Mason Rafferty was a typical 12-year-old kid dabbling in many sports and with a “crazy arm” for throwing a football — according to his mother, Nicole — when he was sidelined.
“My ankles started bothering me,” Rafferty said. “I’d play basketball and then have to crawl into bed, my ankles hurt so bad.”
The current Hemet High junior water polo star was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder. It forced him to drop high-impact sports like football, basketball, baseball and volleyball and to gravitate toward water polo, a sport in which he now excels as a goalkeeper.
Rafferty has 412 saves this season, which puts him at No. 4 on the all-time CIF-Southern Section list for saves in a season. The Bulldogs (11-14) open CIF-SS postseason action Thursday at Malibu with a first-round game.
But Rafferty probably wouldn’t be in the cage at all if it wasn’t for a diagnosis four years ago.
“At first they said I’d have to cut back on sports and then eventually it was no sports at all,” Rafferty said.
Nicole Rafferty, a former member of the Hemet High dance team, hit the Internet in search of a sport that wouldn’t make her son’s joints ache. She came up with water polo and swimming and, after extensive pleading with doctors and clearance from orthopedics and cardiologists, was given clearance for her son to compete in the two sports.
Rafferty attended a two-week camp at Hemet’s Diamond Valley Aquatics Center. He liked it, and then joined Elite, a Murrieta club water polo team that was populated by stars like former Murrieta Valley High standouts Trent Virgil, Eric Van de Mortel and Jantz Johnson.
“They needed a goalie and I was the tallest kid so they threw me in there,” Rafferty said. “It’s worked out for the best.”
Added Nicole: “He’s most comfortable when he’s treading in the goal with polo balls being hurled at him.”
Hemet is not Murrieta Valley when it comes to water polo. Indeed, the Bulldogs’ foray this week into the playoffs may be a short one. After all it was just a week ago that Hemet lost to Mountain Pass League champion Beaumont 23-4 — one of three double-digit losses to the Cougars, who are top-ranked in Division 6.
The Bulldogs lost some key players off last season’s 17-12 team, but fortunately Zach Twardowski, James Borrott, Yoni Rosen-rager and Rafferty remain. They each helped Hemet to a second-place finish in the MPL and another playoff berth.
“I just do my best,” Rafferty said. “I’m not used to losing because I’ve played on successful club teams. I get angry at some games, like when we lost to Beaumont 23-4. But I just look at it from a personal level — what could I have done to improve the team and improve myself?”
Though it’s apparent Hemet is out-manned in some contests, Rafferty has received some strong reviews.
“He doesn’t have all the pieces around him, but he’s a gifted athlete,” Beaumont coach Chris Carlson said. “If there’s a shot in his area, he’ll knock it down. And he seems to have a short memory. You can score a goal against him, but then he forgets it and is back up again.”
At 6-foot-4 and with the wing span of a player a few inches taller, Rafferty has the reach, reactions and smarts (3.6 GPA) to repel many shots. He only weighs 165 pounds, but is always looking to add some bulk via the unusual milk-drinking contests he and his buddies conduct.
The apparently bored boys like to hit the supermarket, stock up on gallon containers of milk and see how much of the cow juice they can pack away in an hour.
Said Nicole: “It’s sort of an expensive hobby, but they seem to enjoy it — although it’s usually followed by vomiting and I’m starting to make them buy their own milk.”
Hey, at least it’s low impact