Riley Andres - Sun Sentinel’s Broward COunty Female Player of the Year

Broward girls water polo player of the year: Riley Andres, St. Thomas Aquinas junior

Our club would like to proudly congratulate, Riley Andres, for her honors as the county’s top female water polo player. Riley’s incredible season led the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders to a second consecutive regional finals appearance and only a few goals from reaching the state championship tournament.

Riley, who began playing at the club several years ago at the age of 11 was already a high level swimmer for her age, joining the club she found herself around a very strong boys program that helped her improve as a player much quicker than anticipated, she found herself being a big piece of our club’s 13u team that won first place at the at the 2022 South Florida Water Polo Club’s International tournament, one of the largest international competitions hosted on the east coast of the United States.

Riley powered the Lady Raiders with huge performances throughout the season including an eight-goal explosion in a 14-13 win over Pembroke Pines Charter. Riley’s final output read as 175 goals which was good for 8.3 goals per game, 29 assists and 54 steals, a historic season from Riley which included a 15-goal single game outing and several other games that had Riley posting 10+ goals in a single game.

A former National Team Selection Camp member at the 15u age group level in 2023, Riley continues to show her prowess on the national stage, this summer she will rejoin Asphalt Green as she had last summer where she will compete in California at the country’s national championship at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics in late July.

Riley attributes her accelerated development both to being able to practice daily with our boys’ program stating it made her tougher and the game much faster as well as South Florida Water Polo Club’s elite coaching staff for her ability to standout amongst her crowd.

With 345 goals, 84 assists and 160 steals to her name in her first three seasons at Saint Thomas Aquinas, Riley has made it her personal goal to overcome the 500-goal threshold, which would leave her in rarified territory among any former female player in Florida historically.

Congratulations Riley! Way to make us all proud!