J.B. Feaster doesn't want to talk about it, and, more importantly, he doesn't want his players to talk about it.

Call it superstition.

Call it humility.

Call it what you will.

Just don't mention it around him.

“There's really no point in thinking about it,” the 14-year Carlsbad head water polo coach said. “A lot can happen between now and then.”

It, of course, is the 2008 CIF Division I San Diego Section championship, which will be decided Nov. 22 at Coggan Pool at La Jolla High School. Should the Lancers win, it would be their sixth straight – a section record. But Feaster, like any good coach, doesn't want his players to look too far ahead.

“We always want to win CIF, but we don't talk about it,” he said. “Our goal is to work on becoming the best team we can possibly be. If you take care of the little things in practice, the big things take care of themselves.”

Feaster's philosophy has been infectious among Carlsbad's aquatic athletes. Water polo notwithstanding, Feaster's boys swimming team has already won six straight CIF titles and looks primed to capture No. 7 in 2009.

The 44-year-old coach, who also teaches physical education and weight training at Carlsbad, said he immediately saw potential in the small North County town when he came from Sonora High in 1994.

“We're a beach community,” the Cal State Fullerton grad said of Carlsbad. “People are surfing and love the water. Plus, it's a one high school town. This is a school of 3,000, so there's a lot of good athletes to draw from.”

After a couple of rough years, players started to buy into Feaster and JV coach James Hamilton's system, which is essentially: Work hard and good things will happen.

Hamilton took over the Carlsbad club team in 1997, giving the coaches an opportunity to start the kids at a younger and more impressionable age.

The hard work finally paid off in 2002, when the Lancers reached the CIF finals for the first time, only to drop a heartbreaker to then-perennial power Mt. Carmel.

But Carlsbad wasn't to be denied two years in a row. Trailing 5-2 at halftime in the 2003 title game, Coulson Lantz poured in five second-half goals to give the Lancers the 7-6 win, as well as their first championship.

“We'd been knocking on the door for a couple of years,” Feaster said. “And instead of panicking, the guys stepped up.”

Carlsbad players have been stepping up ever since.

Harrison Dwelley was a freshman when the Lancers captured that first title. The 20-year-old, now playing for Long Beach City College, said the championships were great, but the team camaraderie was what made playing Carlsbad water polo unique.

“The coaches and everybody on the team grow up together like a family,” said Dwelley, who started playing club polo in seventh grade. “It's a good team atmosphere. It's easy to play with guys you're friends with.”

The two championship teams he was a part of – in 2005 and 2006 – were especially gratifying for Dwelley, as he saw his older brother, Mitchell, get within one game of a title in 2002.

“We just modeled ourselves after them,” Dwelley said. “We went out and won it for them.”

Sibling legacies are commonplace in the Carlsbad water polo program.

Dwelley's roommate and Long Beach City College teammate Matt Schamp is the older brother of current Carlsbad goalie Alex Schamp. And 2003 hero Chris Lantz, Coulson's brother, led the Lancers to title No. 2 in 2004.

Perhaps the most notable brother combination in Carlsbad history is the Friedrichs. Jimmy, the 2007 CIF Player of the Year and current USC Trojan, and Tommy, Carlsbad's go-to guy at 2-meters this season, led the Lancers to one of their most dominant CIF runs last year.

Carlsbad outscored its opponents 66-15 in the 2007 CIF playoff tournament en route to its fifth straight title. But the younger Friedrich, like his coach, isn't concerned with streaks or breaking records.

“Whatever happened before and whatever happens after doesn't really matter to us,” said Tommy Friedrich, who leads Carlsbad with 37 goals this season. “Winning CIF is our main goal, but every year's different.”

The coming years may bring more riches for the Lancers. The club, novice and JV squads are solid as usual, and a 6-foot-3, 14-year-old phenom looks to be a superstar in the making.

Rainer Sherwood, a freshman who sees significant minutes with the varsity team, will be counted on to carry on the Carlsbad legacy.

“I'm sure there'll be more pressure when I'm the only senior on the team,” Sherwood said. “I need to work hard to show my appreciation for the people that came before me.”

Despite the addition of Sherwood and a five-plus year undefeated league streak, there have been whispers among several San Diego-area coaches that Carlsbad is beatable this year. Palomar League rival Vista pushed the Lancers to the brink in an Oct. 8 nail-biter, in which Carlsbad escaped with a narrow 12-10 victory. The Lancers are currently 10-2 with a perfect 4-0 record in league.

Vista will get another shot at the champs on Friday. Then Carlsbad will face off with Division II powerhouse Bishop's on Nov. 6 to close the regular season.

Should the Lancers be victorious at Coggan Pool on Nov. 22, Feaster would no doubt be pleased. But the veteran coach is adamant that his program is about more than just championships.

“If we are fortunate to win this year I'm happy because they had the opportunity to win it for themselves, not because a record was broken,” he said. “I don't worry or care about streaks.

“My biggest thing is to have them come back and tell me I helped make them a better person.”

---