Newport Beach Water Polo Club boys dominate at USA Water Polo Junior Olympics

The USA Water Polo Junior Olympics are in Northern California this year, but Newport Beach Water Polo Club’s boys still managed to feel right at home.

A banner day for the program happened Tuesday on the final day of Session One, as three different Newport Beach teams found their way to championship games in the top division.

The Newport 18U boys repeated as national champions at Stanford University, earning a 12-7 win over Mission White in the title game of the platinum division.

In the game immediately preceding that, the Newport 16U boys beat Del Mar Blue 8-8 (4-2 in a shootout) for the title.

The Newport 14U boys were runners-up, advancing to the final before falling to Del Mar Blue 19-13.

“It’s unprecedented for our club and our program,” said coach Ross Sinclair, who guides the boys’ and girls’ programs at his alma mater of Newport Harbor High, in a phone interview.

Sinclair noted that Newport Beach entered seven boys’ teams in the session, the most in his tenure.

“Overall, it was just a really great tournament for us,” he said. “We’re really excited and happy with the way things finished up for the summer.”

Newport Beach Water Polo Club’s Peter Castillo (4), shown playing against CdM in high school water polo in 2022, earned 18U MVP honors at the Junior Olympics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Newport Harbor graduate Peter Castillo, a center bound for UCLA, earned 18U MVP honors and said it was a worthy way to head into college.

“Obviously, winning is just the cherry on top, but it’s just the collection of the years gone by,” Castillo said. “Not just this year and last year, but all four years. It’s just fun to watch everybody grow and get better. We have fun doing it, and being able to win and be the team on top is always fulfilling. We always strive for that.”

Newport Harbor’s boys program has advanced to three straight CIF Southern Section Open Division title matches, winning championships in 2021 and ’22.

The graduating class includes standouts like Castillo, Gavin Appeldorn, Jack Wright and Owen Tift.

“It’s awesome for the guys that have been playing in this program since 7, 8, 9 years old to end on a win, go off to college and do great things,” Sinclair said. “That’s really amazing for them. For the guys that are returning, it’s just more motivation and momentum to go into the fall and just continue to work and represent the program well.”

Speaking of the returners, there were four incoming juniors — Mason Netzer, Kai Kaneko, Dash D’Ambrosia and Geoff Slutzky — who contributed to both the 18U and 16U Junior Olympic championship teams for Newport Beach Water Polo Club. The teams combined for 14 games played.

“Pretty awesome,” Sinclair said. “Those guys put in some miles this weekend. They grinded.”

The Newport Beach Water Polo Club 16Us earned gold at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics on Tuesday.

(Courtesy of Nancy Paiva)

Goalkeeper Connor Clougherty, another rising incoming junior, earned MVP honors for the 16U boys.

Clougherty blocked two penalty shots in the shootout as Newport Beach, featuring Shane Luth as head coach, rallied from a 5-3 halftime deficit.

“I had faith in myself,” Clougherty said. “I believed that I was going to make some blocks to help the team win, and I had faith in the guys that they were going to put the balls in the back of the net.”

It was the first Junior Olympics title for the core group of 16U players, who had lost to Del Mar two years ago in the 14U final.

Session Two of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, which features female and co-ed divisions, begins on Thursday in Northern California and runs through Sunday.