PCHS Miners Water Polo Team travels to tournament in Seattle

SEATTLE, Wash. — The Park City High School Miners water polo team flew to Seattle over the weekend to compete in the Yeti Tournament, where the team won three games and lost two. Many parents also made the trip.

“We had a great time in Seattle. The team really bonded,” Miners head coach Heather Flynn told TownLift. “It was a wonderful opportunity to compete with teams outside of Utah and adapt and adjust to different players and referees.”

Team captain Gavin Zeisler is a senior at Park City High School and also served as a co-captain last year. He has played with the program for six years, primarily as a left-side attacker and center defender.

Over the summer, Zeisler competed at the Water Polo Junior Olympics in California. He also toured colleges, including MIT, and met with NCAA coaches as he pursues opportunities to continue playing after high school. He is considering studying applied mathematics.

Zeisler was born and raised in Park City and attended Soaring Wings, McPolin Elementary, and later the Weilenmann School of Discovery.

“I really like how it feels like a family here, and there are always opportunities for everybody to get better and to learn more about the team and to help out Park City,” Zeisler told TownLift. “I think that the Park City Water Polo program has really, like, excelled recently, especially since my mom, Ali, started volunteering as the team administrator three years ago. There are lots of talented kids here right now who are 14, 15, that will be able to play for the next couple of years, so it’s just great to see the sport that I love carried on into the future in Park City.”

The upcoming USA Water Polo-sanctioned Champions Cup Tournament is headed to Park City after the local club won a competitive bid to host the event. Park City is the only venue in the Mountain Zone selected to host.

Spring is the official competitive high school season for water polo, making fall a development season focused largely on fundamentals. One of several fall scrimmages was held last week at the Park City Aquatic Center.

“The high school league is so much fun,” Flynn said. “People take it very seriously. MVPs are named and everything.”

Flynn has coached Park City Water Polo for seven years, including coaching her son, Cadan, who is a junior.

Flynn grew up in Oregon and played on the Junior National Team in high school. She was recruited to play at UC Davis, where the team won a national championship during her first year. She later became an assistant coach at UC Davis. During her junior year of college, Flynn made the Senior National Team and traveled around the world representing the United States in World Cup and world championship competition.

Park City Water Polo also works to introduce new athletes to the sport. Each year, the club hosts a free week of community participation and partners with the Youth Sports Alliance on an Intro to Water Polo session beginning at the end of November.

The club also held a four-week Try It Free clinic in August, drawing 40 interested athletes.

Cash Kelly is another player on the Park City Water Polo team and another child of a dedicated parent volunteer, his dad, Mike.

As the interview wrapped up at the Park City Aquatic Center, athletes were warming up by holding their elbows above the water and propelling themselves sideways across the width of the pool and back again.

Flynn said the exercise offers a glimpse into the sport’s physical demands.

“Water polo is one of the hardest sports that exists because you’re basically just keeping yourself from drowning and, at the same time, trying to find someone open to pass to or shooting a goal,” she said.

Next up for some of the Miners is another road tournament, this time in Las Vegas in late October.

The photos below are from Park City’s scrimmage against Murray High School last week.

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