WATERWORLD WATER POLO GIVES CHANCES TO WOMEN AT COC.Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - When Angela De La Torre La Torre is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 357 inhabitants. graduated from Alemany High of Mission Hills, she had the talent to compete for a scholarship at a Division I school in water polo water polo, swimming game encompassing features of soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. The object of the game is to maneuver, by head, feet, or hand, a leather-covered ball 27 to 28 in. , but she didn't have the grades. Nobody knows for sure how many talented female athletes who faced similar predicaments never got to pursue their athletic ambitions, but fortunately for De La Torre, her graduation from high school coincided with the first year College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. established a women's water polo program. COC See chip on chip. , which re-established its football program in 1998, added several women's sports programs last year, including water polo, to meet requirements sanctioned by Title IX, federal legislation which calls for equal opportunities in sports for both genders at publicly funded institutions. As a freshman last season, De La Torre was a first-team All-Western State Conference selection and a second team All-State selection. She came within three votes of being named to the Junior College All-American team. De La Torre, who plays the offensive-oriented hole set position for the Cougars, is among leading scorers in the state this season. She leads the team with 37 goals, and is third in the league in scoring with 34 points. Her 28 steals and 12 assists ranked her seventh and tenth, respectively, in the individual state listings. She has since added to her totals in both categories, and now has 31 steals and 13 assists. De La Torre played water polo on the boys' team at Alemany as a freshman before the school established a program for the girls her sophomore year. She was an All-Southern Section selection in the last two years of her prep water polo career. De La Torre said she came to the sport with confidence in her ability to shoot the ball, because as a third baseman third baseman n. Baseball The infielder stationed near third base. Noun 1. third baseman - (baseball) the person who plays third base third sacker playing youth softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' , she had already demonstrated a strong arm. She used the challenge of competing on the boys' junior varsity team For the American rock band, see . In sports, usually at the high school and college levels, members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as a football or basketball game) are called junior varsity players. when she was in a freshman at Alemany as motivation. ``If this little freshman boy can do it, then so can I,'' she said. Other players who have had success on the COC water polo include Marisa Telizan, the Cougars' sophomore goaltender who had never played the sport until last year. Telizan, who was on the swim team at Hoover High of Glendale and was practicing with the Cougars swim team, gave water polo a chance at the prodding of coach Diana Stanich. It has turned out to be a good move for Telizan. She earned a WSC WSC Winter Symposium on Chemometrics WSC Winter Simulation Conference WSC Wayne State College WSC Westfield State College (Westfield, MA) WSC Western State College (Colorado) honorable-mention selection last season and is the state leader with 115 saves this season. She has since added eight more saves to bring her season total to 115. Other players who have enjoyed individual success for the Cougars this season include Haley Jones, who is among state leaders with 20 steals. Despite the individual success stories, the Cougars (3-11, 0-3) have struggled as a team this season. Their most recent setback was an 18-1 loss at the hands of WSC rival Citrus College According to the Public Policy Institute of California, Citrus College had 632 students who transferred to universities during the 2005-2006 academic year, ranking seventh in the area. Citrus College students are represented by ASCC the Associated Students of Citrus College. . But to hear De La Torre tell it, wins and losses are not the most compelling reason to be involved with the program. ``We're not in this to win big-time, especially at our skill level,'' she said. ``What's important is that we learn and improve in case some girls want to go on further.'' De La Torre is hoping to parlay An open programming interface (API) to a service provider's network (the network operator), developed by the Parlay Group (www.parlay.org). By enabling the customer's application to talk directly to the network, it allows the end user to have greater access to network information as well her experience at COC into a scholarship at Division I University of Hawaii (body, education) University of Hawaii - A University spread over 10 campuses on 4 islands throughout the state. http://hawaii.edu/uhinfo.html. See also Aloha, Aloha Net. , and has a long-term goal of possibly competing in the Olympics. ``I'll have to see where the future takes me,'' she said. ``If it takes me down that path, that'd be great, but if it doesn't I'll just be happy to get to be as good as I can.'' Telizan said the establishment of a women's water polo program has opened doors for her and other female athletes. ``It's awesome,'' she said. ``Being a goalie is a new experience for me, and I'm doing pretty good at it. I'm just an average swimmer, but this is one more sport I can do that involves water.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Brian Reed, who shares coaching duties with Stanich, having a women's water polo program provides a unique opportunity for female athletes to get noticed by four-year collegiate programs. ``You're playing against college athletes,'' he said. ``It allows the college people to say, hey, this isn't a fluke. This player can carry the same performance from high school into the college level.'' De La Torre said she's been impressed by how many people show up at her team's matches compared to other sports at her school such as volleyball and basketball, which field teams consistently ranked among the top in the state. ``We're (ranked) like almost number zero, but we'll get bigger crowds because it's a whole new thing,'' she said. ``Everybody's been to high school basketball games, but hardly anybody has been to high school water polo games.'' The Cougars have just one remaining home match on their regular-season schedule, on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. against Valley College. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Angela De La Torre has taken advantage of the added opportunities which have opened up for her since joining the COC women's water polo team. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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