Visited Wes Deist Aquatic Center bright and early for one of my first assignments of 2020 to speak with members of Idaho Falls’ newest water polo club. Had a bit of a scary moment while there–I wore too many layers inside by the pool and passed out from heat exhaustion and had to go home to rest–but managed to finish my interviews.
The club has 26 members, including seven girls.
Making a splash: Snake River Valley Heat water polo club enters second year
mhereford@postregister.com
While most of their high school classmates were sleeping, members of the Snake River Valley Water Polo Club were in the water by 5:45 a.m. Tuesday at the Wes Deist Aquatic Center for practice.
The water at the end of the pool nearest the water slide churned as players warmed up. From the deck, head coach Jake Bundy tossed out swim caps and balls while giving instructions.
The club was started by Bundy a year ago. Named ‘the Heat,’ the program won a handful of games last year and only played half a season. Now the program has 26 members, including seven girls, and has played in three tournaments this season. At their most recent tournament in late December, the Heat went 5-0 in Twin Falls.
Bundy said his core group of players who joined a year ago have grasped the basics of the sport, and they are learning that water polo combines elements of multiple sports.
“You don’t have to be the best swimmer to be a water polo player,” Bundy said. “You don’t have to be the best ball player to be a water polo player. The water is a great equalizer.”
Originally from St. George, Utah, Bundy started playing water polo at the club level as a high schooler and was working toward playing for an NCAA program before being deployed to Iraq. While his deployment ended his NCAA aspirations, Bundy was able to play at the club level for Texas Tech, including finding success at the national level. He still plays with some of those teammates today at the Masters level, allowing him the opportunity to maintain friendships and travel.
“I fell in love with water polo at that time,” Bundy said of his Texas Tech days. “We’ve already been to Georgia (this year). In February, I’m going to Austin, Tex. Last year, we got to play in Panama.”
Now he is coaching water polo at the level and age he originally started in the sport and he has a son on the team. He began building a program by recruiting area high school swimmers and securing practice times at Wes Deist.
The only practice slots available were early morning — 5:30 to 7 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 6 to 8 a.m. Saturdays — and that deterred some potential recruits from joining. Two returning players from last year, Hillcrest senior Ashton Quinton and Idaho Falls junior Tayla Liddle, said trying the sport has been a fun venture.
Quinton was encouraged by his father, who is good friends with Bundy, to try out. Prior to joining the Heat, Quinton had no knowledge of water polo.
“I didn’t really have any expectations,” Quinton said. “I had no clue what it was about. I hadn’t even watched it before.”
Liddle, who knows Bundy because he is one of the coaches of her Voltage Aquatics club swim team, also had no prior knowledge or background in the sport. She played on the Heat’s boys team last year due to not enough players to field a complete girls team, and she occasionally plays on the boys team this year.
She said she has not been intimidated by playing against boys. Rather, the opposite has proven true in some situations where she has been underestimated.
“A lot of guys are intimidated by me because they think ‘she’s not that fast. I’ll take her out,’” said Liddle, a state record holder and multiple state champion high school swimmer who comes from a family of triathletes. “Then I swim right by them and take them out. I definitely think it built up my confidence playing with the guys.”
Continue Reading