Prep column: Bean stalks foes at two meters

Barry Faulkner

Defending two meters is the black hole of high school water polo.

Few places in the athletic arena are better suited to hiding out than

slapping torsos and tangling arms and legs with the opposing team’s

marquee talent. The closest most hole guards come to the ball is when it

whizzes by their ear toward the goal cage.

But Newport Harbor High senior Kyle Bean doesn’t play water polo to

read his name in the paper. He plays for the linebacker-like joy of

knocking the heck out of people.

And for those who might suggest the football field would be a better

venue to vent such hostility, Bean might reply: “Been there, done that.”

After growing up as an aqua jock, Bean traded his polo cap for a

football helmet his sophomore year. He wound up starting at defensive end

for the Sailors’ junior varsity, but a lack of football experience, a

concussion, as well as the surprising allure of the pool and his former

polo teammates, drew him back into his Speedo the last two falls.

Football, however, left its mark on the 6-foot, 180-pound water

warrior, whom Harbor co-coach Brian Kreutzkamp credits for anchoring the

Sea View League champions’ defense. With Bean eggbeatering into whoever

will set the Foothill offense, the top-seeded Sailors (28-5) will go for

their first CIF Southern Section title since 1984 in Wednesday’s Division

I final at 7:30 p.m. at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

“He’s happy to do the dirty work,” Kreutzkamp said of Bean, who bench

presses 250 pounds and is fast enough to flirt with the CIF qualifying

standard in the 50-yard freestyle.

“He’s definitely the strongest guy on our team and we can match him

with any two-meter man and Kyle will tire him out.”

Peter Belden, an All-CIF veteran and half of the Sailors’ one-two

scoring punch that also includes Ryan Cook, fully appreciates Bean’s

low-profile contribution.

“(Bean) doesn’t get any statistics, or much credit,” Belden said. “But

he deserves a lot of the credit for our success.”

Bean grew tired of water polo after years in the age-group program.

But after two years away from the sport, he’s happy to be back.

“Football was a great experience,” he said. “I liked it a lot and I

had a lot of fun. When I came back to water polo, I found I had a whole

different mentality. I had been timid before, but football taught me to

be physical. I decided to go after guys, no matter how big they were.”

Bean also said his football experience turned him on to the benefits

of weight training, which has helped him bridge the gap with even the

beefiest two-meter foes.

“You don’t need a lot of finesse to play my position, which is good,

because my teammates tell me I don’t have any,” Bean said. “But you do

need strength, stamina and determination. We all have our roles and mine

is playing defense.”

Bean said he is not envious of missing out on last year’s CIF Division

VI football title (while the Tars were upset in the Division I water polo

semifinals by El Toro). But he is eager to neutralize the good-natured

ribbing his former football mates deliver at every opportunity.

“They tell me ‘We’ve got ours, where is yours (championship ring)?’ ”

Bean said. “Hopefully, after Wednesday, I’ll be able to give them an

answer.”

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Newport has had the answer for Foothill in two previous meetings this

year, winning, 10-8, in the third-place game of the South Coast

Tournament Sept. 23, then earning an 11-8 nonleague triumph Oct. 20.

“We match up with them really well,” Belden said.

Additionally, Bean said when this year’s seniors were in the eighth

grade, the Harbor junior team topped a squad of future Foothill players

to win a big tournament in Long Beach.

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Corona del Mar (21-5) will be gunning for its second straight CIF

Division II water polo crown Wednesday at 3:15, also at Belmont.

Both the Sea Kings and Sailors own 10 section championships, but, if

victorious, this would be the first time the former Sea View League and

Division I rivals have won section crowns in the same season.

Bill Barnett, who shares coaching duties with Kreutzkamp at Harbor, is

guiding a team in the CIF finals for the 19th time in his remarkable

career. He has experienced all 10 boys titles from the bench and also

coached the girls team to the CIF crown in 1999.

Kreutzkamp, by the way, is no stranger to Belmont. He played for Costa

Mesa in the 1990 2-A final loss, was a Mustang assistant with the 1992

Division III winners, as well as the ’93 Division III runners-up. He also

represented Golden West College, which won a state crown in ’92 at

Belmont, and was Mesa’s head coach when it won Division II in 1995. He

was also at Barnett’s side for the girls’ triumph in ’99.