LAMORINDA WEEKLY | CC United 18U's Win Bronze at Junior Olympics


From left: Logan Estes, Giorgio Alessandria, Mac Darin, Henry Saunders, Dash McFarland, Alex Archer, Tom McGuire, Garrett Dunn, Marcus Longton, Jack Larsen, Narayan Sharma, Beck Jurasius, Warren Loth, Patrick Conn, Soren Jensen, and head coach Matt Detrane. Photo: Stewart McGuire

CC United 18U's won the Bronze medal at the Water Polo National Junior Olympics held July 20-23 in Orange County. The team was undeterred by an early loss, battling their way back into the semifinals and playing a total of 11 games over 4 days including a couple of close games won in shootouts. It was a successful year overall for Northern California water polo clubs, which comprised three of the four teams in the 18U semifinals and also included the local Lamorinda Water Polo.

For CC United, the Bronze medal was significant as most members of the 18U team have been with the club from its beginning. It was the final opportunity for the recently graduated high school seniors on the team to earn a Junior Olympics medal. Given the skill and experience of the athletes and their extremely qualified coach Matt Detrane, it was no surprise they achieved their goal.

This year's CC United 18U team has proven that it has what it takes both in and out of the water. Roughly three-quarters of the players will start college this fall, attending top schools including Cal, UCLA, USC, Stanford, University of Wisconsin, University of Toronto and UC San Diego. Most of them will play water polo for their colleges.

In another notable Junior Olympics finish for CC United, the 16U team coached by club founder Kirk Jensen won the Silver medal. Older players from this 16U team will move up to join the 18U team for a run at the Gold medal at next year's Junior Olympics.