Girls’ Water Polo Team Updates
The girls’ water polo season is temporarily on hold amidst the pandemic until district measures allow for group practices again. The tentative COVID-schedule shows that season practices and preseason meets will commence mid-December, and season games will be held from early January to mid-February. For the time being, however, at-home practices are being tracked via a running Google document and delegated through group chats, but the girls hope to return to a proper season in a few months. The senior players especially are bummed about not being able to enjoy their last season and special celebratory events like Senior Night, which are usually highlights of the year.
Several of the players have been staying active so that they can return to a proper season in good shape. “Personally I have just been trying to do something active every day whether it’s running, doing a workout from youtube, or even just going for a walk. Even though I don’t have a pool that I can use, I’ve been trying to stay active other ways,” said Peyton Schmitz (12), a team shooter. Schmitz is also sad to be missing the opportunity to compete at a water polo tournament in San Luis Obispo, which she thinks would’ve been a fun event for the girls.
Although she can’t use weights at the gym any longer, Nono Takei (12) has been focusing on cardio workouts and strength training, even utilizing PVC pipes filled with sand to make her workouts more challenging. Fellow Varsity player Midori Monosoff (12) greatly misses the two-and-a-half hour practices the team had after school, but is now spending her time socializing with friends via Facetime during lunch.
“I’m sad that our season is pushed back but I have hope we will still have a season. It’s different not having the team support each other to stay in shape and get stronger. So this way you’re relying on your own mental strength,” remarked player Rudra Hariharan (11).
Collectively, the girls on the team are doing their best to stay in shape, social distance, and wear masks in public, so that they can quickly return to a normal season.
Much like other seniors on the team, Takei comments on her disappointment of not having a normal season, “It’s my senior year and I was really looking forward to this upcoming season. The team had a high chance of winning MVALS if all of us put in 110% effort.” Although the certainty of returning back to in-person events is low at the moment, and thus competing at MVALS in late February remains unsure, the girls have certainly shown immense dedication and commitment to water polo.