Rainbow water polo in transition
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
In the Rainbow Wahine water polo world, growing pains have become a way of life. And life is good.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
University of Hawai'i head coach Shari Smart sits nervously in the stands at games with her infant in her arms, her sons throwing T-shirts to the crowd and the team she nurtured into Top-10 life in the pool far below.
Shari Smart has stepped aside this water polo season to care for 2 1/2-month-old Sierra and handed the reins to assistant Cindy Rote, now the interim head coach.
Interim head coach Cindy Rote, with Smart for every splash during the first four years of the program, has three experienced players in the pool and an optimistic outlook on a rebuilding season. Hawai'i is 8-8 and ranked ninth nationally going into today's Rainbow Challenge.
"This is fun," says Rote. "Far more enjoyable than I ever imagined."
The transition from Smart to Rote appears seamless.
"Cindy has stepped up from the beginning," says Christa Tackaberry, the Rainbows' four-year starter at goalie. "It's not that different, at least not for me. It was at the beginning, just not having Shari there, but we're so used to Cindy."
The transition from seasoned team to simplistic-by-necessity has been tougher. Hawai'i lost five pioneers off last year's team. This year's "experience" basically consists of seniors Karin van Hoff and Tackaberry, and sophomore Chelsea Garner-Prohs.
Tackaberry, from Pa'ia, Maui, is in her third year as captain. Van Hoff, a 24-year-old from the Netherlands, is second in scoring (24 goals) to Garner-Prohs (27), who earned the Rainbows' only all-conference honor last season. She is one of six sophomores.
There are no juniors, and the roster features 13 freshmen. This team makes Smart's sons — pre-teens Jack and Jay — look middle-aged. Sierra, their tiny sister, is 2 1/2 months old and took her first swim March 10.
She is the reason Smart stepped back this season. Smart has not decided if she's coming back, saying only, "I'm going to wait and see."
She enjoys being a fan again, and enjoys the extended family time more. She has been visible and vocal in the bleachers at every game and is in constant contact with Rote, but Smart has been completely hands-off with the team she created.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I want it to be Cindy's decisions," Smart says. "The whole thing is all hers."
Interim head coach Cindy Rote has her Wahine team ranked ninth in the nation with an 8-8 record despite having few experienced players. “This is fun,” Rote says. “Far more enjoyable than I ever imagined.”
Rote, along with new assistants Kris Koblik and Jamie Koett, are prodding their young water polo guns to be less passive and more positive. They often hesitate to shoot and look for van Hoff and Garner-Prohs with every pass. Hawai'i can be spectacular, and spectacularly exasperating, often in the same possession.
"We have every opportunity," Rote says. "We're just not able to execute yet. We're young.
"Maybe it's confidence, but they do have confidence in practice. We really challenge them to step up and do what they do in practice. ... Sometimes I'm literally at a loss for words. We're doing great things, it's just minor things that are costing us."
It doesn't help that their trial is by Mountain Pacific Sports Federation fire. Every national champion has come from the conference and the Top 10 is all MPSF with one exception (No. 6 Loyola Marymount).
The conference is also home to water polo's finest foursome — Stanford, UCLA, Southern California and Cal. Rote, and every coach ranked between 5 and 15, is realistically looking at a fifth-place finish as their definition of success.
"We can be there if we want, if we take care of two or three little things," Rote says. "So can Long Beach and Santa Barbara and ..."
That large school of water polo fish following the four big fish makes for an ultra-competitive MPSF, at every level.
"All the coaches are enjoying it because we know there are always going to be good games," Rote says. "None of us know who will be victorious. We each have mutual respect, and we know the other teams are fully capable of beating us — and vice-versa."
Rote, apparently, is finding enjoyment everywhere — in the country's most demanding conference, her new responsibility and her precocious, amiable players.
"They like how I can get mad at them and still take them to the doctor and hold their hand, just like their mom," Rote says. "They are very comfortable coming to me off the deck, and when I'm on deck they know I'm not joking around."
QUICK SPLASHES: The Rainbow Challenge begins today with Hawai'i playing Orca, a club team from Orange County, at 10 a.m. and No. 19 UC-Irvine at 6:30 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine play No. 15 Brown at 6 p.m. tomorrow. On Saturday, they meet No. 12 UC-San Diego at 10 a.m. and No. 11 UC-Davis at 6 p.m. ... Hawai'i's last home match is April 6 against No. 2 UCLA. ... Sierra Lynn Moanikeula Smart was born to Shari and Jim Smart Jan. 12. She weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 1/2 ounces.
