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Emily Feher helped lead the women’s water polo team to a 22-5 record and No. 3 ranking her

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In high school, they’re a senior’s punching bag or a joke’s punch line. Whether it’s because they haven’t hit puberty yet or can’t find their way to class, freshmen are subject to endless ridicule with every blunder they make.

In college, freshmen aren’t hassled when their cell phone rings in class or when they trip over their feet on Bruin Walk. By and large, they blend right into the campus social and academic scenes.

But in collegiate athletics, freshmen can’t always shake their age. Their status can be used to emphasize accomplishments or excuse letdowns. For freshmen who receive All-American honors, the most impressive part is how they achieve it their very first year. For those who never leave the bench, a main reason is it is just their rookie season.

How early freshmen leave their mark usually depends more on the makeup of the team they are joining than their own ability to adjust. This past year, Emily Feher and Chris Heintz exemplified the range of impacts freshmen can have on a team. From the first game of the season, Feher was the women’s water polo starting goalkeeper, anchoring a defense that led the Bruins to a 22-5 record and No. 3 ranking. Heintz also played for a national championship-contending team in men’s golf, but, unlike Feher, he was a spectator during the run.

“It was (difficult),” Heintz said of not seeing much playing time. “But it makes you work harder, and I learned a lot.”

With four of the team’s five starters graduating, Heintz will be poised to play a much more significant role in the upcoming season. The waiting game he went through is common for most freshmen. Athletes like Feher tend to be the exception, not the rule.

After four-year starter and second-team All-American Jamie Hipp graduated in 2003, Feher could immediately fill the goalkeeping vacancy. Unlike the men’s golf team, women’s water polo started entirely from scratch.

“We were being thrown into place,” Feher said. “We didn’t have the older girls to show us around.”

Yet just because Feher lacked surrounding senior leadership or Heintz lacked playing time did not mean they had trouble adjusting to college.

“The transition was pretty smooth,” Feher said. “UCLA has a sound program, and I was used to hard practices in high school.” 

Besides the hard practices, most UCLA athletes became accustomed to lots of winning in high school. Heintz’s Brea-Olinda team won their league each of his four seasons, while he earned Orange County Register Player of the Year honors himself. At Foothill High School, Feher and teammate Gabbie Domanic were part of a class that won the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section title in each of their four years.

“Other teams were scared of Foothill,” Feher recalls. “It was different at UCLA this past year.”

The women’s water polo starting lineup that featured four freshmen and three sophomores was not nearly as imposing as the previous season’s national champions that boasted four seniors and four Team USA members. Coaches understand that the transition from decorated high school phenom to widely acclaimed collegiate superstar does not occur overnight.

“Players are stronger, bigger, and faster,” men’s basketball coach Ben Howland said. “They’re playing at a higher level.”

Adjusting to the stronger athletic competition is only one aspect freshmen must deal with their first year. When most athletes arrive at UCLA, it is their first prolonged period away from home.

“Not having parents around, I had to learn to manage my time better with so many hours of practice,” Feher said.

However, athletes such as Feher, whose season does not start until winter quarter, benefit from the later start because it allows for more time to become acclimated to the college atmosphere. Before even playing her first game, Feher already had a sense for the academic demands and social distractions college life poses. It was a change of pace she wholeheartedly enjoyed.

“I like the college setup,” Feher said. “There isn’t six hours straight of classes. You get lots of breaks in between.”

Heintz has also easily adjusted to UCLA’s academic workload.

“The classes were not as difficult as I had thought,” Heintz said. “I wasn’t intimidated by the big classes in huge lecture halls.”

Socially, freshmen athletes have a natural advantage over their incoming counterparts. As part of a team, they have a built-in niche to develop close and lasting friendships before even moving into the dorms. Still, the diversity of UCLA’s student body is not completely lost on them.  

“I’ve found a bunch of different people from all walks of life,” Heintz said. “They’re all very interesting.”

Feher and Heintz have another advantage many freshmen athletes do not have. Growing up in Orange County, neither had to stray too far from familiar surroundings when leaving for college.

“It’s not hard unless they’re a long way from home,” Howland said of the adjustment for freshmen.

His basketball team this year features four freshmen, all from the Los Angeles area.

“They can see their parents when they need to,” Howland said.

He is quick to point out, though, that each athlete is different. Not every freshman has adapted to the new environment as smoothly as Feher and Heintz. Some are unwilling to sit on the sidelines, while others are reluctant to take charge their very first year. They find that classes are not a cakewalk and excessive partying can ruin athletic futures.

Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of Bruin athletes do make it past their freshman season. Some eventually live up to or even exceed the hype they received as a recruit. And, from that select pool, a few get to relive their freshmen experience all over again, this time at the professional level.

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