When you can start to field your own athletic team on the high school level, you know you have a pretty sizable family.
Luke and Erin Saldana are the proud parents of five girls who have played on the Mission Bay High girls water polo team at one time or another. The 2015-16 squad features the youngest of the Saldana girls – Maeve, a senior. According to head coach John Knight, she brings intensity, experience and dedication to the game.
Her sisters are Rory (class of 2004), Caitlin (2005), Mara (2007) and Clare (2011). Saldana also has two brothers, Conor and Declan, and 2-year-old twin siblings.
When Saldana was at Pacific Beach Middle School, she cheered on her sisters at their games. She remembers that the players looked like they were having a great time, so she decided to carry on the family tradition when she reached MBHS. According to Saldana, her water polo teammates include friends from her years at Pacific Beach Elementary School. They have become a tight group who help each other out.
Along with Saldana, key seniors this season have included Niki Moore, Alina Snyder and Cassidy Kepner, according to Knight.
As one of the seniors and leading scorers on the team, Saldana can use her experience to help the younger girls as they become key members of the program now and in the years to come. Her advice to younger girls who are thinking about playing is to “stick with it. It’s hard at first, but the more you play, the more fun it is,” Saldana stated.
Saldana plans to take next year off to work at The Fish Shop and travel, which will include a visit to one of her sisters in Hawaii.