Roosevelt's Hall reaches goal in girls water polo

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Maria Hall's first taste of organized sports came in 2002, when she played water polo at Roosevelt. Through dedication and sacrifice, she was named team MVP in 2003 and has 23 goals this season. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

It was the championship game, during the fall of 2002, and Roosevelt and Kahuku were battling.

"It was the most awesome game, the points were going back and forth; we didn't know who was going to win," Hall said. "I was jumping up and down and screaming. That's when I decided I wanted to do that, I wanted to be better at it."

It was the final year for club water polo, and the year Hall decided that her work on the school's "B Team," or second string, wasn't good enough.

The next year, Hall said she worked harder on everything: her swimming, her intensity, her knowledge of the game. And she earned O'ahu Interscholastic Association first-team honors.

This season she has led Roosevelt to the top of the OIA standings at 7-0, along with Kahuku (6-0). She has 23 goals this season.

"She just really loves the game, (you can tell) just by her actions and the way she practices," Roosevelt coach Susan Nishioka said. "She's very determined, she's got pretty good ball skills and a good head for the game."

That fall season of 2002 was actually Hall's first year playing water polo, and first year playing an organized sport.

"I was so lazy, I watched TV all the time," she said.

But when she transferred from Kalani to Roosevelt midway through her freshman year after moving, she was reunited with her friend from church, Leilani Warren, who persuaded her to join the water polo club.

"At first, the swimming part was so hard for me; I played water polo and I was really bad," Hall said. "You gotta just keep trying and work on your (swim) stroke. You have to take everyone's advice."

After her first year — and that championship game, Hall, who was a sophomore, said she began taking water polo more seriously.

"I tried to make the (swim set) times instead of blowing it off, I worked on the drills, I just took it more seriously, basically," she said. "Not everyone can teach you everything, you just gotta get it for yourself. People can't teach you how to aim, you just gotta work on it yourself."

Now Hall is the "setter" — what is essentially the quarterback of the team. However, she said that most of her teammates can play all of the positions, and most usually do during the course of a game, depending on the situation.

"(She's grown) quite a lot, of course water polo was all new to her, actually for all the girls it was new, and she picked it up quite well," Nishioka said.

To get better, Hall joined Nishioka's water polo club team, Anuenue Water Polo — and has played water polo year-round since.

"At first it was supposed to be for fun, but once you play for Sue, you have to stay with it and stay with her," Hall said.

She also joined Roosevelt's swim team to improve on her strokes, getting "a better feel for it," and condition for water polo.

Hall is attending Northern Colorado in the fall, but will not play water polo for the school.

"I wanted to, but it's too intense for me," she said.

Instead, she will focus on achieving her career goal of becoming a lawyer — probably corporate law.

Hall has known she wanted to be a lawyer since her freshman year, which fits in with Nishioka's description of her.

"She's got her head on straight," said Nishioka, who added: "She can talk."

Hall was named the team's most valuable player last year after leading Roosevelt to a runner-up finish in the OIA Tournament. Roosevelt lost to Kahuku, 5-2, the first year the OIA recognized water polo as an official sport.

Hall said that playing water polo has taught her about sacrifice and dedication.

"I give up all my time for water polo," she said. "And there are so many times I wanted to quit, but I just stuck with it, and it ended up being worth it."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.