Leila Malia Maynard '24 Recruiting Profile

Hi, I’m Leila. I’m currently starting my senior year at Mililani High School on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. It’s here where I first learned to play splashball in the third grade, but this is not how I started my career.

Born in Tennessee, I was forced to take swim lessons at five years old because I had a mild case of asthma. After one month with no asthma attacks, I was placed on the swim team, which I loathed back then. My parents moved for work a lot (all over the country) and I was eventually introduced to water polo in the third grade in Hawaii where I got hooked. Due to having to move again and again, I didn’t always have access to the sport, and experiencing this loss is what compels me to play: having a team.

The game of water polo is also what motivates me. During Covid, I took every opportunity to compete and practice even if it meant I’d have to drive hundreds of miles just to play outdoors for one day with strangers I’d never met. I’m grateful for coaches who kept their doors open simply for the sake of the sport. It’s through them I learned true dedication and athleticism.

Eventually, I moved with my single mom back to her hometown in Mililani where I am a 1X overall public-school league top scorer, 1X overall state top scorer, 2X MVP, and 2X Captain at my high school, plus a 2X USAWP Junior Olympic participant for the only participating club in my state. I currently practice and compete with three water polo clubs and am an assistant youth coach for one of those clubs.

My goal in life is to continue to find like-minded people who love this game, which is why I hope to build a career in the medical field to sustain being a youth coach, myself, one day. My next goal is to experience the joy of having a team under the direction of a college coach in which we share a mission to endure and persevere toward success at the collegiate level.