The water polo team hones its skills for a strong season
By Dannielle Lowe
Every Tuesday and Thursday, a diverse group of dedicated students meets early in the morning at the Howard Hall pool with one goal: to get better. These students come from different backgrounds and different majors, but they share a love for the sport of water polo.
Here at the University of Portland, there is a growing water polo program. The club sport was founded in the fall of 2003 by Jeff Gibbs and started as a men's program. But because the league is coed, female athletes were allowed to play with the team.
During the fall of 2004, the team joined the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). The CWPA offers universities without NCAA sanctioned water polo programs an association that manages conferences, tournaments, rules, officials and many other aspects.
The UP water polo club is a member of the northwest region division, which includes seven other teams: the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Washington State University, the University of Washington, Western Washington University and Central Washington University.
The men's team is currently in season and the women's team will play this spring. Both teams play in three tournaments during their respective seasons. Each tournament consists of four games. During the weekend of Sept. 29, at the first tournament of the season, the men's team went one and three.
According to senior Brett Turner, president of the club, the victory is an excellent start because last year the team won three games out of 12. Part of the reason for the low number of wins is the large number of students who attend the division member schools and the inexperience of the UP team, Turner said.
"With a school with about 3,000 people, chances are a lot harder to get quality polo players," Turner said. "Schools like UW have a much larger pool to choose from."
Despite a shortage of experienced water polo players, the program remains competitive and is continually growing.
In 2006, due to an increase in participation, the club founded the women's water polo club. Two loyal players, seniors Chelsea Williams and Stacey Anheier, decided to organize the program. The women's team provides those who are uncomfortable playing on the men's team an opportunity to play while also giving experienced female polo athletes the chance to flourish in a competitive environment.
During the women's off season, a few women play on the men's team, bringing experience and agility with them.
"The girls are a huge asset; most girls come in knowing how to play," said Turner, describing the contribution of the five female athletes on the men's team. "We get a tremendous job from them. They put up several of the team points."
The men's and women's teams often workout and practice together. Practices usually consist of a 45 minute swim workout and about 10 minutes of leg workouts. The last half hour usually consists of ball work and shots.
Due to the small size of the Howard pool, the club cannot run full offensive or defensive strategies. When the option arises, the club tries to rent a regulation size pool so it can have access to goals and get some scrimmaging in.
The club is always looking for more players. One of the program's goals for the year was to increase club size. All students are welcome to join the program.
"We're always looking for people," Anheier said. "We take the time to teach and make sure we go through all the steps."
Even those with no polo experience are encouraged to give it a try. The coaches work with all players to give them the skills and knowledge they need to be contributive team members.
"We recruit a lot of swimmers. We look for people wearing swim team shirts, because chances are, if they're wearing a swim team shirt, they can swim. And half the battle is being a quality swimmer," Turner said. "We can make a decent water polo player out of someone who can swim."
Along with increasing club size and helping new players develop their skills, the program hopes to keep pace with the competition and finish in the middle of the league.
"We hope to be a middle-of-the-road team for our league. We want to get a couple more wins this year so we can finish in fourth or fifth place," Turner said. "We want to keep pace with our league as well as further develop."
The next tournament for the men's team is this weekend at Central Washington University.
