, leaving the family with few water polo-free days.

Like most of the Conejo Valley mothers, McElvaney attended high school before Title IX fostered women's athletics. When she had her sons, she indulged their craving for sports by letting them play baseball, basketball and soccer. It wasn't until one of the local lifeguards introduced her sons to water polo that McElvaney gained even a vague sense of the sport.

Playing for the Conejo Valley Moms made her realize she had more to learn than she thought.

``I had no idea what was going on when I started,'' McElvaney said. ``It seems like they're always blowing whistles, and you don't know why.

``And it was so much harder than I thought. We all joked we'd never again tell our kids to swim faster. You realize how hard they have to work. I had such a high appreciation for what they do. We're in the pool playing for 15 minutes, and we start asking for a sub; we're exhausted. They play five or six games in a week sometimes.''

Physical fitness and camaraderie are among the biggest rewards for the moms, who admit many of them couldn't swim more than a lap when they started. Competition is secondary, and the spotlight is shunned so much that family members who have offered loads of support usually are discouraged from watching.

The players remain mothers first, which is why the Conejo Valley team's season is on hold from Thanksgiving through New Year's. It also is why, when the team held a fund-raiser a couple of years ago, the moms ended up donating all the proceeds to a needy local family rather than using the money to purchase team equipment, as originally intended.

When Oxnard resident Peggy Trude grew tired of the late-night drives to Westlake, she helped start the Oxnard team - known as the Titans and based at Oxnard and Rio Mesa of Oxnard high schools. A closeness developed among the families. Birthdays were held poolside and dinners were planned at local restaurants.

Two Oxnard players are moving to Hawaii and plan to start an adult team there.

The Titans have found a few other teams of mothers in California. They participated in a tournament in Long Beach last spring and have scrimmaged high school teams.

``I think we sort of shocked some of (the high school players),'' said Trude, a former competitive diver who said one of her biggest thrills as Oxnard's goalkeeper was blocking a 4-meter penalty shot against Camarillo High's girls' team. ``I think they see us and say, 'Oh, they're just moms.'''

Getting the mothers to become water polo players required patient coaches.

High school coaches Tawney Ricketts (Camarillo) and Jose Duenas (formerly of Ventura) guide the Titans, whose players have varying skill ranges. Conejo Valley's team initially was headed by former Thousand Oaks High coach Craig Rond, who now runs Cal Lutheran's program. Some of the players who originally inspired the moms to play - Thousand Oaks graduates Karly Rufi and Brian Hartson - coach the Conejo Valley team.

``It's hard to coach us,'' Janette Hartson said. ``We're moms. We're used to being in charge.''

For Brian Hartson, 20, who retired from competitive water polo due to a shoulder injury, coaching a group of women more than twice his age required some adjustment. He finds time to coach them while attending California State University, Northridge, full time and working two jobs.

But he calls the experience ``awesome.'' So does everyone else.

``We do talk about it all the time,'' Susan McElvaney said. ``It has brought us much closer together because a lot of times we sit around the dinner table talking about games or just water polo in general. It's a common bond. We've become a water polo family.''

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com

AT A GLANCE

Who: Conejo Valley Moms Water Polo Club

Number of members: 30

Age Group: mid-40s to 60

Other cities with teams: Long Beach, Oxnard

The Sport: Water polo has been called hockey in a pool. Each side has six players and one goalie. A ball, similar in size to a volleyball, is either passed to teammates or shot on net by an offensive player.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Cathy Phillipp, above, shoots during a Conejo Valley Moms Water Polo Club practice at Westlake High School. At left, the moms tread water while keeping their arms aloft. The moms diligently practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

(3 -- color) The enthusiastic Conejo Valley Moms Water Polo Club takes a break from practice at Westlake High School.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box:

AT A GLANCE (see text)