The cancer was in remission. Had been for seven months.
A longtime smoker, Gary Minott quit 10 years ago. In February 2012, he was diagnosed with throat and lung cancer. It wasn’t believed to be terminal. Surgery would give him a clean bill of health.
No matter the diagnosis, Minott continued on his own accord. He lifted weights regularly. He walked his dogs, Stacey and Jo-Jo. He took out the trash. He laughed.
Well into his 50s, Minott wasn’t surviving. He was living.
“A trooper,” Kennedy High senior Zachary Minott called his father.
***
The choice was his: summer swim or Pop Warner? In fourth grade at the time, few sports came easier to Zachary Minott than swimming.
The younger of two sons, Minott slept at night dreaming of one day swimming for his country in the Olympics. It was an easy decision to make, and two years later, swim led to water polo.
Introverted and less-skilled initially than others, Minott wanted to escape his shell, so he sought his father’s advice.
“My dad would always motivate me to push my hardest and try my best,” he said. By eighth grade, water polo became his greatest passion.
“My dad showed up to every single match,” said. “He was my biggest supporter. If he didn’t have enough money to get me into a club program, he would find a way to make something.”
***
Kennedy water polo coach Eric Pierce remembers the size, the strength, his deceptive speed.
Minott joined the International Water Polo Club in Los Alamitos his freshman year of high school. An assistant coach at IWPC, Pierce said Minott never missed a practice. If he didn’t have a ride to the pool, he jogged from La Palma or rode his bike.
Minott absorbed knowledge “like a sponge,” Pierce said. Minott would be lying, though, if he said the size of his peers didn’t intimidate him.
“I was still this little guy,” he recalled.
By that time, Minott was poring 20 hours a week into water polo. His fundamentals improved substantially. His speed increased.
Most importantly, Minott found his voice, his confidence.
***
Pierce knew the goal scoring would come around. Minott was too talented a player for it not to.
Minott was Kennedy’s lone club player in 2011, and Pierce said his experience playing water polo at that level made him a “de facto leader,” even as an underclassman.
Minott scored 20 goals his freshman year and 50 as a sophomore. Last season, he led Orange County with 149 goals scored, averaging nearly six a match. He added a county-high 111 steals.
“Putting the ball away, man, you can shoot 20 shots and only make two,” said Minott, who also swims at Kennedy. “It’s about accuracy. Sometimes at practice I’ll do nothing but shoot. You just have to find that perfect shot and get accustomed to it.
“I’m still pursuing it, though. Some days I’m right on. I’ll shoot 11 times and make 10. Other days I’ll shoot 16 and make five.”
Scoring goals was great and all, but Pierce wanted Minott to do more. His defense wasn’t nearly as strong as his offense, and missed opportunities on that side of the ball resulted in goals allowed.
Kennedy won close to 20 matches in 2013 but missed the postseason after finishing near the bottom of the Empire League.
***
Minott played close to 100 matches this summer with his 18-and-Under Junior Olympics team. By fall, he better understood how his actions in the pool influence others.
His father’s cancer returned in June, and on the third day of August, doctors told Gary Minott he had two weeks to live.
Kennedy’s season began Aug. 8. Zachary Minott scored eight goals that day and assisted on four others. Kennedy defeated Gahr, 13-3 – its first of six consecutive wins.
“Water polo was my therapy,” Minott said. “I used it to get away from everything that was going on in my life.”
Gary Minott died in hospice care Sept. 24. He was 54. The day following Minott’s death, his son scored eight goals in a 26-7 win over Whitney High.
***
Zachary Minott’s personality is better suited for the islands of Hawaii than Southern California.
Rarely does Minott appear unnerved. He’s typically calm and collected, a demeanor he got from his parents. A deep, soothing voice wonderfully compliments what Pierce calls his “island” temperament.
The weeks following his father’s death were tough, Minott said. Though it never showed in the pool, he feels as though he “lost a bit of concentration” leading up to the funeral.
On the morning of Oct. 3, Minott laid his father to rest. That afternoon, he had a hand in eight goals against Rancho Alamitos. Kennedy won its 11th match of the year.
“I never want to disappoint my dad,” Minott said. “I never want to disappoint my friends, my family, my teammates.”
Pierce said Kennedy is dedicating the 2014 season to Gary Minott. The Irish are ranked ninth in Division 6, and their best player again leads the county in scoring.
Minott plays as though his father is watching every match. There’s a good chance he is.
On the day he lost his biggest supporter, Minott shared a brief message on his Facebook page:
You were the greatest Father anyone could have asked for. I’ll never forget you and I’ll love you always and forever. I’ll make you proud Dad.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3790 or bwhitehead@ocregister.com
