Highlanders always expect to contend for a title
Snyder brothers, Dabrowski to lead Royal boys' water polo team
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers ENTRY DENIED- Royal High senior goalkeeper Stash Dabrowski blocks a shot during a scrimmage against La Canada High School on Wednesday. RHS head coach Steve Snyder, winner of 22 league championships during his tenure with the Highlanders, believes Dabrowski is one of the finest goalkeepers in the Marmonte League.

During Steve Snyder's 27-year career guiding the boys' water polo team at Royal High, the coach has seen many changes. There have been four United States presidents, vinyl records have been replaced with compact discs and the Berlin Wall has fallen.

With Snyder's water polo teams, however, there hasn't been much change at all because they just keep winning.

During Snyder's tenure at Royal, the coach has won 22 Marmonte League titles. With the beginning of the season just around the corner, the Highlanders are once again expected to be one of the top teams challenging for a league title.

"The jury is still out on the main strengths of this team," Snyder said.

"The team hasn't played together that long because they have been off playing for different club teams, but the team really bonded together nicely when we went to Hawaii over the summer. We still need to work on defensive communication, but everything else is starting to come along."

One of the main players in charge of communicating better on defense is senior goalkeeper Stash Dabrowski.

"I have a much bigger role than I did last year because now I'm a senior, and I'm looked upon to be more of a leader," Dabrowski said. "Everyone is doing a good job of paying attention in practice, and I think our defensive communication is better because of that."

Snyder went on to praise Dabrowski by calling him one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

"He is a wonderful selfmotivated kid," Snyder said. "One of the strengths of this team is that I don't have to coach the goalies. In a sense, Stan has basically become his own coach, and he does a good job of getting things taken care of himself. Stan's game is something I don't really worry about."

Working alongside Dabrowski will be Snyder's sons, senior Barry Snyder and junior Scott Snyder. Last year as a junior, Barry Snyder made the second team of the CIF All-Southern California Water Polo Coaches Association Boys' Water Polo Team.

"He is one of our best scorers on this team, and the thing I like about his game now is that he has developed into more of a team leader," Steve Snyder said of Barry. "He is a great, versatile, allaround player."

While Barry Snyder returns for his senior year, Scott Snyder will return for his junior season after suffering some bumps in the road over the summer.

The youngest Snyder was forced to miss playing with the National Cadet Travel Team due to mononucleosis. Later in the summer, he missed a chance to play for the Junior Olympic team in the Junior Pan American Games because of an injury to his left eye that caused him to miss six weeks.

"His eye is better now, which is good because I think he's one of the best players in the league at seeing the whole field on offense," Steve Snyder said of Scott. "He does a great job of setting up his teammates, and he can also score in a variety of ways. In a way, he is the X-factor for us this season. Barry is already a marked man with other teams, but if Scott can have a banner year it's going to be really tough to beat us."

Other players that should contribute are seniors Brian Giegoldt, Nick Cooper and T.J. Suffolk.

Snyder called Giegoldt "one of the team's best drivers," Suffolk a "defensive specialist" and Cooper "just an all-around good player."

Coach Snyder said two players called up from the junior varsity level last year, juniors Jordan Ritz and Lawrence Bardelli, will see a lot of playing time and should be vital to the team's success.

Snyder said he expects Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Moorpark to have very good teams but admitted that the league will probably come down to Agoura and themselves once again.

Royal and Agoura were cochampions in 2006, although the Chargers beat the Highlanders at Royal last year in the league finale. The game has stayed in the mind of many Royal players.

"It's been on our mind a lot, and I definitely think this team is more hungry than it was last year," Barry Snyder said. "We don't take anyone for granted in this league. In high school water polo anything can happen, and on any given day anybody in this league can beat anyone."

Although Steve Snyder said the Highlanders' first league game at Thousand Oaks next week should be a real dogfight, he admits to circling the first game against Agoura on his calendar.

"Agoura is very good this year," Steve Snyder said. "They are probably at their peak as far as talking about their last five years or so.

"The team is really looking forward to our first game at home against Agoura. Last season there were about 600 to 800 people watching the game at Royal, one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen while coaching. So it should be that way again this season, and we're looking forward to it."