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Player Spotlight
SEAN DUNAGAN
All-Illpolo Team
Sean Dunagan helped
Homewood-Flossmoor advance to state in his junior season and continued to
improve in goal as a senior in 2005. He was named to the
All-Illpolo fourth team at the end of the season and was also selected to
the All-State fourth team for his performance as well. We asked Sean the following
questions in an exclusive Illpolo.com interview:
College choices, major, current GPA?
In the fall, I will be attending the University of Illinois College of
Engineering. I plan to double major in Computer Science and Mechanical
Engineering. Currently, i have a 3.9 GPA, and am a National Honor Society
member. Upon entering U of I, I will already have 50 hours of credit from
the AP exams i have taken in high school.
Experience, Club Team, Zone Teams, Off-season work?
I started swimming and playing polo freshman
year. My sophomore year i broke my leg out of the pool midway through the
season, so my first year of varsity polo was cut short. To help make up
for the lost time, i attended a water polo camp at the University of Santa
Cruz. I didn't start playing goalie until midway through junior year
because we needed a replacement, and i was the tallest on the team. The
past 2 falls, i played in the 18 and under Chicago Park District
tournaments for West Pullman. Our team consisted of HF, Sandburg, and
Morgan Park players. Last year we took 3rd place, and this year we took
2nd. The rest of the offseason i lifted weights and played polo on Monday
and Thursday nights at HF.
When did you start? How? Where?
I first learned about polo in 8th grade. I started swimming in the age group program in 8th grade. We played polo one day and it was pretty fun, so I decided to play in high school.
Awards and achievements?
Last year i was voted first team all Conference and second team all Sectional. I was also voted the most improved player on the team. Sean was named to the fourth team All-Illpolo and the fourth team All-State in 2005. He also earned All-Sectional honors.
Personal interests? Music? TV shows?
When not playing polo, i play football and
basketball with friends, which is how i broke my leg sophmore year
(playing basketball). I go to open gym at the middle school to play
basketball, and played intramural basketball in the fall and winter at HF.
I also play the electric guitar and bass. During season, when I don't have
time to do much else after coming back from a road game, i like to play
along to AC/DC, U2, Chili Peppers, AFI, and Carlos Santana. My favorite
music artist, however, is Eminem. He's the only rapper whose lyrics you
can actually u nderstand. On TV, i mostly watch Bulls, Sox, and Bears
games. I also watch Cubs games, but only if they're losing because i love
to see them lose. I also love watching Pheonix Suns game when i can catch
them, because I'm a big Steve Nash fan. He should be the MVP over Shaq. I
also like to watch Pimp my Ride on MTV.
Goals for the future with polo? School? Life?
At U of I, I plan to play on the school's club team. The person who'll be in charge of the team next year graduated from HF two years ago, so I know him well. He told me that I would probably be good enough to start in goal next year. If I do any graduate work after U of I, I plan to go to Stanford to do it. As for a job, I would like to be a software programmer. Creating the programming code for Madden 2013 or NBA Live 2012 would be pretty cool.
Motivation, inspiration?
A lot of our team's fire and inspiration this
year has come from our 3 teammates that have passed away in the past year.
We wear wristbands that say S.M.B., which stands for Scott, Mike, and
Bret. S.M.B. is also our pregame cheer. Every time we go out and play a
game, we go out and try and win it for them.
First Season role?
My first season, i played on JV and came off the bench. I wasn't really fast enough to play a whole game in the water. I subbed in at left flat because i have a good arm. I scored 4 goals at the JV Fenwick tourney against Mount Carmel.
Soph Year role?
My sophomore year, I saw limited time in the pool on varsity. During garbage time at the end of games, i played hole set and hole guard. Coach put me there because of my size. His plan was to have me play a 2m position as an upperclassman I think, because i rarely played the wing or flat that year. The beginning of Junior year, i was a varsity sub off the bench. I started playing the flat again as I did freshman year. After our team trip to Hawaii during spring break, I filled in as goalie with no previous experience. The first week or two were pretty rough (Stagg scored 7 or so lob shots on me at their pool), but at the New Trier tournament i started getting more comfortable in the goal. This year, i start as the goalie most of the time, but have played up in the field for several games.
Stats?
This season, i have 200+ saves in goal. I have scored about 20 goals in the field with 15 or so assists. Last season, i set the school record for saves in a season, but i don't think I'll get the 230 i need to break it.
Other Comments?
Half of my teammates don't even know my real name because they all call me 'Goggles'. I got the nickname my freshman year. During a swim season freshman year, we played polo at the end of a practice. I forgot to take my goggles off when we started playing, but took them off after a couple minutes. However, those 2 minutes of wearing goggles were enough for Eric Olson to start calling me goggles, and that's been my name ever since.
