Tauber comes through

It wasn’t as if no one ever noticed. During his time in the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo program, Tim Tauber regularly collected appreciation from teammates and coaches for his value as a human flotation device.

It was Tauber’s refusal to take a day off that helped motivate his more-talented teammates to continually commit their energy to the cause.

It was Tauber’s ability to laugh off a bloody eyebrow, reassuring a more physical teammate to consider his facial features a sharpening tool for the elbows and head butts they would wield against future foes.

And it was his constant encouragement from the bench that buoyed his team’s fortunes in every situation.

But to those outside the Sailors’ inner circle, Tauber’s identity was more submerged than the bodies of the starters swimming about in the pool.

“He has been a substitute all season,” Newport Coach Jason Lynch said of the senior driver, who spurned that role to earn a more conspicuous type of credit as a fill-in starter.

With some players sidelined by ejections for misconduct, Tauber started the final two games in the S&R; Sport Cup. His play allowed the Tars to claim four wins in two days, and a title they have since forfeited due to the use of ineligible players.

In four games, Tauber had four assists, three steals and one glorious goal — a cross-cage bullet that caromed off the bottom of the crossbar and past the goal line as the shot clock expired in the semifinal against Coronado — that will likely become very familiar to his future grandchildren.

“In the semifinals and final of the tournament, he started and played the whole game,” Lynch said. “He was very unselfish, looking to make a lot of assists and play good defense. He works incredibly hard and he plays incredibly hard. He is maximizing [the ability] he has.”

Tauber’s contribution was so noteworthy, he is the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

But Tauber’s tale of perseverance goes beyond the sometimes-cruel reality of the depth chart. His includes a medical chart, as well.

“The first day of summer practice before my junior year, I made a wrong move in the pool and fractured a vertebra in my spine,” Tauber said. “The first doctor who looked at me, said ‘Sorry, but there’s no way you can play this sport again.’ For a guy who sleeps, eats and breaths water polo and gets up every morning at 5:30 to play the sport I love, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t talk to anyone for a day or so, before I told my mom I wanted a second opinion.”

The second opinion turned into a second chance and Tauber tackled the rehabilitation assignment as he does everything else — without reservation.

“There was extensive physical therapy and core training and the whole rehabilitation program takes most people four months,” Tauber said. “I did it in two. It wasn’t easy. Every day when I went home, my abs were on fire. But after the last exercise every day, I asked if there was anything else they had for me to do.”

Tauber has held the same attitude when it comes to team workouts, Lynch said.

“He’s on the B team in practice, but he usually out-hustles some of the starters,” Lynch said. “He is going for it all the time.”

Going for it is more difficult when he begins most games on the bench, but Tauber takes his supporting role just as seriously as his sporadic starting opportunities.

“I like to keep the guys pumped up [from the bench],” Tauber said. “And if maybe someone isn’t having his best game, I tell them to look in my eyes and I try to calm them down and encourage them.”

The roles were reversed over the weekend, when teammates, who, Lynch said, universally revere Tauber, made sure he was the object of their encouragement.

“It was one of the first times I ever got into a big-game situation, so I was a little nervous at first,” Tauber said. “I tried to mentally prepare myself, but it was my teammates who gave me encouragement, helped me relax and focus on the task at hand. My friend [and teammate] Matt Russell patted me on the back and said ‘You can do this; Let’s go.’ That he and others showed that kind of faith in me was huge.”

Also huge was Tauber’s contribution, which prompted some rave notices on campus.

“A few of my friends told me I did a good job and one of my teachers said ‘You played very well,’ ” Tauber said. “To contribute like that felt really good and it was awesome to see my hard work pay off. But I don’t want to savor it too long. I want to keep contributing when coach puts me in and just keep our intensity level up.”