A black eye is normally the sign of a confrontation. For Kyla Bruhn, it was a badge of honor, the sign of a job well done.
The black eye came during a girls water polo match and it hardly slowed her down at all.
Other than cuts and scratches, that’s the worst injury in the pool for the 5-foot-6 senior attacker.
An opponent wound up with a broken nose — and a pair of black eyes — after contesting Bruhn on defense.
“None of the injuries I’ve gotten took me out of the pool,” Bruhn said. “I don’t get out of the pool voluntarily. I’m in there even if I’m hurt.”
Bruhn adjusted to the 6 a.m. practices because she figures that’s what she’ll encounter in college at UC San Diego, where she’s verbally committed.
Originally, she was enamored with the UC Davis program, but slowly came around to the Tritons in La Jolla.
“I never thought I would wind up staying in San Diego,” said the four-year varsity performer who is also a three-year team captain. “I spent a lot of time looking for the Golden Triangle — good academics, solid athletics and social student body.
“All those things are important if I’ll be spending the next four years there.”
Bruhn’s plan right now is to major in environmental science with an eye toward stem research.
“I have a plan,” Bruhn said. “I want to change the world however I can. The world could use some more good and I think I can help with that.”
In her final season with the Broncos, Bruhn’s team is 12-7 overall and 2-2 in Palomar League play.
Rancho Bernardo, which is 3-4 at home but 9-3 away from its own pool, is trying to extend its current two-game winning streak.
Though she is not as tall as a lot of opponents, Bruhn makes up for it with a never-ending aggressive streak at both ends of the pool.
“A coach can make a player more aggressive,” said Rancho Bernardo coach John William Bryant, “but Kyla is a natural in water polo.
“She’s made herself into a superstar, one of the best players in San Diego. I’d take 10 more players just like her.”
Bruhn discovered a way to take what might be a negative element and transformed it into a plus by being quick and agile in front of the goal.
That process began after she followed younger brother Eamon into the sport when he was just 8.
She loved the water anyway.
In her early softball days, Bruhn was a catcher, so she had a good arm.
“You have to learn how to survive in the pool,” she said. “Water polo is like wrestling in water some days. If you’re timid, you won’t succeed.”
That is why she has made this sport seem so easy despite a lack of height.
As she closes in on her final days as a Bronco, one thing is obvious about her.
She will take the lessons learned from water polo and apply it to her daily life.
“I have one more semester here and I’m trying to take it one day at a time,” said Bruhn, who has two younger brothers and one older sister. I know on Senior Night I’ll be crying along with my mom.
“So much of my heart has gone into this school and this program. Even though I’ve started putting the word last in front of a lot more things now, I can see the end is coming fast.”
Pausing for a second, she added, “I am proud to practice early in the morning and smell like chlorine all day.”
Her freshman season with the Broncos went smoother than most ninth-graders encounter on a varsity team.
Her skills allowed her, as a 13-year-old, to play against 18U teams, the same age as her new Broncos teammates in 12th grade.
“I looked up to the seniors and they took me under their wings,” she recalled. “But they seemed like grown women to me, like they were in their 30s.”
No big deal for an aggressive player like Kyla Bruhn.
