Nov. 18, 2010
By Thomas Lenneberg
"Hell yeah," Arizona State freshman water polo player Paige Hacker says when asked if she takes pride in being the first Arizona girl she knows of to play the sport collegially. "Yes. Absolutely."
There was no water polo program when Hacker first arrived at Desert Vista High School as a freshman in the fall of 2006, so she took it upon herself to start one, pressuring friends to join the team and begging her father, who had no experience with the sport, to coach. Determined to play, she pulled her best friend away from basketball, talked a few third-string guys off the football team and even told one buddy that it was allowed for her feet to touch the bottom of the pool.
"I was insane," Hacker says. "I never shut up about water polo."
There are currently no girl's high school water polo teams in Arizona and only five co-ed programs loosely affiliated with high schools in the whole state. In order to fill their rosters, some teams use players from all over the Valley or bring up middle-school students. When current ASU head coach Todd Clapper was named to the position in 2005, he began Sun Devil Water Polo Inc., which includes a Masters Club, a high-school level club and an entry-level team for middle-school age players. Combined with East Valley Water Polo, a high school club from Mesa started by Bill Lofswold, water polo in the Grand Canyon State has been steadily growing.
Born and raised in Ahwatukee as a Sun Devils fan, Hacker grew up swimming and playing volleyball and basketball, but finally had to break the news to her dad that her leaping ability was not up to par with the rest of the girls on the hardwood. A natural in the water, Hacker was hooked on the sport after the first water polo coach at ASU held a 30-minute clinic instead of conditioning during a swim practice.
She had only been playing the sport a year before she made the U.S. Cadet National Team and says before that she had always looked at water polo as a fun way to pass time and get exercise. Being chosen to this team is a prestigious honor for prep polo players and numerous colleges were in attendance at this high level of competition, leading Hacker to the realization that even though she was from Arizona, she could contend with the best in the country.
"You're from Arizona, you're a girl and there are no girls teams here," Hackers says. "I've heard all the reasons [why I can't succeed] and each time I think, `I'll find a way.'"
Elaine Bentley, a Desert Vista math teacher and former Sun Devil water polo player, took over as head coach of the team after Hacker's sophomore year. Bentley's experience playing at a premier level, coupled with the guidance of a trainer, helped Hacker offset an environment not conducive to getting the most out of her, water-polo wise. And while Hacker says it felt like she spent a year with only a medicine ball, the extra effort she put in only strengthened her desire to continue playing after her senior year of high school.
"If you don't put it all out there," Hacker says, "and then you fail, you know it's all on you."
Hacker, who says she was ready for college around the 11th grade, has been around Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on ASU's Tempe campus since she began playing with the ASU men's club team as a 14-year-old eighth-grader. The physical style of the men's game made her tougher, she says, and spending all that time around the university allowed her to become acquainted with some of the nuances of college sports.
Along with her experience on campus, Hacker was familiar with current Sun Devil sophomores Shannon Haas and Paige Walters from the U.S. national training team and Becca Clopp and Morgan Leech from a camp, which eased her transition from co-ed team to all-girls squad easier. Hacker says the current ASU team is "really special" and instantly welcomed her as one of their own, and she has found herself spending a lot of time with teammates outside of the pool because they are the only ones who can relate to what she is going through.
At first, Clapper says, Hacker was self-conscious about making mistakes during scrimmages, which led to a lack of assertiveness on her part, Clapper says. At one point, assistant ASU coach Laszlo Hruza says he had to tell Hacker that Clapper would not have recruited her if she didn't have the talent necessary to succeed at the next level.
"I really admire her perseverance and work ethic," Clapper says. "And I have been happy with her progress and training thus far."
Her hard-charging attitude and dedication to success doesn't stop when she gets out of the pool. An aspiring registered nurse, Hacker has had to juggle difficult courses such as organic chemistry and plant biology with a daily commute to downtown Phoenix where the College of Nursing and Health Innovation is.
Earlier in the semester, the Manzanita cafeteria had been out of potatoes for a few weeks and after a particularly grueling practice, Hacker piled her plate with so many taters they were falling off the dish. Walking back to her table, she says every guy was staring at her with eyes wide and mouths agape. Self-diagnosed with a soft addiction to carbohydrates, especially potatoes, Hacker says her increased appetite is one of the many differences between high school and college.
The biggest transition, she says, has been more mentally taxing than physically. Normally difficult tasks for freshman, such as getting to class on time each day, are magnified because of her student-athlete status. While most freshmen struggle to get out of bed because they stayed up all night playing video games or partying, Hacker needs to put in long hours doing homework due to her water polo commitment. She says her training is there and knows her heart won't stop from the activity, but because she never had a coach tell her she was lazy or not practicing hard enough, she needs to condition herself to push through the pain.
With only a handful of tournaments, including two Junior Olympics and the Masters Tournaments, providing resume-suitable information, Hacker says she would always freak out when filling out bio sheets for college recruiters and coaches.
"I didn't have any stats," Hackers said. "I didn't have an all girls team. I didn't even have a coach."
While she doesn't look at herself as any more special than the kid sitting next to her in biology class, the concert aficionado and avid snowboarder hopes her journey will inspire girls to do whatever it takes to reach their dreams regardless of the obstacles put in their place.