Most sports are hard enough on land, but Orange County high school water polo players, like Dana Hills' Sophie Anderson, take it a step further by diving right in.

"Growing up in Southern California, playing water polo is kind of the norm," Anderson said.

It's so "the norm" that athletes will come here just to play.

What You Need To Know

  • Nine of 13 U.S. men’s Olympic water polo team members are from SoCal

  • Of the 43,000 high school water polo players nationwide, more than 75% of them play in California

  • The majority of U.S.A. Water Polo clubs are on the West Coast, specifically in California

  • The U.S. men and women both open up play against Japan on July 23 and 24

Fellow Dana Hills player Oliver Child has been in the water since he was in fourth grade, but his family moved from Oregon to Orange County.

Why? Because playing here, he said, is just different.

"It's astronomical. Up in Oregon, we'd be lucky to get top 80 in JOs, and down here, nearly every team I play for or even have seen is top 25," Child said.

"JOs" is short for Junior Olympics, and just up the 73 in Newport Beach, the men's Olympic team is getting ready for the real deal — Tokyo 2021.

According to the Next College Student Athlete, of the 43,000 high school water polo players nationwide, more than 75% of them play in California. And of USA Water Polo's about 500 clubs, 305 are in California.

So, it should come as no surprise that nine of this year's 13 Olympians are from our SoCal backyard.

USA attacker Max Irving went to Long Beach Wilson, then UCLA. He's been playing against his teammates for years, which has created a special bond the team is taking to the games.

"Growing up, we're playing club against these guys. So we're very familiar with each other. Even from high school and then continuing on to college, just continuing to have these bonds and these friendships that have been formed since we were very young," Irving said.

And while the sport is growing in other states across the country, some other states USA Water Polo is hoping to grow the game include Texas, Florida, Illinois and states in the Pacific Northwest. Center Ben Hallock, who went to Harvard Westlake, then Stanford, said that representing their country and the place many call home is as good as it gets.

"A massive aspect of pride for our team is the places we represent and the places we come from, how we sort of grew up together. And it means a lot to go represent the United States but also represent the towns that we're from and specifically Southern California," Hallock said.

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And for all the SoCal aspiring players dreaming of being Olympians, Anderson said they can't wait to watch that journey come full circle as men and women who started where they're at now representing the U.S. and going for gold.

"Getting to see them on TV play in Tokyo is just an incredible experience," Anderson said.

The men will take on their first competitor of the games, Japan's team, on July 24, with the women facing Japan the day before on July 23.