Water polo women make waves at state tournament
Hollywood’s Courtny Cook has never been one to shy away from a challenge when it comes towater polo.
One of only two women on the men’swater polo club team at Florida AtlanticUniversity in Boca Raton, Cook, 19, looked forward to playing with the South Florida Water Polo Club squad during the Sunshine State Games Water Polo Championships in Coral Springs and Pompano Beach.
“I have played with the same group of girls every year, and having the weekend to hang out with them and to get to knowthem better and their strength in the water is what is fun for me,” said Cook, the 2016 Sun Sentinel GirlsWater Polo Player of the Year when she attended South Broward High School.
For Cook and her teammates, whovied intheWomen’s Open Division at the Sunshine State Games, there was an added thrill as they went up against the Riptides team that included goalie Ashleigh Johnson, who won a gold medal last summer playing on theUSAwomen’s water polo team. That action took place at the Coral SpringsAquatic Complex.
“I think we had it in the back of our heads thatwe are playing [with a group that included] an Olympic player,” Cook said. “I think it is nice to play with peoplewho are stronger because that only makes us stronger. I think it made us a better team today because we definitely had to work on some different things.”
A total of 57 teams competed in thewater polo competition, which along with Coral Springs featured action at the Pompano Beach Aquatics Center. Divisions ranged from Adult Open.
South Florida Water Polo Club teammate Emily Dolce, 18, of Pembroke Pines, enjoys the friendships and camaraderie at the Sunshine State Games.
“It is competitive and probably more competitive than high school, andyouget to play against the best of the best inthe area,” said Dolce, a Sun Sentinel All-County selection as a senior goalie at Flanagan High School this past season.
“It was pretty incredible playing against [Johnson] but also pretty intimidating,” said Dolce, who is headed to Gainesville to play water polo at the University of Florida. “I definitely admired her from the other goal.”
Another South Florida Water Polo Club teammate, Hayley Hill, 19, of Fort Lauderdale, enjoyed the experience of competing at the Sunshine State Games.
“The majority of us only went to one practice before the Coral Springs tournament,” said Hill, who will soon be returning for her sophomore year atHartwick College in Oneonta, New 12-Under to York. “It was hard because we are all so good and we have to learn to play together and play to our strengths.”
South Florida Water Polo coach Michael Goldenberg brought nine teams to the 38th annual event.
The Sunshine State Games “is the biggest competition in the state,” Goldenberg said. “It has every age group and that iswhywe are able to have a lot of our athletes participating.”
Goldenberg could see his players’ eyes light up when they realized they were going to be facing Johnson in one of their matches.
“To our girls, and not only because Ashleigh is an Olympic champion, they have seen her growand seen her progress,” Goldenberg said. “To them, the goal was to score against her and we didn’t succeed in that.”
This year’s Sunshine State Games featured 32 sports contested at 21 venues throughout the state and included more than 11,000 athletes. It is the longest-running state games competition in theUnited States.
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