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Sonora water polo coach Jim Sprague will be inducted intoUSA Water Polo's Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Sonora water polo coach Jim Sprague will be inducted intoUSA Water Polo’s Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

LA HABRA – Jim Sprague prefers to focus more on the future than the past.

The 78-year-old water polo coach still rises early to lead morning workouts for hungry players at Sonora. He still films the sessions with hopes of improving a player’s technique.

He saunters to the pool deck with the aid of a stroller but his mind races with thoughts about a prospective goalie or up-and-coming shooter.

“I keep turning around figuring, ‘Hey, God has a place for me.’ The place is working with the young kids,” Sprague said. “And I really enjoy that.”

But the coach’s legendary past will catch up with him Saturday.

The former CIF championship-winning coach from Sunny Hills and Servite will be inducted into USA Water Polo’s Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Irvine.

“He really deserves it,” Southern California water polo historian Bill Prichard said. “He’s a great coach.”

The Hall of Fame class also includes former UC Irvine men’s coach Ted Newland and former Marina and Long Beach State goalie Sandy Vessey-Schneider. Newland also led Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar’s high school programs in the early 1960s before heading to UC Irvine.

Sprague became an iconic Southern California water polo coach during his tenure at Sunny Hills. He guided the Lancers to CIF Division 1 titles in 1973, with co-coach Hank Vellekamp, 1976 and 1986.

He also was part of Sunny Hills’ Southern Section-record 120-game winning streak in the Freeway League from 1969-1991 and the intense Sunny Hills-Newport Harbor rivalry in the Division 1 playoffs.

After a brief coaching stint at USC, Sprague led Servite to Division 2 titles in 1998, 2002 and 2005.

The coach is known for more than victories and championships.

He is considered a pioneer in the use of video by water polo coaches. He started filming in the late 1960s, often through painstaking and clumsy methods.

“I learned an awful lot by watching video,” said Sprague, now an assistant at Sonora. “To me, it’s the easiest way to learn.”

Sprague’s career is closely tied to Vellekamp, his late, childhood friend from their days as tennis double partners at Compton High. After Vellekamp passed away in 2005, Sprague renamed the boys water polo tournaments he organizes after Vellekamp.

Sprague’s legacy also includes his son, Todd, who became a CIF-championship winning girls coach at Rosary. Sprague has three other children and seven grandchildren. His wife, Dee, passed away in 2006. His son, Tim, and, Todd, are expected to attend tonight’s event.

“I’m really honored by it,” he said. “(But) I’m a person who really lives for the future and not for the past.”

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com