Yale Student to Play for University of California!

If there's one thing that Eric Martel knows, it is how fast things can change.

Three years ago, Martel might not have ever dreamed that following graduation, he would be going down to California to join an elite varsity water polo team at the University of California – Davis. His passion at the time, like a lot of young athletes in Abbotsford, was for another sport played on (frozen) water.

And for most Canadians, the decision to leave a promising start in high-level hockey (a sport where Canadians are the undisputed kings) for a chance to play – what is it called again? – water polo, might seem a little baffling.

For the kid they used to call "Shark Bait," the switch was a stroke of genius. While his nickname from the days of swim racing with the Abbotsford Whalers didn't stick into his adolescence, Martel's natural ability in the pool never faded.

And since making the switch from hockey to full-time polo in his Grade 10 year, Martel's rise in the sport has been meteoric.

Last summer, the Abbotsford native was selected to represent Canada at the Junior Pan American games in Kingston, Jamaica. READ MORE. . .