 | | | Maggie Steffens with Jewel Roemer earlier in their careers. Photo provided | | | | | | Water polo in the Bay Area and in Lamorinda specifically has made great strides, going back to when Heather Petrie had to play on the boys' water polo team at Miramonte in the early 1990's, ultimately competing in four Olympics (2000, 2004, 2008, 2112). Petrie set the standard for players like Maggie Steffens (Monte Vista H.S.) who is now competing in her fourth Olympics (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024). Acalanes alum and upcoming Stanford senior, Jewel Roemer, on her first Olympics team, stands ready to accept the baton from Steffens and carry the standard for water polo excellence in the East Bay.
Roemer is a three time (2021-2023) All-American at Stanford, two-time NCAA champion, three-time first team All-American (2018-2020) at Acalanes with two NCS championships, and a two-time Junior Olympics MVP with the 680 Water Polo Club.
Jewel's father, John Roemer is the current Head Coach of the Miramonte girls water polo team, which has won the last three NorCal Championships with a composite won-loss record of 83-2. In 2022, Roemer was named the best girls' water polo coach in the country by MaxPreps.
It all began for Jewel when she was seven -- though it was not love at first sight, getting splashed and pushed under the water. "My dad supported me every single day at practice, just trying to make me as happy as I could be while I was there," Jewel said.
John did more than attend the practices. "Jewel wouldn't get into the water for practice unless I got into the pool as well which in the end helped her development because I was able to correct little things that I wouldn't have noticed outside of the pool."
When she reached the age of ten, Jewel began to stand out in the water. "I started to be more dominant with the ten and under coed teams, outplaying the boys at times and that was a confidence booster. I would also play with the fourteens and even with eighteen-year-olds and would get beat up with all the older girls so coming back to my own age group also gave me a lot more confidence."
There was a bit of a hazing process in going against the older girls. When Jewel was ten, she went to Italy with a team of high school girls, coached by Maureen O'Toole, a great player in her own right, to practice with the team. "Mo put her in a game, which I had not anticipated," John said. "A much older opponent held Jewel underwater for about ten seconds and Jewel came up and elbowed her in the ear guard. After that they were much nicer to her because they respected her for fighting back."
"That was a scary moment for me," Jewel said. "I was thirteen when I took my first international trip and then was invited to play on some national teams. At 14, I played with the 14 and 16 and under teams at the junior Olympics and I was able to contribute with every age group. That's probably when I felt that I can do this, and I determined that I wanted to be the best that I could be."
Jewel has three older brothers, the youngest of them 14 years older than Jewel. None of them were water polo players, but they did play rugby and basketball. "I tried to get them to play water polo, but they were land animals," John said.
Still, they engendered a love of sport for Jewel: "I grew up watching them play basketball in high school, college, and after that and I really enjoyed it. They had a good perspective and mindset which they shared with me that I didn't really appreciate until I started playing at a higher level."
Growing up, she was more than just a water polo player. "Jewel was a very good softball player and played CYO basketball through the eighth grade at St. Catherines, winning the diocese every year ,and even played the baritone sax in the band at Acalanes," John said.
"I did have fun doing other things," Jewel said. "I grew up watching my dad coach as well and water polo just clicked for me."
Despite being ten years younger than Maggie Steffens, there is a long-term connection through their parents as Maggie's father, Carlos, and John Roemer played together at Cal. "When Jewel was little, we would go and watch Maggie play," John said. "Now they're on the same team and sometimes I have to pinch myself because it's hard to believe we are where we are at right now."
Growing up in such a water polo rich environment has contributed to Jewel's development. "Watching Maggie play when I was younger and having women coaches like Natalie Benson, Coralie Simmons, and Heather Petrie, learning their history and what they had to go through just to play the sport is super inspiring and I really appreciate them and their efforts and how much they have invested and still invest in the sport. I've learned so much from all of them, and you can just tell how much they love us and how inspiring they been and what a huge role they played in my being where I am right now."
Having worked so closely with Jewel, John sees what has made her so special in the water. "Jewel has always had the passion and the innate ability to focus along with her mental toughness," John said "She plays the five position (the left handed position) for the US team because she sees everything, and she's passing to her right handed teammates strong side and the comment has been made that she has the vision of an owl with a field vision of 360 degrees."
Yet, with all of her accomplishments, Jewel continues to look for ways to take her game to another level. "I am still looking to improve my passing in general, setting my teammates up for shots or passing the ball somewhere where I know that that person can hit someone else for a shot -- just reading the game better. I'm also working on communicating in the pool, especially on defense which is something that we all have to improve on. The team does put me in great positions to distribute the ball well, so I've learned a lot and gotten better."
Though 5'6" and going against bigger players, size has not been an issue for her. "As an attacker, I use my quickness over brute strength, but I've grown a lot stronger too and the water is a good neutralizer if you do the right things like have strong legs," Jewel explained.
Jewel is a human biology major at Stanford, which also has some connection to her being a water polo player. "Having suffered some sports injuries, I really enjoy learning about how the human body works and optimizing health through things like nutrition, and majoring in human biology has allowed me to explore things I'm interested in and may lead me into some field of medicine in the future," Jewel said
Paris brings back great memories for Jewel, having competed there last May. "Paris is really a beautiful city and when we last played there, we were allowed to go explore the city and eat really great food and do all the touristy things," Jewel said. "So, at the Olympics we are going to be really focused and see it as more of a work trip."
Jewel has scored a goal in each of her first two games in the Olympics, a 15-6 win over Greece and a 13-11 loss to Spain. The team will next play Italy on Wednesday. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA