AHS polo packs for European vacation
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers FUN AND GAMES- The Agoura High boys' water polo team is off to Eastern Europe for several weeks in August. Pictured in the front row from left to right are Calvin Moffett, David Sparks and Casey Sullivan. Middle row: Matt Carlson, PJ Iannone, Ryan Paris and coach Dustin Litvak. Back row: Coach Quinn Delgado, Peter Kurzeka, Brandon Gross and Joey Sparks.

Before the Agoura High boys' water polo team takes on the best from the Marmonte League this fall, the majority of the squad will travel to Europe next month to play some of the finest teams in the world.

Although the team will be competing as the Agoura Water Polo Foundation, AHS head coach Dustin Litvak is confident the trip will help the Chargers improve as teammates at the high school level.

"I am going as a chaperone and not as a coach due to CIF rules, but this is a trip that comes once in a lifetime," Litvak said.

"We are going to go over there and just try to absorb as much as we can about how other countries train and play water polo. I think this trip will give us a ton of confidence once league play begins."

The team features nine players that will be seniors for the Chargers this fall, as well as one junior and one sophomore.

The Agoura team will fly to Europe on Aug. 1 and play in a three-day tournament in southern Hungary. The tournament will feature 40 teams, including clubs from Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Italy and Hungary.

After the tournament, the team will go to Budapest and Croatia to train with local clubs who, according to Litvak, are some of the best in the world.

"In Croatia and Budapest water polo is pretty much the most popular sport," Litvak said. "I mean, 16-year-old players there are as good as our college players in the United States. They are brought up with the game at an earlier age, and they deal with the fundamentals of the game a little more than we do."

Players on the Agoura team such as Joey Sparks, who will be a senior in the fall, are looking forward to improving their water polo skills.

"I can't wait to play the Hungarians," Sparks said. "They play the game differently, but I think they will help make our team better in a bunch of ways. They definitely know the game really well over there."

Although the team is focused on attaining the skills needed to defend its 2006 Marmonte League crown, the trip will not just be about water polo. There are many places the team is planning on visiting, such as castles and museums.

"I'm looking forward to seeing everything there, but I really want to see Croatia," senior Calvin Moffett said. "From what I hear, the beaches are really nice there."

Litvak is hoping that once the team returns from the trip, the Chargers will be better than ever in the pool.

"I hear people overseas call our version of water polo 'playing stupid,' but I think it's just different," Litvak said. "They do play a more physical game, though, and seeing as we have a smaller team than last year, I think that will prepare us for tougher teams in the Marmonte League."