Iona College freshman Andrew Brozovic showed promise in his first season with the men’s water polo team. One of his best performances came from the 17-5 win against Penn State on Oct. 20, giving his team a boost every time he hit the water, and netting a goal for himself as well.

Brozovic has water polo in his blood even though he started at a relatively late age. Brozovic comes from a family where water polo was a tradition.

“I got into water polo because of my family,” Brozovic said. “We all played. I started my freshman year of high school.”

Brozovic’s brother played a huge part in his involvement in the sport and became his biggest supporter.

“[He] was always the one to come all of my games in high school,” Brozovic said. “He was always the first one there. He’s the one that really helped me get into competitive water polo.”

Brozovic ended up falling in love with the sport and continued to pursue it after his freshman year of high school.

“I figured, with all my hard work,” Brozovic said, “I could pursue it competitively.”

Brozovic has persistence in his play and hopes to help the team go far in their competitions. He has set both short-term and long-term goals for himself throughout his time at college.

“Short-term is to be the best player I can be,” Brozovic said. “Long-term is to hopefully get to the NCAA Championships.”

Brozovic had a plethora of choices for colleges to attend, but he ended up choosing Iona. His former coach was influential in Brozovic’s decision, as he attended Iona as well.

“I heard how great of a program it is here,” Brozovic said. “I looked at the academic side of it too and it was really well-fitting for me.”

Brozovic’s performance this season will definitely leave an impact on the coaching staff, and will hopefully influence his chances at being a starter next season. However, that is not Brozovic’s main focus.

“That’s not really my main focuses,” Brozovic said. “My main focus is the help the team out in any way possible.”

Brozovic’s improvement is consistent and he doesn’t look to stop anytime soon. He credits many things for his constant improvement, including the coaching staff at Iona.

“I just keep getting better and better as the days go on,” Brozovic said. “I use everyone here [as motivation]. I use them for competitiveness, trying to beat them out, [hopefully] making them better as they make me better.”

Iona starts off the NEWPC Championship on Nov. 17.