Season Preview: Vaqueros hope to make a splash in first season

Of all the aquatics puns that can be made throughout this year, there is none more daunting than the fact that SBCC women's water polo coach Brian "Chuckie" Roth is — quite literally — in uncharted waters. 

The Vaqueros will open their inaugural season on Friday and Saturday with a 13-player roster. They'll dive into competition with a pair of doubleheaders at the Cypress Charger Invitational.

After eight preseason tune-up games, the Vaqueros will be thrown directly into WSC play on Sept. 17, as there is no probationary period for the newest member of SBCC's lineup of 18 CCCAA sports. 

Ironically, it is the very notion of the unknown that has Roth so excited.

"I'm just really excited about the opportunity (to start a program at SBCC)," said Roth. "I think it's a gift for all these girls. It's a great opportunity to be able to further their athletic and academic experiences and ultimately that's what we're here for; just to give them more opportunities to be more successful in life and be prepared for what's coming next.

"I'm excited about the season and I always believe that your greatest challenge can lead to your greatest success. So, I just look at this season as potentially being my best year of coaching ever and I get excited about that."

Of the many challenges that Roth had to face in the offseason, the most difficult has been recruiting athletes to a new program.

"They didn't change the recruiting rules until just recently, so we couldn't recruit outside of our area until the beginning of July," Roth said. "So now, the biggest thing for our first year is I need to identify a good 10-to-15 recruits for next year. One thing I've learned through this process is that I need to double my recruiting numbers because of the last-minute attrition." 

Roth, who is also coaches the San Marcos High girls' water polo and swim teams as well as Vaquero women's swimming, has a proven track record of building programs from the ground up.

He resurrected the boys' water polo team at Temple City High while starting a girls' team. In his four years at the helm of the Rams aquatics program (2000-2004), he won three league championships, two CIF championships, coached six All-Americans and sent nine athletes to swim and play college water polo at the next level. He was also recognized as CIF Division III Coach of the Year in 2003-04.

Similarly, when he started at San Marcos in 2004, the Royals had not won a varsity game in two years. Last year, they won the Channel League in both girls' water polo and swimming for the first time ever. The water polo team reached the CIF quarterfinals and Roth was named the CIF Southern Cal Coach of the Year.

Also in 2013, Roth started the aquatics program at SBCC with the creation of a women's swimming and diving team. In the squad's first season of competition, they finished 12th in the state and recorded eight All-American times while having the deepest roster in the WSC with 17 athletes.

"My goal for this polo season is to make polo as successful as swimming was last year," Roth said. "And I think we have the opportunity to do it."

Four Vaquero water polo players — Maddie Brooks, Brittany Thompson, Autumn Lovett and Rocio Fesembeck — are crossovers from the swim team, bolstering talent and versatility between both sports.   

Fesembeck (Santa Barbara High) and Lovett (San Marcos High) are two individuals that Roth expects to make a large impact in the utility department. Fesembeck earned All-Channel League and All-CIF honors on a Dons team that was top-five in the state, while Lovett played for the Royals under Roth and was one of his eight All-American swimmers last season.

Brooks (Carpinteria High) has impressed Roth with her outside shot while Alex Brown (San Marcos High) is slated to start in the cage.

The unit consists of 12 players from California, including eight from local high schools. Abdiel "AJ" Gravatt (Portland, Oregon) is the only out-of-state player.

"You've got to create some buy-in, you've got to create some culture and, with a brand-new program, you kind of get what you get at the very beginning," Roth said. "You do the best you can and you make a positive impact for the athletes that you have, and I think that's what we're doing. I think everybody's learning, everybody's improving, and so it's positive. ... I think we have enough pieces and key positions that I think we'll be able to compete."

At the Cypress Charger Invitational this weekend, the Vaqueros play Long Beach and Sierra on Friday, followed by Orange Coast and Cypress on Saturday. Game times are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively, on both days.

They open conference play at Santa Monica on Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. They'll host three WSC games this year, starting with L.A. Valley on Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. The Vaqueros will play their home games at San Marcos High.

Ryan Graff will call all three home games on the Vaquero Broadcasting Network.