Connor Spellecy
Contributing Writer
The water polo season is set to begin in March, with the first Varsity game being played against Pattonville High School, and the first JV game being played against De Smet Jesuit High School.
“I think we’re gonna struggle with not having all the seniors we had last year. We lost a huge portion of the team… but I think we have some really talented players, and I think we’re gonna overcome it,” senior Will Roche said about the upcoming season.
Players have been preparing in multiple ways for water polo during the off season. Some water polo players swam in the off season to keep themselves ready for spring.
About how he prepares for water polo, senior Chase Curtis said, “I have a pass to a gym with a pool, so I’ve been swimming a lot… it’s just conditioning for me, personally. There’s a lot of people that do club water polo teams, but there’s no official off season for the school water polo team.”
Roche prepares similarly, but also prepares by lifting weights and eating foods like pasta and sandwiches from Subway.
The Varsity water polo team ended last season with five wins and eight losses. Chaminade, CBCand Lindbergh were listed as teams that presented a challenge to the varsity and JV teams.
“As a team, we just kind of need to get the fundamentals down. Knowing where we are in the pool as a team has been an issue, so we kind of stray from our positions a lot, and that leaves a lot of scoring opportunities open for the other team,” said Curtis, about how the team can improve.
However, the team has things that they believe will help them for this season.
“I think the team is tight-knit and welcoming, and I think that everybody feels like they have a place on the team,” said sophomore Oliver Franke.
Curtis shares a similar belief, stating that the team gets along well and provides a welcoming environment to new players.
There are also things in the season that players are excited for, and events that they hope to do well in.
“The first game’s always fun… It’s always fun for the new guys to see how an actual game works and how different it is from practice,” said Curtis. Curtis is also excited for senior night, and is excited to see his friends from Clayton.
Roche is excited for the team pasta parties and hopes that the team can get into a tournament this season, as they are important to the team, and the team has qualified for at least one tournament for the past few seasons.
Franke is excited to eat Chipotle with the team, and hopes for the team to succeed in the post-season, where the team will play as many games as they can until they lose, which will determine their ranking among the other teams.
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