Northwood High water polo player Michael Abshier, who shattered a number of school records, looks to continue his success at the Division 1 college level at Cal Baptist University.
The senior attributes his high school success to his parents, including his father, who played water polo at UC Irvine.
“When I was younger, my dad started me playing at SoCal Water Polo Club, taking private lessons and making me go to practice every day,” Abshier says.
At Northwood, Abshier set single-season records in goals, steals and ejections drawn. He set Northwood single-season records with 194 goals, 143 steals and 138 exclusions drawn.
He also set Northwood career records with 469 goals, 364 steals and 251 exclusions drawn.
“It became obvious after his sophomore year, when he earned our team’s MVP award, that our offense would be centered around him,” says Northwood coach Kyle Kim-E.
Abshier says the best game of his career came during this season’s championship win at the Chino Hills Tournament, where he was named MVP.
All of his hard work has paid off, he says, adding that he plans to study aviation at Cal Baptist.
“I get to play Division 1 water polo,” he says, “and become a commercial pilot.”
