Brad Scoles, a junior at Ashland High School

Scoles makes national team

By Sarah Petersen

Ashland Daily Tidings

A regimen of hard work is starting to pay dividends for Ashland's Brad Scoles.

Scoles, a junior at Ashland High, traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this past weekend for the Junior National water polo team tryouts and came away as the only zone five athlete to make the team.

Zone five hopefuls included the pick of the Pacific Northwest crop, including water polo players from Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

"My goal was just to make it to Florida," Scoles said. "Then to make the team was beyond me."

Scoles was up against tough competition, as many of the athletes were from talent-rich California.

"I was intimidated at first," Scoles said, "because most of the guys were bigger and stronger than me. But body and strength-wise I was ready for the competition."

On Sunday Scoles was chosen as one of the top 40 athletes out of 150 competing for a spot on the National team.

Then Monday the selection process was narrowed again and Scoles was selected to the national B team. The top 14 players make the A squad, the next 14 comprise the B's.

"It feels really good but weird at the same time to be the only guy from my zone to make the national team."

Scoles' secret to success is a simple one. Hard work.

For the past seven years the 6-3 Scoles has been working out nearly everyday in the pool.

Scoles' junior year has been filled with many honors including leading the Ashland High water polo team to a fifth-place finish at state and and picking up all-state honors in the process.

During the swim season, Scoles finished fifth in the state in the 100 meter freestyle and 12th in the 200 free.

Following the all-state selection in water polo, he was invited to try out for the Oregon state team, and made it. Scoles followed that up with a tryout for the zone team. Again, he made it.

Making the zone team gave him the opportunity to test for the national team, with the same result.

"By making the national team it opens the door for me as far as colleges and getting my name out there," Scoles said. "College coaches have been e-mailing me since I made the team."

Scoles' workout schedule is soon to pick up another notch.

On June 15 he will fly down to Southern California where he will go through a grueling weekend of practices. Later in the summer he will participate in a tournament with the national team in Santa Barbara.

Meanwhile Scoles also will be competing in regional tournaments with his Tualatin Hills team that is based out of Portland. The team will head to Ann Arbor, Mich. in August for the Junior Olympics.

"Making the national team is the first stepping stone to the Olympics," Scoles said. "I just can't believe that this is really happening to me right now."