The Right Fit
George Avakian Has Embodied Cal's Winning Culture From Day 1
This feature originally appeared in the 2024 Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
Championship-winning cultures are exceedingly hard to come by, but when one is cultivated, it doesn't happen by accident.
As fleeting as prolonged excellence might be, for over half a century, California men's water polo has continued to refine and redefine its culture on the way to racking up a record 17 NCAA Championships – seven more than any other program since 1973.
Immense talent and leadership have been constants within the Bears' championship DNA ever since Kirk Everist returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2002. But, while Everist's various eras of Golden Bear supremacy have also come to be defined by words like family, resilience, grit, and sacrifice, none of the qualities associated with championship-winning water polo will see a team get to the top and stay there without the right people to embody them.
When it comes to the 2024 Bears, there is perhaps no better example of this than fifth-year center George Avakian.
A player who has made numerous key plays in key moments during the Bears' championship runs, has had significant high-level experience playing for the USA Water Polo Youth and Cadet Futures Teams, and was one of the late cuts from the senior squad's 2024 Paris Olympics lineup, Avakian is considered one of the most talented centers in collegiate water polo. However, from making the decision to come to Cal for an arduous, COVID-affected debut season in 2020, to sacrificing playing time for the good of the team, it hasn't been the easiest road.
"George has obviously had a big impact over the last three years," Everist said. "He's been through a lot, but, in limited opportunities, he's given us really good performances at times. We're excited he's able to play more extended minutes this year and show the quality that he has."
The reason for Avakian's limited opportunities at center shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has followed NCAA water polo over the past few years. Simply put, when you play the same position on the same team as Nikolaos Papanikolaou – the most dominant player in the nation over the previous three seasons – minutes are likely to be scarce.
If there's a reason why Avakian made it to where he is today in the first place, it's because he has long exemplified the many aspects that have made Cal successful during its current run of three consecutive NCAA championships. In fact, as his mother, Ayko, recalls, those qualities have been present from the very beginning.
"He's had routine and discipline ever since he was a baby," Ayko said. "There was a certain time for everything, whether it was sleeping or goofing around. If he had homework that he had to finish, he wouldn't be able to go to practice, and it didn't matter if it was raining or how tough school was. He never skipped practice."
Coming from a family of swimmers that had no prior water polo experience, the way Avakian tells the story, it's as if the sport was calling to him from the outset. At the ripe age of 6, while attending his swim practice at Rose Bowl Aquatics in Pasadena, he answered that call.
"There would be two pools running at the same time, and one day, I left the swim team pool and joined the water polo practice. I just walked off on my own," Avakian said. "I never wanted to go back to the swimming team practice. I never wanted to do anything else since then."
Looking back, it was just one of many moments that put Avakian onto the path he feels he was meant for - one filled with high standards of dedication and commitment that he attributes to the model and sacrifices provided to him by his parents.
"My husband, Leon, has a shirt that says, 'Sorry, we can't come. We have water polo.' So we've missed birthdays, weddings, all kinds of stuff," Ayko said. "But for us, bringing George to games every weekend, even if we had to drive hours away, it wasn't something that I even thought twice about. For our family, when you commit to something, you follow through and you commit to it to the fullest. If you're a part of a team, then you've got to be there. George learned that early on."
Blessed with great size and an early start in the sport playing for Rose Bowl Aquatic Club under current UC Davis head coach Dan Leyson, Avakian quickly made a name for himself within the extended Los Angeles area. After attending La Cañada High School as a freshman, he made the move to play under Brian Flacks – who is currently in his third year as Stanford's head coach – at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, hoping to accelerate his development on both the athletic and academic fronts.
Harvard-Westlake presented the everyday challenge of grueling 14-hour days stacked with workouts and classes, and the real tests began.
"The difference in talent level was so different. The coaching style was very rough and different and strict," Avakian said. "I had always been the biggest kid, but all these guys were just better and bigger than me. I had taken a risk on transferring for water polo so that I could one day come to a top-four college, and now it might not work out because I'm not as good as I thought. It was a rough introduction to what high-level water polo on a consistent basis looked like."
While the difficult grind took a toll on Avakian, he leaned on the guidance of both his teammates and his faith.
"When I was riding the school bus home, or if I had a moment alone at school, I would pray about it and ask God, 'Why did you want me to come here? What's the point of this?'" Avakian said. "The older kids on the team helped me a lot with the mental side of things. It's 100 percent something that helped me learn about leadership, and eventually things changed."
