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Athlete profile: Scott Porter

SEAN STAR/Great Divide
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Growing up in sunny Southern California, Scott Porter decided to play football his freshman year of high school just like everyone else.

Yet he quickly learned that the gridiron was not his calling. Instead, Porter took up the sport of water polo. Little did he know how much this decision would influence his future.

Porter quickly became an excellent player in the sport he calls, “one of the most physically demanding.”



For more than 100 years, athletes from around the world have been playing water polo on the world’s biggest competitive stage: the Olympics. However, the sport has never received the recognition that Porter feels it rightly deserves.

“It’s a great game. I would say it is a mix of hockey, swimming and soccer,” he said. “The hierarchy that exists in sports is interesting with all the attention given to only the four main sports. I think the sport suffers because it may not be as spectator friendly.”



Porter attended UC-Santa Barbara where he played on the varsity team for four years. He was named an all-American and helped his team reach water polo’s equivalent of the Final Four.

He continued to play after college while traveling the globe. From Australia to England, the popular Summit High School teacher has seen it all when it comes to water polo, and he applies it to his curriculums at the high school.

“A lot of teaching philosophies incorporate motivation,” he said. “Sports are a great way to show how sometimes life has a winner and loser. I liked to coach by doing and not telling, the same could be said for teaching style.”

These days Porter balances his time in the classroom with plenty of hours on the ski slopes.


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