April 22, 2007

April 2007 -- Katie Hauck , Women's Water Polo

Water polo is supposed to be a California sport. How does a person from Pennsylvania get involved with the sport?

Well, my freshman year going into high school I heard about this water polo team in high school, and my friends decided they were going to tryout and asked me if I wanted to. I had never even heard of the sport before. We went to tryout, it was pretty exciting and I had a good time, but I was also trying out for volleyball and after the first two days of polo I decided to just concentrate on volleyball. But then one of my friends was really interested in the water polo thing so I gave it another shot and the coach asked me if I would be willing to play the goalie position, I agreed, gave up volleyball, stuck with water polo and ended up being an All-American.

You played your high school water polo at Pottsville in Pottsville, Pennyslvania what do you remember about those days?

I remember our success. We were the best water polo team to go through Pottsville, in my junior we finished in third at the state championships which was the best ever finish for the school as that time. Then in my senior year we took home sixth place and keep in mind the program was still in its early stages. When I started as a freshman it was only the third year of the program.

When did you start to get the idea this could be a sport you could play at the collegiate level?

That happened in my junior year because I used to play in a summer league and the refs, and some of the coaches said that I should start looking at schools and that I could definitely play, and even play on the West Coast if that is what I wanted to do. That summer I played in a men's summer league as a goalie because there was no women's league. I got there for my first game and all the guys saw me warming up and wondered what this girl was doing there. They thought they could put up anything and that ended up being one of the best games I ever played. The guys were making fun of each other for getting stuffed by a girl. Also as far as college was concerned my coach was pretty positive about me playing in college, one girl before me had played at Marist but other than that there had not been much college recruiting for girls at our school, so he was a big help.

What schools were you looking at attending and did you ever think about playing on the west coast?

The schools that gave me a look were Indiana, Bucknell, Hartwick, Villanova, and of course Wagner. I ended up picking Wagner because I liked the coach at Wagner and when I came on my visit I liked all the girls on the team. We had a really good time and it was close to the city. That was something I really wanted was the city setting. As for the West Coast I didn't have an interest in playing out on there. I mostly looked at schools on the East Coast as my coaches had connections with schools around here.

You are winding down your senior season, what are some of the fonder memories you have from Wager water polo?

First off winning the MAAC championships in sophomore year and going to the NCAA tournament at the University of Michigan. The coolest part was walking through the starting lineups at Michigan with the Olympic theme song playing and then taking on some of the greatest players in the country from UCLA. Also, the trips to California each season have always been fun, especially this year because we played pretty well against some tough competition.

You play the position of goalie where your main job is defense. Do you ever wish you could go out there as an offensive player for a game?

Sometimes it gets monotonous in a way and there are times where I would just like to go out there and be a field player and put some shots up and make them. It's tough to focus on defense sometimes when I'm concerned how the team is doing offensively, so I would like be a part of that.

Head Coach Patrick Beemer had a successful career as a goalie at UC-San Diego. How has he helped improve your game as a goalie?

It helps because he knows how it feels to be in a game when you're playing a great game or playing an ok game. He knows how to motivate a goalie being a goalie himself and he can give me some insight on how to block shots better. There are a lot of things you can learn about taking away certain angles and little tricky things you can hide up your sleeve.

Your sister Jill is in her freshman season as a goalie at Pacific University in California. What kind of relationship do you two have and how much do you talk with each other about the art of goaltending and water polo in general?

She has been able to learn from my experiences especially being in the same goalie position. When she was coming out of high school she had the resources to check out the west coast, and to go there. When she was in high school it was kind of sibling rivalry because I was a senior and she was a freshman and she didn't get a chance to play as much with the varsity. That said we are pretty close and usually talk every weekend about how her games went, if she played, she's only a freshman, how we are looking, and how she thinks her team is doing. She gets really frustrated because she's not used to that high level of play because you don't see it in Pennsylvania. (Pacific routinely takes on teams in the top 10). We are both hard on ourselves, our mom always say we say we never have a good game unless we have an exceptional game. The interesting thing is that it was between Pacific and Wagner for her college choice but she ended up choosing Pacific.

What are your plans for after college, possibly coaching?

I'd still like to play with a club team or some pickup games here and there. Some interest in coaching is definitely there and I might graduate degree with a coaching position. I would really like to stay involved with water polo if I could. If water polo is not an option I would like to stay in New York and work for a non profit organization or something.

Finally, what can you say about the growth of this sport and why it is becoming more and more popular on the east coast and nationwide?

I think it's one of the fastest growing women's sports, even in our conference when I started at Wagner the team rosters were smaller, but now teams have 20 girls. Water polo on the East Coast and the sport itself is becoming better known. I think the reason is at least for me as a player there is always the adrenaline rush before and during the game. Also it's a physical game and in that it is kind of fun, and sometimes because you are in the water it becomes a game of what can you get away with. It's a combination of a couple of different sports and is fun to watch.