Frankie Puente is comfortable in his own skin, content with himself and with those around him—and not in a showy, “puffed-up” kind of way. One minute, he can talk about extending the hand of mercy in a possible career in medicine; the next, he’ll jump in the pool to practice banging bodies as University City High School’s two-meter guard in water polo.
Puente, according to UC coach Daniel Ramirez, isn’t the straw that stirs the drink (to steal Reggie Jackson’s phrase). Rather, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior is the glue that keeps the team together. “This is a talented team,” said Ramirez, watching his club, seeded fourth in the CIF Open Division, work out. “We need a player like Frankie. He has an even keel.”
That evenness, along with a genuine joie de vivre that binds him with other people, seems to be a thread through the different facets of his life. “Definitely,” he says when asked if he’s a people person. His mother Helen serves as a teacher’s aide in a class for special needs students. And he says his aunt, his mother’s sister, is a person with special needs as well. These are among the sources of Puente’s training in good-hearted compassion for others.
But in the pool, he thrives on physical contact. “Oh, definitely, you have to be physical” in water polo, he said. He fills the defensive spot guarding the opponent’s two-meter player, who positions himself right in front of the net (the role is similar to that of the basketball center, playing in the key near the basket). Puente’s assignment is to pound the two-meter, wear him down through the course of the game and limit his offensive opportunities. This is not a location for compassion central.
What makes Puente so exceptional, in Ramirez’s view, is not that he is so gifted at what he does. The friendly, engaging 16-year-old may be less talented than some of his teammates. Instead, he makes the most out of his abilities by working hard and being consistent. He plays a difficult position that doesn’t receive recognition, and he takes it for the team.
“The main reason I don’t get upset at not being as strong a player on offense,” he said, “is because of my defense.”
Ramirez, in his third year as varsity coach at UC, says the key is his player’s mindset. “There are guys on our team who have played since they were 8 or 10 years old,” the coach said. “Frankie has played less than them (he started in ninth grade). Others think that they have to be the star to help the team. Not Frankie. He does what the team needs.”
Ramirez calls Puente “selfless” in his team-orientedness, and he gives examples of that: “One day he might need to be the brunt of a teammate’s joke. Another day, he might need to let a teammate rough him up a little (in practice).” But Puente seems to have a healthy outlook, not being anyone’s doormat. He hangs with teammates and fellow juniors Cole Kammerer and Noah Graciani in his one breather of the school day, between the end of period 6 at 2:18 p.m. and the beginning of practice at the UCSD pool at 3:45. Then, after practice ends at 6 p.m., he sits in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way home to Clairemont, eats dinner and then starts homework. His grueling schedule includes an academic load of two advanced placement courses and two honors courses. “It’s a lot of late nights,” he admitted.
Another joy is hopping on the surfboard, though during water polo (fall) and swim season (spring) that’s restricted pretty much to weekends and some Friday nights. Early release Wednesdays, getting out of school at 12:54, allow more “green room” opportunities. “Whenever I’m not playing water polo, I’m surfing,” Puente said.
Participation in the biomedicine program at University City High since the ninth grade has fueled Frankie’s interest in the medical field. He said discussion in class recently has included the Ebola outbreak in western Africa. The area of anesthesia seems fascinating to him at this point. “It would definitely be an exciting career,” he said. “People’s lives depend on it.”
Puente’s ability to be big and physical in the pool goes hand in hand with his big heart for people in other areas of his life. His aggression in sports isn’t malicious. It’s done in the good-natured spirit of athletics. “That’s probably why I didn’t keep playing baseball,” Puente said in referring to a sport he played earlier. “It isn’t as much a team sport” as water polo is for him.