The SLVHS Girls Water Polo teams are in full swing. With an astonishing 32 player roster, this season is, so far, very promising for this new, yet experienced, Junior Varsity squad. This Junior Varsity team has been practicing together as early as the beginning of August.
The team had a string of practices referred to by most as “Hell Week”, including double day practices with a lot of conditioning to get the players ready to compete. They practice regularly everyday after school for two hours, as a team. The practices consist of lap swimming, throwing, defence, and catching. Sometimes there is a scrimmage with the Varsity team. This training helped the team prepare for their pre-season tournament at Aptos High. The team unfortunately ended up losing both games by just a few points. In one of the games, they lost to their rival Soquel.
Fortunately, that was only a preseason game. There is still a whole season ahead. Junior goalie, Kelsey Clark, one of the leaders of the team stated that, so far, this team has bonded pretty well, despite the large numbers. She said, “Lately everyone has been pretty close. We goof around and have fun in the pool.” Kelsey says her favorite part of water polo is the team. What she loves most is being in the goal. She loves the feeling of catching the ball and having all of her teammates there.
Kaylo Zubey also had a lot to say regarding her team. She said, “Everyone on our team is super friendly and encouraging. And if you don’t know what to do, anyone will be there to help you out.” Kaylo and Kelsey both agree that all the girls on the team get along very well, and that they are all there to help eachother out. That is a very good quality to have on the team. Kaylo also says her favorite part about water polo is the games. She describes them as very quick and fast paced.
The coaches for JV girls water polo team are Mike Ayers and Kurt Edwards. Kaylo said, “They give us challenges and hard tasks, but manage to make it fun and not feel like too much work.” Kelsey added to this, saying, “ They really want to get us in shape and ready for all our games. They make sure we stay focused so we are ready to compete.” It’s fair to say that they both agree that the coaches are very nice and understanding, while still holding all the players accountable. So far this season, things are looking good for JV Girls Water Polo. They are practicing everyday and improving greatly. Hopefully in their coming games, the girls can pull out some wins.
By Madison Reger
The Claw 