Girls’ water polo season is upon us, which means competitions are starting, and our junior varsity (JV) and varsity teams are working hard to win their games. The JV team consists of 16 girls, and the varsity team has 14. The varsity head coach is Jordan Ellis, and the junior varsity team coaches are Maddie and Josh.
In water polo, the goal is for players to try and get the ball into the other team’s cage to score points. The team that scores the most points is the winner. There are multiple positions for players. There are six field players, two drivers, two wings, a point player, a center, and then the goalie. It is a game that requires lots of teamwork, communication, and quick thinking. Typically, a game has four quarters; each quarter is six minutes long for junior varsity and seven minutes long for varsity games.
On average, one water polo game lasts around 40-60 minutes, but there are circumstances that could change that. While the players only play for about 30 minutes, events like half-time, breaks between quarters, and pauses during gameplay can cause the game to go on for longer.
The season officially starts in November, not including pre-season, and ends in late February, but may be longer depending on whether varsity makes CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) this year.
CIF is a federation that manages all high school sports competitions, including our girls’ varsity water polo team.
The girls’ water polo team will be working hard this year in hopes of making CIF again, preparing for their first game of the season on November 13 at Riverside Polytechnic High School, and the many other games to come after that.
Tryouts for water polo were held on September 9 from 3:30 to 5:00. Varsity and junior varsity practice together nearly every day after school for about 2 and a half to 3 hours. They practice drills, swimming, endurance, technique, speed, and passing/shooting. All of this work is to help them prepare for the season and their upcoming competitions.
It is important to recognize our girls’ water polo team’s effort so that we can support them during their season.
They have worked incredibly hard to get to the level they are at, and both teams continue to do so in hopes of reaching their goals.
Water polo can be considered one of the hardest sports in the world due to the extreme endurance, strength, constant movement, and mental toughness that is needed. Not to mention you are literally wrestling your opponents in the water while still trying to keep control of the ball, so our girls have to work incredibly hard.
Throughout all the years, the coaches have guided their players to victory and developed some great players.
One member of the girls’ varsity team, freshman Emily Cypher, says, “Practice helps clear out flaws, so that when you get to the game you know how to work around things, and what you can or cannot do.”
Our players have all learned much from their training and continue to improve their gameplay and flaws. They work hard, and it pays off.
Their schedules are packed, with both teams working for hours after school to get stronger and control their passing and shooting. This begins their journey to reach their goal of winning as many games as possible, and for the varsity team, hopefully reaching CIF.