Kandis Canonica

Where were you born? South San Francisco, grew up in Burlingame. but if you ask most of my friends I usually tell people I was born in Detroit (my moms from there and it explains my sports allegiances)

 

Which high school did you go to? Saint Ignatius

 

When did you first start playing water polo? 7th grade, started playing at Stanford the summer before 8th grade

 

Which college did you go to? Bucknell – located in Harrisburg, PA (credit to anyone who knows where that is)

 

What did you major in? Psychology

 

What position do you play? Utility – I did a lot of posting up when the sets got pushed out

 

Have you played any other sports? I’ve been swimming my whole life, attempted volleyball and basketball when I was in grammar school and was a cheerleader in 8th grade BUT I’m really uncoordinated on land

 

Where do you live now? San Francisco

 

What do you think makes you a valuable player on a team? I pride myself on being a team player, creating opportunities for my teammates. I also think it’s important to make sure that no matter what, you’re having fun and that even if the game is hard or tiring, you just have to keep smiling.

Out of all your coaches, which one inspired you the most? yikes, thats a hard question…im not sure i can say one inspired me more than another – each coach taught me such different values and skills, both water polo and life, that it’s hard to say one inspired me the most. 

 

Which clubs/schools did you play at during your water polo career? i started at Burlingame water polo club, then played at Stanford club the remainder of my time in high school and college, i played at Saint Ignatius for high school and Bucknell for college, and i currently play for the Olympic club 

 

If you could give one piece of advice to a young water polo player, what would it be? to never stop learning, i think i learned the most from sitting on the bench, truly listening to what my coach was saying while the other players were in the pool, learning what they did right and wrong – and throughout your water polo career you will always be on a team with people who have different backgrounds and levels of water polo knowledge, take the time to learn from your teammates – i am still learning from my teammates/coaches now

 

What were a couple major accomplishments in water polo you did and when? I’ve never been one to talk about records…but junior and senior year at Bucknell I was All-American, at Bucknell I have a few water polo records, but I am 1st total points and 1st in assists 

 

Being left handed (:D) what were a couple advantages and disadvantages that made a difference to you? i happen to think there are a lot of advantages to being a lefty, you can master a side of the pool that not many people can, you have more visibility to the whole pool than a righty on that side, you create a threat on the side of the pool where most teams drop and on 6on5’s you instantly make every player a shooter – for disadvantages, when you get stuck on the righty side life is hard…

 

Also — are you coming to the reunion? YES