They’re separated by 16 years, two schools and one playoff division, yet no brother-sister duo will likely be more united at today’s CIF-SS girls water polo championships.
Ethan and Maddy Damato have grown too close to have it any other way.
Today will deliver another batch of memories for the Damato family. Ethan, 32, will coach Laguna Beach’s juggernaut girls squad in the Division 1 final, just hours after Maddy, 16, starts at defender for El Toro in the Division 2 tilt.
But their sibling story will run deeper than whether they celebrate championships in the pool at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
Their relationship triumphed after life’s twists paired them later than most siblings. Water polo provided some of the cement.
“(Water polo) is something that has brought our whole family together,” Damato said.
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Ethan was 8 years old when his parents divorced. An only child at the time, he was then raised by his father, Larry Damato, and aunt, Julia Johnson, until his father remarried. During his sophomore year at Laguna Beach High, Ethan became a brother when his father and step-mother, Karen, welcomed Maddy to the family.
Because of the age difference between Ethan and Maddy, there were some limits to the depth of their initial connection.
“For me, she was a baby,” Ethan recalled. “I focused on being a kid.”
Maddy’s most vivid early memory of her brother is him being pulled on a skateboard by the family’s Irish Greyhound named Shaq.
After Ethan graduated high school, he departed for Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. A few years later, water polo strengthened the brother-sister relationship like nothing else.
Ethan returned to Orange County and started coaching. Maddy, at about age 9, began playing water polo for the Lake Forest-based SET club. Before long, brother was giving sister private lessons – mostly about defense – in the family’s backyard pool.
“(Water polo) is our true bond,” Maddy said. “It was an easier outlet to talk to each other because the age difference is huge. … When we get to water polo, we don’t stop talking.”
Ethan took over Laguna Beach’s girls program in 2009 and quickly started building a powerhouse. The Breakers captured a CIF Division 3 title in his first season with a future Olympic gold medalist, Annika Dries, on the team.
“She (Dries) gave me some private lessons as well,” Maddy said.
As an eighth-grader, Maddy started playing in the Olympic Development Program. But when her high school years arrived, she charted a bold direction.
Living in Mission Viejo, she used a district school choice option to attend El Toro.
What about Laguna Beach?
“It was always a thought,” Maddy said. “(But) El Toro has provided so many great opportunities for me that’s it’s not even that big of a deal (anymore). … In Division 2, I get more time to be a primary defender.
“Also in my freshman year, I got to learn under great players like Allison Skaggs, Delaney Riley, which really helped me.”
Maddy made the U.S. national cadet team as a sophomore and has helped El Toro reach its first section final this winter. At 5-foot-6, she uses her leg strength to defend 2 meters.
“Here (at El Toro), I kind of get to make my own name for myself,” she said.
Maddy does play for her brother. She was the primary defender on the SET 16-and-under club team that Ethan coached to the gold medal last summer at the Junior Olympics. The squad included standouts from El Toro, Division 2 finalists San Clemente and Laguna Beach.
“It’s just really cool to share something like that with him,” Maddy said of Ethan, who has won a combined five CIF titles in boys and girls water polo at Laguna Beach.
“Being coached by him is a really great experience. I’ve learned a lot.”
The Damato talent pool doesn’t stop with Ethan and Maddy. Their youngest sister, Melanie, 12, also plays for SET. But today, all paths for the family will lead to Woollett.
“It’s odd, but it’s worked out so well,” Larry said.
LOOKING TOUGH
El Toro’s players have styled their hair in cornrows for today’s final against San Clemente, a move that might be compared to the boys who often shave their heads for a championship match.
“We were going for intimidating,” Damato said of the style. “(A) new tradition, we’re hoping.”
FOOTHILL’S JOURNEY
Foothill goalie Kenzie Snyder said the team’s coaching changes have been challenging for the players, but the Knights have learned from their new duo of Jim Brumm and Greg Enloe.
“They both told us that no matter what you do, fight through everything, and you can do anything you put your mind to,” she said.
Jeff Colton resigned in the middle of last season for personal reasons. He is now an assistant coach at Arizona State.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