Once Avakian was able to settle in and adjust, he rediscovered his dominance. One year after playing a key role during Harvard-Westlake's 2018 CIF SoCal Division I runner-up finish, Avakian helped lead the team to a Regional Division I title as a senior, earning All-America First Team honors.
He found great success on the national team side of things as well, winning silver with the USA Cadet Team at the 2016 KIDS' Final and securing gold medals at both the 2017 Darko Cucik Memorial Tournament – which he capped off with a team-high three-goal showing in the 9-6 15U championship win over Croatia – and the 2019 UANA Youth Pan American Championship.
During his youth national team experiences, Avakian was also introduced to someone who would become one of his most important teammates for years to come in 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Adrian Weinberg.
After arriving at Cal, Avakian rejoined forces with Weinberg, who had already made a name for himself at the collegiate level following an All-American freshman season the year prior. For Avakian, whose journey had always been shaped and defined by the remarkably tight bonds he formed with his longtime teammates throughout his prep career, Weinberg quickly became a close friend who could help him adjust to new challenges.
Avakian joined Cal's Athletes In Action group alongside Weinberg and 2023 team captain Garrett Dunn, leaning on his faith and his teammates to battle through every step of adversity he has faced in Berkeley. The resulting self-empowerment has allowed him to remain ready and confident in his ability to contribute, no matter the situation.
"George and I have a great relationship, and a big part of it is our relationship with Christ. He's someone who really cares about people deeply, and I think that speaks a lot to his character," Weinberg said. "There were a lot of moments, even in championship games, where we'd be down by one or two goals. George would come in and, on the very next possession, get us a penalty right away, almost every single time. It just shows the type of person and the type of guy that can make a huge impact and is always prepared, always ready."
Although he has had to sacrifice playing time at Cal, Avakian's patience and steadfast determination to contribute at any moment are symbolic of the championship foundation the team is built on and has continued to build together. As he plays out his final season with the Bears focused on seizing the opportunities ahead of him, his pursuits will continue on with full support and trust from his team.
"It's just his desire. He wants to work hard and he wants to challenge himself," Everist said. "He's got a big opportunity to be a leader, to focus on himself, and take advantage of the chances he has with his goals of playing past college, playing overseas at a professional level and making a run at being an Olympian. We're excited to see the impact he can make and for him to show the quality and ability he has to be one of the best centers in college water polo."
Championship-winning cultures are exceedingly hard to come by, but when one is cultivated, it doesn't happen by accident.
As fleeting as prolonged excellence might be, for over half a century, California men's water polo has continued to refine and redefine its culture on the way to racking up a record 17 NCAA Championships – seven more than any other program since 1973.
Immense talent and leadership have been constants within the Bears' championship DNA ever since Kirk Everist returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2002. But, while Everist's various eras of Golden Bear supremacy have also come to be defined by words like family, resilience, grit, and sacrifice, none of the qualities associated with championship-winning water polo will see a team get to the top and stay there without the right people to embody them.
When it comes to the 2024 Bears, there is perhaps no better example of this than fifth-year center George Avakian.
A player who has made numerous key plays in key moments during the Bears' championship runs, has had significant high-level experience playing for the USA Water Polo Youth and Cadet Futures Teams, and was one of the late cuts from the senior squad's 2024 Paris Olympics lineup, Avakian is considered one of the most talented centers in collegiate water polo. However, from making the decision to come to Cal for an arduous, COVID-affected debut season in 2020, to sacrificing playing time for the good of the team, it hasn't been the easiest road.
"George has obviously had a big impact over the last three years," Everist said. "He's been through a lot, but, in limited opportunities, he's given us really good performances at times. We're excited he's able to play more extended minutes this year and show the quality that he has."
The reason for Avakian's limited opportunities at center shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has followed NCAA water polo over the past few years. Simply put, when you play the same position on the same team as Nikolaos Papanikolaou – the most dominant player in the nation over the previous three seasons – minutes are likely to be scarce.
If there's a reason why Avakian made it to where he is today in the first place, it's because he has long exemplified the many aspects that have made Cal successful during its current run of three consecutive NCAA championships. In fact, as his mother, Ayko, recalls, those qualities have been present from the very beginning.
"He's had routine and discipline ever since he was a baby," Ayko said. "There was a certain time for everything, whether it was sleeping or goofing around. If he had homework that he had to finish, he wouldn't be able to go to practice, and it didn't matter if it was raining or how tough school was. He never skipped practice."
