Water polo has been very good to a Mexican-American girl who grew up on the east side of Los Angeles.
Brenda Villa competed in her fourth Olympic Games this summer and, after coming up short three times, she and her U.S. teammates won the gold medal in London.
Villa brought the gold, two silvers and a bronze medal to the Goleta Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday afternoon. Invited by the Santa Barbara Aquatics Club, Villa talked to youngsters and parents about the impact water polo made in her life and encouraged kids to try the sport.
Villa is working to get more kids interested in water polo and swimming and to increase access to aquatic facilities through her non-profit 20-20 Foundation.
“Swimming pools and being part of swim teams and water polo teams is a luxury and I want to even out that playing field,” she said. “With my non-profit, I want to be able to offer that at no cost or low cost to under-served youth.”
Villa, who was born and raised in the City of Commerce, started playing the sport at 8 years old and fell in love with it. She played on club teams out of Commerce, but when she entered Bell Gardens High in 1994 there was no girls team at the school. She played four years on the boys team and went on to earn all-league, all-CIF and All-American honors every year.
She received a scholarship to Stanford, where she scored 172 goals in her career, was named All-American, won a NCAA title and was honored as the national player of the year.
As a member of the U.S. national team, she won gold this year, silver medals in the 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games and a bronze medal in the 2004 Games. She’s also won three gold medals at the FINA World Championships.
Villa expressed gratitude to her parents for their encouragement and support.
“I’m thankful my mom was a progressive thinker and allowed me to play a sport, and said education was the key,” she said. “If I didn’t get good grades at an early age, I wouldn’t have been able to get into Stanford.”
Her Stanford education came in handy while answering questions from the audience. The questions included: Do you practice in the rain and the snow? How many countries have you visited? How deep is the pool? What famous people have you met? What’s your favorite soccer team? Have you ever choked in the water? What is water polo?
Villa answered them all.
Besides being a great water polo player, she is a great ambassador for the sport.
