Patty Cardenas

US Women’s Water Polo Attacker Patty Cardenas is a rising star and represents the future of US Women’s Water Polo.  Ever since high school, Patty has been widely heralded as the next Brenda Villa.  It’s easy to see the comparison, as Patty and Brenda’s lives parallel each other in an almost uncanny way: Both Brenda and Patty’s parents had immigrated to the City of Commerce from the same small pueblo in Mexico - Tecalitlan, Jalisco; both their older brothers introduced them to the sport; both played for the same club and high school team; both were female phenoms.  Yet although Patty's journey to the Olympics began in much the same way as Brenda’s, her path was wrought with more personal difficulties that severely tested her resolve to.  Her courage under fire have given her a reputation as a comeback kid.

FORMATIVE YEARS
Entering Bell Gardens High School in the fall of 1998, just a summer after Brenda had left, Patty was not allowed to play Boys water polo.  Ironically, Brenda’s success had led Bell Gardens to form a separate Girl’s Water Polo team which she was obligated to join under CIF rules.  Nonetheless, Patty took the reigns during the team’s inaugural season and never looked back, leading them to an amazing 4 consecutive CIF Championships.  By the time she graduated high school in 2002, she was highly sought after, especially by Jovan Vavic, head coach of the USC Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Team.  Patty had always dreamed of going to USC, but wasn't able to attend immediately after high school and instead entered Golden West Junior College.
    
COMEBACK KID: PATTY COLLEGE YEARS
Golden West did not provide her the exposure of a Division I NCAA University and many pundits in the community felt she had fallen by the wayside.   In just one year, she had gone from one of the nation’s top recruits with national potential to someone who was no longer seriously considered as a contender for a NCAA-Div. I team, let alone the Olympic team.  Yet she had never left the watchful eye of Jovan, who monitored her career at the junior college level.   She would soon validate his faith in her with a spectacular career comeback, which began by her leading Golden West to a state championship in 2002, and ended by her earning the 2003 Southern California MVP the following year.
After two years she transferred to U.S.C. in 2005, where Jovan had just won his first national title for NCAA women’s water polo.  She immediately made an impact on the team's performance, scoring 40 goals in her first season and ranking as the 3rd highest scorer on the team.  Just a couple of years after many had counted her out, Patty was back on the radar of the water polo community.  In truth none of the top coaches, including USA coach Guy Baker, had ever forgotten her.   Just as USC coach Jovan had watched her at Golden West, US National Coach Baker watched her career at USC and had her try-out in 2006.  She passed with flying colors, and has been training as a member of the US team ever since.  So impressive are her skills that her teammates have nicknamed her, ‘’Skills’’.

PERSONAL HARDSHIP, INNER STRENGTH: PATTY’S ROAD TO BEIJING
Much like the pleasant demeanor of her face, it was hard to see that beneath the pleasant surface of her successful comeback were several personal hardships.  While at USC in 2005, her father, already handicapped from a stroke he suffered while Patty was in high school, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is now in remission, but neither he nor her mother will be able to see her play in Beijing.  All this weighed heavily upon Patty, who was attending school, working a job, and playing water polo.  It is a testament to Patty’s maturity that she has been able to manage all of these stresses and challenges and rise to a starting position on the US National Team.  Patty’s comeback, which came after having been written off by many in the water polo community, is an example of how one’s destiny cannot be decided by the opinions of others.  This message will ring especially true in the Hispanic community, where Patty and Brenda’s success have provided a beacon of hope an underrepresented group in the world of aquatics.