Sea Kings collect all the marbles

The Corona del Mar High girls water polo team’s quest for a second

straight CIF Southern Section championship came to fruition Saturday

with a 10-5 Division II title-game triumph over Villa Park at Belmont

Plaza.

But, in spite of all the talent, experience and determination of

the senior-dominated Sea Kings, Coach Aaron Chaney believes

collecting the crown may not have been possible without the help of

three jars, 45 marbles and the inspiration of Chaney’s former high

school coach, colleague, rival and mentor, Ken Smith.

Smith, coach for the last 29 years at Punahou High in Hawaii, has

been a constant sounding board for Chaney, who said the two talk by

phone three or four times every week. Chaney said he has, over the

years, borrowed many tricks of the coaching trade from Smith, from

whom he first heard the idea of using marbles to count down his

team’s progress toward another CIF title.

“It was Jan. 17 and we had just beaten Santa Margarita, but we won

by only one goal,” recalled Chaney, who guided the Sea Kings to the

CIF Division IV crown in 2002. “I felt we weren’t practicing well and

that we were coming to a little lull in our season. I remembered this

thing (Smith) had done with the marbles and I decided to give it a

try.”

Chaney figured there were 45 practices and games remaining in the

season, including the Division II championship game, so he began with

a jar filled with 45 marbles. After every practice or game, Chaney

summoned a different player to take a marble from the jar, then lead

a discussion among the players to evaluate the team’s collective

effort, focus and ability to reach that day’s goals. If, by majority

vote, the feeling about that day’s work was positive, the marble

would go into a separate jar labeled “March 1” (the date of the title

game). If the players did not feel they accomplished their goals for

the day, the marble would go into a third jar labeled “opponents,”

signifying future opponents earned the upper hand on them for that

day.

“At the beginning, the girls were supercritical and there were

some long discussions,” said Chaney, who never had any input on the

daily verdict. “I think the girls really liked it, because it allowed

them to evaluate themselves. They came to see it as a tangible

representation of their effort throughout the season, as they saw the

marbles go from one jar to another.”

Chaney said the final count included 42 marbles in the March 1 jar

and only three in the opponents jar. “And two of those were games we

lost in the Santa Barbara tournament,” he said. “So, there was only

one practice that the girls felt they failed to accomplish their

goals.”

*

The marbles exercise was one of many ways Chaney tried to inject

elements of fun into the season, in keeping with his goal to leave

every player on the team with the desire to remain active in the

sport.

Chaney said he formulated this philosophy in Hawaii, when, while

coaching at Iolani, the arch rival of Smith’s Punahou teams, his

teams won only three Interscholastic League of Hawaii championships

(the equivalent of a CIF crown) in 19 seasons.

“Smith has won 26 ILH titles in 29 years, so competing against

him, I learned there had to be more to the experience for my players

than just winning. I tell players and their parents before every

season that if all the seniors can say they want to play water polo

in college, then I’ll have done my job, whether we win a championship

or not,” Chaney said.

Of the eight CdM seniors, five plan to continue collegiately,

including Christina Hewko (Stanford), Brittney Bowlus (UCLA),

Danielle Carlson (either Cal or Princeton), Daniela DiGiacomo

(tentatively set for Cal), and Jessica Harkins (Princeton).

*

Chaney said his postgame emotions Saturday were torn, since he had

experience with several Villa Park players.

“Before I was hired at Corona del Mar, I was the coach at Villa

Park for five months,” Chaney said. “I was hired at Villa Park in

June of 2001 and I coached them all the way up to the beginning of

November. But, about two weeks before the season started, I got a

call from CdM, which got a late start on its hiring process after

John Vargas left to coach at Stanford. It was tough to leave the

girls at Villa Park, but I thought CdM was a better situation for a

number of reasons.”

Chaney said he was proud of both teams Saturday.

“I thought their coaches and players did an awesome job,” Chaney

said. “I’ll be the first one to nominate their coach (Joey Pacelli)

for CIF Division II Coach of the Year.

“In the handshake line, their girls were very gracious in

congratulating me,” Chaney said. “I got a lot of hugs.”

*

Chaney said the satisfaction from winning another section crown

won’t fully sink in until the team begins practicing again in about a

month.

Chaney’s offseason, however, will include more than coaching, as

he has been selected as the lone United States official to work the

World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, July 14-28.