West Sacramento girls' water polo player ranked best in nation, coached by dad and challenged by siblings
WEST SACRAMENTO -- A River City High School girls' water polo player is making a big splash, ranked the best-scoring player in the country by MaxPreps in both points and goals.
Reagan Eisberg is a junior who has helped her team score back-to-back league championships. But last year, Reagan said it was hard to shine on a senior-heavy team as a sophomore. This season, she's making waves.
"This year was definitely a huge shock for me to be climbing the national rankings," Reagan said. "It just makes me really grateful for the people that have pushed me to be here like my team, my coaches."
With seven girls in the water during the game and only ten total on the team, the water polo squad is both tight-knit and dedicated as they tread water to get the goal, point-by-point.
"It really pushes me in a lot of different ways. It's a physical sport as well as a mental sport," Reagan said.
Water polo is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
Eisbergs in the water
For Reagan, excelling in water polo comes naturally, especially considering her dad, Ryan Eisberg, is the assistant coach of the team.
"It makes for rough dinner conversation sometimes, but overall, it's just been a real joy," Ryan said with a laugh. "It's a rare opportunity not just to have your kid play the same sport you did but to have an opportunity to coach them and work with them and help them progress and develop."
Ryan played high school water polo in California's Central Valley and went on to play at the collegiate level then professionally for Australia's national team.
Reagan said she enjoys having her dad as one of her coaches and being able to tap into his vast knowledge of the sport while at home practicing in the pool or watching games — even though sometimes it might cause a little tension.
"Honestly, I love it. It can get kind of funny sometimes just because sometimes there's a distinction — he's my coach then he's my dad," Reagan said. "When I was younger, I was playing a lot of different sports and I never really felt any pressure to do it, but I just fell in love with the sport."
There's truly something in the water for the Eisberg family.
Three of Reagan's brothers currently play on the boys' River City water polo team. Senior Joshua Stone Eisberg is leading his league in scoring.
"He'll be like, 'Oh, did you see that?' I'm like, 'Did you see me?' There's some friendly fire there. It's always a good time just being able to relate to each other and pushing each other to be better," Reagan said.
Their older sister, Sydney, was a nationwide leader in scoring at River City last season and is now a freshman playing for the girls' team at Concordia University Irvine.
"Just being able to play with my siblings is one of the greatest things ever," Reagan said.
Reagan said that after her senior season, she wants to follow in her family's footsteps and play at the collegiate level, then maybe professionally if possible.
"Personally, I'm really glad they chose water polo, but it's just been a privilege to watch a second generation of family play the same sport that I did," Ryan said.
The Eisbergs in the water have helped drive their teams to championship wins.
The boys' team won their 2024 league championship and the girls' team is celebrating back-to-back league championship wins this year and last.
"It's the first time in our program's history that both the girls and boys have won league at the same time," Ryan said.
With water running through their veins, in more ways than one, the River City water polo teams are family.
Tuesday night, the girls' team hits the water for the CIF section tournament in Turlock.