Coming from a family of swimmers that had no prior water polo experience, the way Avakian tells the story, it's as if the sport was calling to him from the outset. At the ripe age of 6, while attending his swim practice at Rose Bowl Aquatics in Pasadena, he answered that call.
"There would be two pools running at the same time, and one day, I left the swim team pool and joined the water polo practice. I just walked off on my own," Avakian said. "I never wanted to go back to the swimming team practice. I never wanted to do anything else since then."
Looking back, it was just one of many moments that put Avakian onto the path he feels he was meant for - one filled with high standards of dedication and commitment that he attributes to the model and sacrifices provided to him by his parents.
"My husband, Leon, has a shirt that says, 'Sorry, we can't come. We have water polo.' So we've missed birthdays, weddings, all kinds of stuff," Ayko said. "But for us, bringing George to games every weekend, even if we had to drive hours away, it wasn't something that I even thought twice about. For our family, when you commit to something, you follow through and you commit to it to the fullest. If you're a part of a team, then you've got to be there. George learned that early on."
Blessed with great size and an early start in the sport playing for Rose Bowl Aquatic Club under current UC Davis head coach Dan Leyson, Avakian quickly made a name for himself within the extended Los Angeles area. After attending La Cañada High School as a freshman, he made the move to play under Brian Flacks – who is currently in his third year as Stanford's head coach – at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, hoping to accelerate his development on both the athletic and academic fronts.
Harvard-Westlake presented the everyday challenge of grueling 14-hour days stacked with workouts and classes, and the real tests began.
"The difference in talent level was so different. The coaching style was very rough and different and strict," Avakian said. "I had always been the biggest kid, but all these guys were just better and bigger than me. I had taken a risk on transferring for water polo so that I could one day come to a top-four college, and now it might not work out because I'm not as good as I thought. It was a rough introduction to what high-level water polo on a consistent basis looked like."
While the difficult grind took a toll on Avakian, he leaned on the guidance of both his teammates and his faith.
"When I was riding the school bus home, or if I had a moment alone at school, I would pray about it and ask God, 'Why did you want me to come here? What's the point of this?'" Avakian said. "The older kids on the team helped me a lot with the mental side of things. It's 100 percent something that helped me learn about leadership, and eventually things changed."
Once Avakian was able to settle in and adjust, he rediscovered his dominance. One year after playing a key role during Harvard-Westlake's 2018 CIF SoCal Division I runner-up finish, Avakian helped lead the team to a Regional Division I title as a senior, earning All-America First Team honors.
He found great success on the national team side of things as well, winning silver with the USA Cadet Team at the 2016 KIDS' Final and securing gold medals at both the 2017 Darko Cucik Memorial Tournament – which he capped off with a team-high three-goal showing in the 9-6 15U championship win over Croatia – and the 2019 UANA Youth Pan American Championship.
During his youth national team experiences, Avakian was also introduced to someone who would become one of his most important teammates for years to come in 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Adrian Weinberg.
After arriving at Cal, Avakian rejoined forces with Weinberg, who had already made a name for himself at the collegiate level following an All-American freshman season the year prior. For Avakian, whose journey had always been shaped and defined by the remarkably tight bonds he formed with his longtime teammates throughout his prep career, Weinberg quickly became a close friend who could help him adjust to new challenges.
Avakian joined Cal's Athletes In Action group alongside Weinberg and 2023 team captain Garrett Dunn, leaning on his faith and his teammates to battle through every step of adversity he has faced in Berkeley. The resulting self-empowerment has allowed him to remain ready and confident in his ability to contribute, no matter the situation.
"George and I have a great relationship, and a big part of it is our relationship with Christ. He's someone who really cares about people deeply, and I think that speaks a lot to his character," Weinberg said. "There were a lot of moments, even in championship games, where we'd be down by one or two goals. George would come in and, on the very next possession, get us a penalty right away, almost every single time. It just shows the type of person and the type of guy that can make a huge impact and is always prepared, always ready."
Although he has had to sacrifice playing time at Cal, Avakian's patience and steadfast determination to contribute at any moment are symbolic of the championship foundation the team is built on and has continued to build together. As he plays out his final season with the Bears focused on seizing the opportunities ahead of him, his pursuits will continue on with full support and trust from his team.
"It's just his desire. He wants to work hard and he wants to challenge himself," Everist said. "He's got a big opportunity to be a leader, to focus on himself, and take advantage of the chances he has with his goals of playing past college, playing overseas at a professional level and making a run at being an Olympian. We're excited to see the impact he can make and for him to show the quality and ability he has to be one of the best centers in college water polo."
