Thursday, April 25, 1996
Focused sophomore goalie Nicholle Payne has dedicated herself to
the sportBy Mark J. Dittmer
Daily Bruin Contributor
Above all else, Nicholle Payne is a water polo player. She may
be, on the side, a college student, or an environmentalist, or a
surfer. But before all of those things, Nicholle Payne plays water
polo.
"Water polo makes everything else secondary," she says. Maybe
that is why UCLA head coach Guy Baker will tell you that he could
talk about his goalie, Payne, forever. He really will, too.
"I think what I respect the most about Nicholle is her
consistency," Baker said. "She gets herself prepared for every
practice and for every game. Her character really showed last year
 she had shots against her game after game that you usually
never see. She stayed very focused and positive throughout the
whole year."
Payne was focused on water polo as early as middle school, when
she played for a club team. It became important enough that she
went to a high school different than the one near her home because
it had a water polo program. And although it only had a men’s water
polo program, she played in that program as the only girl
involved.
After starting to play for Gahr High School, she began spending
her summers practicing with the U.S. senior national team, which
practiced near her home in Cerritos. In her sophomore year, her
high school hired an assistant coach that specifically was a goalie
coach, which helped her improve.
"You learn new things every day playing water polo," Payne said.
"That’s why I keep playing. If I get to the point where I’m not
still improving at all, then I probably wouldn’t want to play
anymore."
That hasn’t happened yet.
"I focus so much on water polo in my life because I put so much
into it," Payne said. "And because I put so much into it, I get the
most out of it."
Payne has been able to continue to find arenas where she can put
a lot into it for a team. Each opportunity she has had to improve
at water polo, she has taken: club water polo, high school water
polo, for the men’s team. Now she plays college water polo, and
plays for the national team. What is she going to do this
summer?
"I don’t plan to have a job or anything," Payne said. "Water
polo is basically what I do."
Last summer, she travelled with the national team, for which she
is the starting goalie, to Canada and Australia. They will compete
internationally again this summer, this time in Holland. And of
course, Payne is the starting goalie for UCLA.
But there is a limit to how many opportunities there are to play
sports, and after college, the avenues open to women’s water polo
players are not as myriad as most women would like. Payne foresees
a time when she will have to stop playing. She might have to stop
doing what she does.
"I’ll play at least two more years, and we’ll see from there,"
Payne said. "I’ll probably keep playing  I’d be pretty bored
if I wasn’t playing. But if I got a real job I wouldn’t have time
to play water polo."
Athletes in all sports put all of the work they can into
improving at their sport, for the reward of just improving at that
sport. But those at the very top of their sport in other sports are
further rewarded with a career in that sport, or with a chance to
go to the Olympics to represent their country playing that
sport.
It’s a shame that as of right now, women’s water polo is not an
Olympic sport. It is hoped that it will be by the 2000 Olympics,
but hopes are not that high. It’s also a shame that Nicholle Payne
has to say that if she got a real job, she wouldn’t have time to
play water polo. Like other athletes at the top of their sports,
Payne preforms at a level that deserves better rewards.
She is still rewarded with what athletes are ultimately rewarded
with: improving in their sport. Payne is different in how rapidly
and consistently she improves, to the amazement of those who watch
her.
"Usually players her age are not nearly as committed and
dedicated to the subtleties of the game as she is," Baker said.
"She is extremely consistent; she has great dedication and
commitment."
That is why she is at the top of her sport. Her plans for right
now are to keep on improving. That is what athletes do. Expect to
see her remain on top of her sport as long as opportunity
allows.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
"Water polo makes everything else secondary," says Nicholle
Payne, goalie for the UCLA women’s water polo team.