Woodbridge’s Riley Pittman, PCL male athlete of the year, found a passion for water polo

Riley Pittman is headed to Stanford next season. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Riley Pittman of Woodbridge High wasn’t too sure about starting out in water polo as a youngster.

But with the encouragement of his parents, he did at the age of 7 and it turned out to be a great decision. Pittman, a key member of the Warrior water polo team for four years, committed to play water polo at Stanford University. He capped his career by being named the Pacific Coast League male athlete of the year.

“My parents were the ones ones who got me into water polo in the beginning and I never thought I would have such a passion for it,” Pittman said. “I owe so much to my parents.”

Pittman, an All-CIF and all-league player at Woodbridge, started for the Warriors for four years and helped the team win the PCL title the last two years. Pittman was the Warriors’ leading scorer.

“One of the biggest highlights of the high school season was winning the Pacific Coast League title,” he said. “That was the second year in a row and last year was the first time that Woodbridge has ever won a Pacific Coast League title in water polo so going back to back was pretty special.

“It was amazing to have once again a really good seed going into CIF (playoffs). We wish CIF could have gone a little bit better and we feel CIF didn’t go as well as we thought it could have. But at the end of the day, we had one of the best teams Woodbridge has ever had and we have to be proud of that.”

Pittman was also pleased with the award he received from the PCL.

“I think it’s a great honor and I don’t even necessarily care about the award,” he said. “I’m just super happy my team was able to win the title and I was able to help my team be successful in the season.

“I’m pretty happy with my performance. For the past couple of years, I’ve led the team in goals, assists, steals and field blocks and I’ve just tried to do everything I could for the team and that’s credit to my teamates because they were the ones who helped me get to where I am today.”

Pittman said he has valued his time with all the players he has met playing water polo since he was young.

“To this day, I’ve been friends with the same people for the past 11 years,” Pittman said. “And it’s a great way to get closer to people and learn life lessons and I believe I’ve made some life-long friends out of this.”

He’s also had valuable experiences outside of Woodbridge High.

“I’ve been on the USA National Water Polo team a couple of times and been a part of So Cal Water Polo Club as well,” Pittman said. “With So Cal Water Polo I was able to get the best coaching possible and I had the best teammates. I really do think So Cal was responsible for how my career has gone and the same with being part of the the national team. I had the best coaches and it had such a competitive atmosphere.”

Pittman has worked hard to accomplish what he did, putting in about 11 hours of practice a week during the season.

“Water polo is definitely one of the hardest sports out there,” he said. “It requires being in such physically and mentally good shape. I really do love it.”

Pittman’s coach at Woodbridge, Matt Campbell, pointed out last season Pittman’s value to the program.

“What’s unique about Riley is that he always has an effect on the game,” Campbell said. “His influence can be seen offensively and or defensively depending on the opponent.

“Because he is our leading scorer, sometimes his defensive skills are overlooked but he is equally strong at both ends of the pool. In addition, he is one of the most competitive players I have coached in all my years of coaching.”

He is looking forward to competing for Stanford and waiting to find out when training will begin.

“I’m still waiting to hear from the NCAA and from Stanford itself,” he said. “But it looks I will be training with them starting in late August and there is a good possibility that the season will continue.

“I’m super excited to be playing under a great coach (John Vargas) who just got the coach of the year last year and playing under some of the best players in the country, especially Ben Hallock. I think that alone is going to help me so much grow as a person and as a player tremendously.”

“I would love to help Stanford win a national championship. I would love to be a part of that. I definitely think that is an achieveable goal and I would love to become the best player I can. I really want to win a championship; I’ve never been able to do that with my high school team and I would love to get a ring.”

Pittman said he has maintained his physical conditioning during the athletic shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I owe a lot of credit to my trainer, Stephen Beseda ….. I’ve been training with him the past couple of months, three times a week,” he said. “Since I haven’t had any pool access, that’s pretty much been the only training I’ve had unless I train myself at the park, which I’ve done a little bit as well.”

Pittman’s parents, besides introducing him to the sport, have provided constant backing, he said.

“My parents support me and they originally helped get me to all my practices and games on time and they’ve been incredibly supportive of me in terms of encouraging me to stick with the national team and encouraging me to just stick with water polo,” he said.

Pittman has some long-range goals for water polo, too.

“It would be super special to play with the senior team, hopefully in the Olympics one day (in 2024) that would be the ultimate dream. I’ve thought of that ever since I’ve been a little kid. I think now, more than ever, it seems like a possibility but I have to make sure I continue to grow and get stronger and learn from the best at Stanford.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com