Chloe Van Houtte '27 Recruiting Profile

It was 2021 and I was just in 6th grade when my passion for water polo was ignited. My older sister had recently started playing and was invited to the 2021 Junior Olympics in Dallas, Texas. Not having watched her games before, I went with her and my mother to Dallas. Watching those JO games and the amount of energy, strategy and determination expended by the players changed everything for me. I had tried many sports up to that point (soccer, lacrosse, basketball, swimming), and while I enjoyed them at the time nothing held my focus or lit a fire in me.  Water polo changed everything for me – it created a fierce drive in me that I did not know was possible. 

I immediately started playing club water polo while in middle school, as water polo was only offered as a high school sport in my public school district.   My older sister’s club team would frequently “call me up” so they could field a team where I played with girls 2 – 5 years older than me.   Club team really developed my skills and led to invitations to various JO competitions during my middle school years.  

Finally, reaching high school, I was able to add the high school program to my schedule in addition to club. I was the only freshman on both the 2024 varsity team and club elite team and was also a starter for both.  I completed my first high school season with the most goals and assists of any member of the varsity team.   My goal tally earned me the high school record for most goals ever by a freshman on varsity as well as recognition as the team’s 2024 “Rookie of the Year.” 

While I look forward to three more years of club and high school play and challenging myself each practice and game to further push my skill level, my goal is to continue to play water polo at the collegiate level. I do not see my love of the sport and my desire to push myself to even greater levels of play to change.   While attending college is still some time into the future, I currently see myself studying in the field of science in a way that intersects with my love of sports and optimizing sports performance, such as kinesiology.