DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Punahou senior driver C.J. Smith hopes to someday make the U.S. Olympic team in water polo.

Driving force

Punahou's C.J. Smith is the driver
for the school's water polo team. That's
not too surprising, since he comes
from a family of water enthusiasts

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

IT'S not just the way he plays, but why he plays. For love of the sport.

And water polo is one of those sports you either love or you don't understand why others do.

C.J. Smith was born with it, the passion for his game. His older brother, Parker, veered off to volleyball, but Cameron James stayed on that straight, black line found on the bottom of the pool.

As hard as it has been to play for his father at Punahou School, it would have been have been harder NOT to play for Ken Smith. The dean of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu coaches has won 26 boys titles since being hired in 1973.

"It's been hard for me at times to play for him, but it's made me a better player," said C.J., a senior driver on the 2-0 Buffanblu squad. "Growing up around the pool with him, being at so many games with him ... we talk about the sport all the time.

"Sometimes it is like, 'Can we leave it in the pool?' But most of the time, just being with him and sharing our love of the game, it's cool."

Smith is treading water on one subject: Choice of colleges. If accepted to Stanford and UCLA, should he play for the Cardinal, the defending NCAA champion with the 2001 NCAA Player of the Year in Tony Azevedo?

Or should he follow his father, his mother Diane and his brother to UCLA? Playing for the Bruins would continue the tradition of Punahou sending its best to Westwood, including Sean Kern and Brandon Brooks, as well as following in his father's wake. Ken Smith played for the Bruin varsity from 1965 to '67.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM “One of my greatest memories will be to have coached my own son.” --Ken Smith, Punahou coach and father of C.J. Smith

"I don't know," said C.J. Smith, a member of the Buffanblu varsity for four years. "Either would be good. It's a real life decision.

"It would be great to be with my brother (a current junior) and keep the Punahou water polo tradition going. But Stanford is a great school and I know I can learn a lot from Tony Azevedo. It's going to be tough."

Just like the sport he plays. Water polo players have long been considered among the fittest among all elite athletes. At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, two nude statues sculpted in the Greek tradition stood outside the L.A. Coliseum. The male figure was a likeness of Terry Schroeder, captain of the U.S. water polo team.

At 6 feet and 160 pounds, Smith still has a little ways before he fills out. But what he lacks in size, he compensates with speed and intelligence.

"He was small when he was growing up so he became a very smart player," Ken Smith said. "In that situation, you have to see a lot or you get run over. Now that his size is catching up, he still has a great vision of the game.

"I think the potential is there for him to go on to the elite level."

Punahou assistant coach Harry Grzelewski agrees.

"Everyone says he's small and you've seen the guys on the national team who are huge," Grzelewski said. "Like every sport, everyone has gotten bigger and faster. But every sport has its 'C.J.' in it -- guys who work hard, know the game, love the game.

"I've always liked C.J. as a person. As a player he's very special. I was worried about him being a leader because he's shy. But he's a quiet leader. And for him to win the 'Brad Yim Award' twice speaks for itself."

The Brad Yim Award is given to the top male player from Hawaii at the annual Hawaiian Invitational Water Polo Tournament. It is named for the former Punahou student, water polo player and kayaker who was killed in a freak accident while attending the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

"Brad was a friend to everyone and was at ease with anyone," said Ken Smith, who coached Yim in the 1980s. "Everyone loved him. He would light up every room he walked into. He epitomized sportsmanship."

Punahou also has its Yim Award, given annually to the male and female water polo player who "most exemplifies Brad's positive spirit, enthusiasm and love of sport," according to the inscription on the koa and glass trophy.

"We all know of him and his legacy," said C.J. Smith, the HIWPT Yim recipient in 2001 and 2002. "Everyone who plays water polo at Punahou knows how special he was. To get an award in his memory is such an honor. Great sportsmanship and a great guy."

Punahou left last night for California, where the Buffanblu will compete in the prestigious 32-team event hosted by Newport High School. With just three other teams in the ILH, Punahou was looking forward to the outside competition.

"Our team is looking really good," C.J. Smith said. "We only had three seniors graduate last year, so we have a lot of experience. And we have a lot of young guys who are fast.

"What I like about the position I play is it's like playing point guard in basketball. You get to run things and I like all the strategy involved. There's so much you can do."

Smith hopes it will take him to the next level. The national team and, eventually the Olympic team, are long-term goals.

"It's a dream," he said.

Ken Smith also got to realize a dream the past six years: coaching his youngest son.

"I'll cherish having had the Chris Duplantys and the Brandon Brookses," he said. "But one of my greatest memories will be to have coached my own son for that long, being able to be with him every single day, see him grow in the sport and watch his every practice and every game from intermediate to now.

"Any parent who's been able to do that knows it's a dream come true."