A silver medal in Sydney in 2000. A bronze medal in Athens in 2004. Another silver medal in Beijing in 2008. Over the last 12 years, Brenda Villa has traveled the world and her career has been one of great accomplishments. She's won a pair of gold medals at the World Championships (2003, 2009), two Pan American Games championships (2003 & 2007), a National Championship at Stanford University (2002), countless other championships and was named the Female Water Polo Player of the Decade by FINA Aquatics World Magazine. But the one championship that has eluded her for nearly half her life has been an Olympic Gold Medal. But, on August 9, with an 8-5 win over Spain, Villa culminated her international career by having a gold medal placed around her neck.

"To finally win the gold medal is very special," said Villa in a recent phone interview. "We all knew we were going to leave everything we had in the pool in all of our games and felt that if we did that, there was no reason why we wouldn't leave London with the gold medal."

The Olympic Team Captain since 2005, and a prolific goal scorer throughout her career, Villa settled into a more defensive role over the last few years due to the emergence of Maggie Steffens and several other younger players. But all agreed that having Villa in the pool made the American team the one to beat because of her defensive presence and all-around excellent play, as well as possessing a powerful outside shot that she displayed in the semifinal game against Australia and the gold medal game against Spain.

 
"After the silver medal in Beijing, I considered retiring from international play, but still felt like I had a lot to give to the sport," added Villa. "We got a new coach in 2009 (Adam Krikorian) and then we won the World Championship, so that motivated me to want to continue playing. You always want to prove yourself to a new coach, so that helped me to stay focused and give the time necessary to commit to preparing for London."

 

From 2005-09, Villa served as an assistant coach for the Cerritos College women's water polo team, which gave her a chance to work with high school teammate and friend Sergio Macias. The two were teammates on the boys water polo team at Bell Gardens High - which didn't field a girls team - while both earned All-American honors. Villa then became the nation's top recruit after her senior year and decided to attend Stanford University, where she led them to the NCAA National Championship in 2002, and was named the nation's Player of the Year.

 
When given the chance to coach with her friend, Villa jumped at it because it also allowed her an opportunity to learn more about coaching. Macias, who will be starting his eighth season as the head coach, and Villa teamed up to lead the Falcons to their lone state championship in 2008.

"We all knew Brenda was an exceptional player growing up, but for her to continue her career for all these years at such a high level is what really made me realize how special she was," said Macias. "She was a great inspiration and role model for our water polo teams at Cerritos College. Our teams here learned that size and speed is not all that matters in water polo. Her attitude and perseverance is what stood out the most. Having Brenda alongside of me made it really hard for the team to come up with excuses to not reach their full potential in both inside the pool as well as in the classroom."

"Brenda and I have been teammates since we played on the 10 & under co-ed water polo team and were also on the swim team for the City of Commerce," said Macias. "There were not enough females playing water polo so all girls had to play on the boys club water polo teams up until age 14. The Commerce Club team was so small in numbers back then that we all developed a strong relationship with one another. In high school, girls water polo did not exist, so Brenda, as well as other girls, played on our high school boy's varsity water polo team. Brenda played a key role in winning a CIF Title for Bell Gardens High my junior and senior years in high school. She was even named 1st Team All-CIF "boy's", which goes to show how good she was playing versus high school boys."

 

"In high school, Brenda was so determined to earn a scholarship to continue her water polo and swim career at Stanford," added Macias. "She had her mind set on that goal and she did a great job of staying motivated in a classroom, but she also maintained her relationships with her water polo teammates as well as her classmates from middle school."

Her rise in the water polo world started because she wanted to follow around her older brother Edgar, who started playing at a young age. Brenda took to the game so quickly, she and became a four-time All-American, All-CIF and all-league selection, while she honed her skills at the Commerce Aquatics, which is a year-round competitive program serving the residents of the City of Commerce by offering high quality professional coaching and technique instruction for all ages and abilities.

Even with all of her success, Villa remained grounded and devotes her time to giving back and trying to inspire others to follow their dreams. Just as the Commerce Club provided her and others a place to learn to swim and play water polo, she has started Project 2020, a non-profit based on the Commerce model, that will teach water safety in the largely Hispanic neighborhoods of East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City, which are communities will little access to swimming pools and the opportunity to learn how to swim or participate in aquatic sports. She has also served as the girls water polo head coach at Castilleja High School since 2010.

Another experience while winning the gold medal was having her friend Macias in London to watch her win that elusive championship. Without a ticket, Macias received an assist from one of Villa's friends on the Italian team, who had extra tickets to the gold medal game, which allowed Macias to attend.

"I told Sergio that he waited this long to come see me play that I might as well win the gold medal," joked Villa.

"Once I arrived in London and watched Brenda play in her semi-finals, I would have to say I was amazed at the energy coming from the fans as well as the teams competing," added Macias. "Even though the win versus Australia was huge victory, we can all sense that Brenda was still focused on that gold medal game. Once the first whistle blew, you knew USA was determined to win. Not sure if a women's gold medal game was ever as lopsided as this one. Once Heather Petri scored, I believe in the 2nd period, I knew Brenda, being who she is, wanted a piece of that pie. So of course Brenda ended up creating an opportunity for her to score a goal later in the game which was just an icing on the cake. Brenda is not a person of words, but I do have to say I have never seen her smile from ear to ear when she put the gold medal around her neck."