Jacob Eurich, a 16-year-old junior from Point Loma High School, recently traveled across the globe to Croatia for a water polo tournament with Point Loma club team The San Diego Suns. Eurich is also a member of the PLHS team, with whom he is poised to begin his third season.
“It was an awesome experience “” the best two weeks of my life to play over there,” Eurich said of the trip.
The competition was fierce: Eurich and his teammates played against the soon-to-be Olympian and Junior Olympian Croatian National Team and the one-time Croatian Olympic coach.
Despite facing extremely talented Croatian players, Eurich said his club matched up well with the home team.
“At the start of the competition, they were much better than us, but near the end we started to win and play them much better,” Eurich said. “They just played much more aggressively and used more plays and strategy.”
Since returning from Croatia two weeks ago, Eurich has set his sights on the upcoming PLHS season.
“I expect us to have a great season and believe this is definitely our year because we have our entire starting lineup coming back and we got a lot better over the past year,” Eurich said, adding that the team’s closest competition has graduated some of their star players.
Eurich has been playing Water Polo for five years on many teams, including PLHS, the San Diego Suns and the Shores Club team. He plays wing, an offensive position that is one of seven in the pool at any time for each side, including the goalie.
Leading up to the PLHS season, the clubs keep a busy off-season schedule. Prior to playing in Croatia, Eurich participated in the Junior Olympics in Riverside in July.
“We played average but it was still an amazing experience for us to play there.”
Eurich said he feels the varied competition, including games at the junior Olympics and in Croatia, help him stay sharp.
“I think it actually helps because it keeps you conditioned and keeps you on your game,” Eurich said.