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Home > Brenda Villa: The American Saint of Water Polo

Brenda Villa: The American Saint of Water Polo



By Wendy Lewellen

Published: July 7, 2008


The U.S. women’s water polo team has floated to the top of the pool of “teams to beat” in Beijing. Coach Guy Clark deemed team captain Brenda Villa, “one of the best players in the world.” The story behind those five Olympic rings tattooed on her foot is about a young woman who hasn’t yet noticed what a hero she is.

Brenda Villa was born 27 years ago in east L.A. to immigrants from Mexico. Athletic little Brenda chose water polo – a sport that is amazingly physical below the surface of the water. As the middle child between two brothers, tag-along Brenda wanted to play whatever her older brother played. At age six she began swimming at the local club, Commerce Aquatics. Later Villa played on the boys’ team at Bell Gardens High School.

Gender was irrelevant to her male team mates. They had grown up with her and were well aware of her prowess. It was opponents who sometimes made comments. “The boys on my team said, ‘Just score on ‘em.’”

Fast forward to 1997 when, as an eventual four-time All-American, she made the U.S. national women’s team before becoming a senior in high school. Next came that critical moment in a student-athlete’s life, deciding where to go to college. When asked what the highlight of her life so far as been, she doesn’t hesitate in saying, “Getting accepted at Stanford.”

Stanford, often associated with academic excellence, did a smart thing in 1998 by recruiting this scholar-athlete, the most highly-sought-after female water polo player in the country. Villa, chock full of freshman fear, arrived at Stanford, only to be pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the students. It turned out to be a happy match. During her years there, the Stanford Cardinal did what teams love to do, that is, win. She led the team to the NCAA Championships in 2002 and graduated as the second leading scorer in school history with 172 goals. During her college years she gracefully donned both Cardinal and Olympic caps.

Lucky for Villa, women’s water polo became an Olympic sport in 2000. She and her American teammates won silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004. Since college, Villa has successfully braided together her Olympic role with two others, a pattern that continues to this day. Depending on the time of year, she plays professionally in Italy and also serves as assistant women’s coach at Cerritos College in California. Always attentive to her roots, Villa spends as much time as she can at her home club.

She seems unaware of the splash she has made as role model and hero to Latina athletes. Maybe she’s just too busy and too modest by nature.

Researchers have referred to the “Maria Paradox,” which describes a cultural tendency of Latinas to be passive and submissive to males. Although not voluminous, the research has linked playing organized sports to breaking out of the self-sinking aspect of that mind-set, resulting in increased academic success. Villa heartily agrees with these findings and credits much of her success to the spring boarding attitudes of her parents. After Beijing she hopes to use her platform to encourage young people to make school a priority and take advantage of the rapid rise of scholarships available to athletes like her.

At only 5’4”, Brenda Villa stands tall among a relatively short list of high-profile Latina athletes in this country. Through her example, that list will undoubtedly grow. Having surmounted the proverbial boys’ team, Stanford academia, homesickness in Italy and the highest level of world competition in a grueling, punch-kick-grab-sport, Villa is strong enough to know what she wants now. She wants Olympic gold and to once again make her family proud. And Mom’s finally okay with the tattoo.