The Falcon’s water polo season has kicked off, and the team is looking forward to a year of almost all returning members.
Sophomore Caleb Hardee, a returning player, said that he is ready for the season to start back up again, especially because of his teammates.
“I’m excited to play games and just get into the season. It’s most of the same people as last year, so it’s just fun to play with people I already know,” Hardee said.
Not only do the players enjoy spending time with their teammates, they also enjoy how the game itself works.
“My favorite part of water polo is the fact that I get to swim and be in water, and that it’s a ‘ball based’ game which requires more teamwork and coordination than just [being on] swim team, where it is mostly ‘solo based’ instead of ‘team based’,” sophomore Rebecca Wirthlin said.
The students are not the only ones excited for the season. Head coach Jarad Wahl, who is new to the staff, said that he is ready to watch the team grow.
“I love being able to give back to the sport I enjoyed and played for so long. I played for almost 10 years in the [Saint Louis] area and grew up playing in the same pools the athletes play in now. I like being able to see the kids get better and better with each practice and fall in love with the sport like I did,” Wahl said.
Though many people are happy about the start of the season, Senior James Colombo said that it can be bittersweet to leave his team mates.
“It’s kind of sad because it is my last season. The [class of 2026], I’ve been with for the past three years, and they have all been a part of my life since then,” Colombo said.
Practices are a big part of preparing for a season. Colombo said that the way practices are structured helps out with important aspects of the sport.
“Practices are conducted differently this year because we have a new head coach. So now, we’re mainly doing conditioning first and then actual skills. I like it better this way because the conditioning will help in game because it’s a lot of swimming, [so] that’ll help with stamina purposes,” Colombo said.
As a goalie, Hardee said he appreciates how the practices are run, as he feels it not only helps him improve, but it also doesn’t put too much pressure on him.
“We scrimmage a lot. We do a lot of straight practicing, and then we do some drills. Because I’m the goalie, I like it because I get a lot of reps. It’s also laid back, [so] it’s not crazy hard,” Hardee said.
Wahl said that he believes the team has many strengths that will help them succeed in the season ahead. One being the team’s chemistry.
“They are a group that has played together forever, whether it be practicing polo, doing swim together in the fall/winter, [or] hanging outside of the pool. [It] makes them a close group that understands each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Wahl said.
