Agoura High School Girls Water Polo Program Has History on Its Side

girls water polo student athletes, or anyone younger than the age of 30 for that matter, may not understand or appreciate why the 1970’s anthem, “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar,” popped to mind yesterday watching the girls water polo team implement and enforce their intrepid, imposing command of the game, near shut-down of Newbury Park (20-5), and 87th consecutive win against their Marmonte opponents. The team’s strong performance seemed to telegraph their intention to take a 13th League title (8th consecutive) and sixth CIF crown to cap off the season.

Standing on the Agoura High School pool deck admiring the strength, intelligence and confidence required to play such a demanding and challenging sport (considered to be the toughest of all), and considering the steep, upward trajectory of the girls water polo program since its 1996-97 nascency, the pool facility seemed so outdated and incongruent (like a four-decade old, irrelevant song) to these accomplished, contemporary young women. Memory lane is wide open and easily accessible on that pool deck. It remains almost wholly unchanged since its original design and creation. And, while these promising and talented young women - several of whom have signed with universities - may have “come a long way, baby,” their training and competition pool is like, “totally square”; both literally and figuratively.

The Agoura High School pool facility was completed in 1971, along with its football field, original dirt track, tennis and basketball courts. Then, for some twenty-five years afterwards, no all-girls water polo team had a place in the school’s aquatics program. A girls swim team, however, existed from the start, and would eventually become a source of untapped talent for the girls first-ever water polo team.

Chief instigator, organizer and boys team statician, Carrie Lohnberg Bookstein, helped recruit from the girls swim team for that inaugural water polo squad after Athletic Director and girls head coach, Jason Rosenthal, advised her, “You find the players, and I’ll coach them,” according to Carrie’s father, Michael Lohnberg. Carrie had questioned Rosenthal as to why no girls water polo team existed, which prompted an invitation to play with the boys; a proposal summarily rejected by Carrie, who was determined to pioneer new ground…or enter uncharted waters, as it were. And, according to Bookstein, those early waters were more than a little rough.

“Not one of us had ever played water polo, or even held a polo ball. We were terrible," said Carrie. “We lost a lot. But, we had a lot of fun and we never gave up. That year, we built our skills, became faster swimmers, and really bonded. We only beat one team that year but I always knew (or at least I hoped) that we would one day be a great team,” she added. “In a few short years, we went from uncoordinated and clumsy girls to league champions, and ultimately to CIF champions.“

Rosenthal, also recalled those early days. "We went 5-14 our first season. The only teams we beat we're Malibu (4 times) and Santa Monica's JV team," he said. "To say the least we were bad. The following year we went 10-10 overall and 6-6 in Ingram Marmonte league play. We didn't make the playoffs but showed signs of improvement," he continued. "That year we did go 11-1 at the JV level in league and won our first of 14 straight JV Marmonte league titles. In 1999 we really started getting things going and won 21 games that season and won our first Marmonte league title. We lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs but knew there were good things in store for the program. The follow year we reached the CIF finals losing to Santa Barbara by one but would get our revenge by beating them in 2001 for our first CIF title.  From there the program has never looked back. We have won 12 out of a possible 14 Marmonte League Varisty titles including 7 straight. We have won 14 of 14 JV league titles and won 10 of 11 FS league titles," he concluded.

Risking banality, it must be said that since that time, a great deal has changed at Agoura High School, and the wider world, of course. Since the pool was built some forty years ago, regulation pool size standards for various events have been changed, leaving the 25 yard, 6 foot deep Agoura High School pool woefully outdated. Technology to more efficiently and economically operate and maintain pools has been vastly improved.

Today's young people live in a world many parents could not have even imagined just four decades ago and just as the current pool facility was being built. For its time, it was a fine pool. But, just as transistor radios and record players gave way to the ipod and iTunes; reel-to-reel film and corded phones gave way to small, handheld HD digital cameras, and cell phones; typewriters gave way to laptops; home economics classes gave way to advanced math, science and girls only water polo teams, it is time to bring Agoura High School’s pool facility into the 21st century. The ranks of interested students are increasing with the growing popularity of aquatics. Ensuring that generations of young men and women to come will never be told “There’s not enough room for you,” is imperative.

From the 1971 football field, tennis courts, former dirt track, tennis courts and auditorium, many of Agoura High School’s facilities have also been suitably and appropriately modernized, improved and upgraded.The swimming pool, however, remains stuck in the age of bell-bottom jeans, disco dancing, 8-track tapes, defunct slang and groovy slogans. “Can you dig it?” Probably not if born, like the present-day girls water polo team members, within the past 15-17 years.

And, despite their decade and a half generational gap, current athletes share a great deal in common with the trailblazers - tenacity, work ethic, persistence and determination. For example, her accomplishments (3.5 gpa, All-Marmonte League and All-CIF second-team player last season) have earned senior, Defender Megan Linder, the opportunity to play at Loyola Marymount, where former Agoura star and mentor, Casey Flacks, is a senior. India Forster and Kimi Chavez have also signed with colleges.

They also share a personal understanding of how their training environment affects and often hinders their fullest potential as individual athletes and as a team.

“Having a pool that doesn't meet regulation standards puts the teams at a disadvantage,” said Carrie. “I remember playing at other pools and it was tough to adjust to the differences…When we played away, we often had to spend time getting used to the differences. Our pool was more shallow and more narrow, had higher walls, and didn't have the floating goals that a lot of other pools had.”

And, while it was often a tremendous struggle for Carrie to train and play due to often debilitating asthma attacks, her father said it was impossible to keep her out of the pool. He said when Carrie was just under 3 years old, she swam the entire length of their neighborhood’s 25 yard community pool (The AHS pool is also 25 yards-just for reference). At almost four years old, he enrolled her in the local swim team’s six and under division. Carrie was at home in the water, but she was also, “vertically challenged,“ according to Mr. Lohnberg. “She’s just 5’2”,“ he said. Carrie refused to let any of that interfere with the challenge of creating the first girls water polo team and seeing the girls program excel. And, excel it certainly has. From 1997's inaugural girls water polo team - which earned its first CIF Southern Section Division II Championship title just four short years later in 2001 - to their CIF runner up years in 2000, 2005, and 2006, and their second CIF crown in 2007, the girls water polo program has become a resounding success. 

And this year's Varsity team is strong indicator of just how far the girls water polo program has come in the past fourteen years. "We have the ability to play different styles of play," said coach, Jason Rosenthal. "We can counter attack and score quick or we can slow things down and play a slower half court game. We have a good mixture of returning players with a ton of experience as well as a few new players with a thirsty for improvement."

The program's growth from an original 17 members to this season's 42 is testament to the sport's growing popularity, and perhaps more importantly to the success of this particular program and the values derived from participation.

“Being a member of the team provided a lot of structure and taught me how to set goals and work with peers to achieve them,” said Carrie. “Of course, I didn't realize any of this at the time, but these are skills that I use constantly in my adult life. We had to work very hard and we relied heavily on each other to succeed,” she added. “We were a bunch of girls who did not know how to play the sport and in three years, we made huge strides as a team and as individuals.”

This weekend, Saturday, December 17th, the Agoura High School Aquatics Program will host its first annual combined boys and girls water polo , and inaugural Swim and Water Polo Hall of Fame Inductions. Games begin at 11:30 a.m. City officials will present the program with a Recognition Award and a fundraising presentation to bring a newly renovated, energy-efficient pool facility to Agoura High School will be presented.

To contribute, please make your tax-deductible donation to: Agoura Water Polo Foundation – New Pool Project, 5699 Kanan Rd. #631, Agoura, CA 91301-3358