Water polo built from bottom up
By Josh Rizzo
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Sports
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But there's one name that isn't found on that wall. Richard "Doc" Hunkler, the mastermind behind SRU's last national championship team. He helped guide women's water polo from a club team to varsity.
On Jan. 31, Hunkler was recognized by USA Water Polo, who created the "Doc" Hunkler Distinguished Women's coaching award that's awarded to the top scholastic coach in the country.
When he recruited athletes, he sold SRU more than the sport.
"I was trying to show these kids they were here to get an education," Hunkler said. "There isn't a professional water polo for kids to play in. "
The Rock remains, to date, the only non-Californian water polo team to win a national title. Hunkler began coaching water polo in 1972, which started as a club sport, and coached the team until his retirement in 1998.
His record at SRU was 264-62 (162-20 women's, 102-42 men's) and would've doubled if water polo had been a varsity sport from 1972-1991.
But after arriving from Texas A & M University, Hunkler had to build his team up from nothing to win the national title.
When he arrived at SRU, there wasn't a water polo team, but he applied and started a water polo club.
In the beginning, times were rough. Hunkler said the team couldn't afford equipment, so they had to improvise.
"My wife made the caps and I bought brown kick balls for the kids to practice with," he said.
As the team began to compete at other schools, Hunkler noticed that yellow water polo balls suddenly began to appear in the SRU pool.
"I used to walk out of my office and notice a yellow water polo ball floating in the pool," he said. "So I used to grab the ball from the pool, deflate them and mail it back to the school we got it from."
His hard work and determination led to SRU making water polo a varsity sport in 1992. Soon after, Hunkler was bringing in recruits from all over the country.
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