Leadership is vital to any team’s success, and each team has quiet leaders who lead by example. For the ASU water polo team, sophomore attacker Mariam Salloum has provided that leadership in and out of the pool.
“She is probably a bit of a quiet leader,” ASU coach Todd Clapper said. “She is a bit of a sparkplug; the person who can go go go.”
Salloum hails from Berlin, Germany, where her love for water polo originated at an early age. Salloum jump-started her water polo career at age eight, and 2010 is her 12th year in the pool.
While on the recruiting trail, Clapper was able to watch Salloum play in the Netherlands and Germany. He liked what he saw in Salloum and lured her to the Valley of the Sun.
“I liked her creativity with the ball, her fight to get a shot off,” Clapper said. “I liked her hustle up and down the pool. She is someone that adds a lot in and out of the pool and is hard working and has a lot of goals.”
Following her tenure at Leonardo da Vinci Gymnasium, where she was team captain in 2007, Salloum traveled across the world in January 2009 to begin her new life as a Sun Devil.
“I wanted to go somewhere in a different country,” Salloum said. “Todd contacted me through the national team manager, and I tried it out.”
Looking back on her decision, Salloum is confident she made the right choice coming to ASU.
“It was definitely a good choice.” Salloum said. “I’ve met really great friends. Skills and fitness-wise it has been good.”
Salloum immediately made her presence known in the pool for the Sun Devils and throughout the MPSF conference. In her freshman season last year, Salloum had 25 goals, 26 assists and 28 steals in the season. But she is not about to become complacent, as she continues to push herself and work to reach her goals.
“I try to take every game as it comes,” Salloum said. “After every week I focus on what I need to work on in practice, and I pick out certain things.”
After a successful first year at ASU, Salloum competed in the FINA World Championships in the summer of 2009 as a member of the German national team.
“It was the best experience I have had in water polo,” Salloum said. “It was a huge event and really well-organized. It was a big accomplishment to make the team.”
Salloum didn’t just make the team but contributed in the pool as well. In six games, Salloum netted two goals and an assist to help Germany earn a 10th place finish.
During the world championships in Rome, Salloum’s German team faced off against the New Zealand national team, which featured Clapper as coach and ASU junior attacker Lynlee Smith.
“I played against Todd and Lynlee for New Zealand — it was really weird,” Salloum said. “We beat them by one. It was a close game.”
In her first two seasons at ASU, Salloum has noticed the differences between water polo in Germany and the United States.
“Water polo here is very different, it’s very organized,” Salloum said. “I’ve never practiced this much.”
While Salloum enjoys the team atmosphere and school spirit here at ASU, water polo in Germany is more individualized.
“Back home, water polo isn’t a big sport at all,” she said. “To become a good player, you have to put a lot of effort into it. It is really hard to have good coaching and good amounts of practice.”
With 20 other girls on the team, Salloum has enjoyed the camaraderie that comes with collegiate athletics.
“I really like that everybody tries to motivate in the water and outside it as well,” Salloum said. “We get along really well, and we still hangout even if we don’t have to and we have fun.”
Despite being thousands of miles apart, and halfway across the world in the United States, Salloum manages to keep close contact with family and friends back home.
“My laptop and Skype is the most important thing in the world,” Salloum said. “We Skype a couple of times a week.”
As the spring semester comes to an end in a few weeks, Salloum is excited to return to Germany for the summer.
“I’m really excited because it is the soccer World Cup when I go home and everyone is crazy about soccer,” Salloum said.
Soccer isn’t Salloum’s only interest outside of water polo. She also has a love for music.
“I really enjoy concerts a lot,” Salloum said. “I really like to go out and dance and socialize.”
Salloum attended a concert featuring the Kooks, a group that plays indie music in Germany. Whether it’s indie, electronic, or any type of music, Salloum said she enjoys it all.
With two years remaining at ASU and a bright future after college, Salloum has high hopes for what lies ahead.
“[A goal is] definitely for us to make and possibly win the NCAA championships,” Salloum said. “Maybe for water polo back home — to play for the German national team and for me to participate in all the upcoming events.”
Reach the reporter at gjdillar@asu.edu
