Daniel Guerrero

The boys water polo team is currently 3-2 in their season. In each of their games, the players seem to have a lot of fun playing and working together as a team. 

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“In water polo, there is a lot of strategic understanding between the players under the water and it is satisfying when it all comes together to score a goal,” sophomore Josh Bowden said. 

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This strategy includes swimming simultaneously around the players from the opposite team under the water, while attempting to protect the ball. There are seven players in the pool: one center, two wings, two drivers, and one on the point. The strategy is that the wings need to carry the ball by the edge of the pool and attempt to pass the ball to the player who is playing in center or the point position in the opponent’s side, who would therefore hopefully score a goal. As for the drivers, they are able to support the point or the center, in which they would get the rebound, penalty fouls shots, or create a space to score. 

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By doing this for every game, the team may have a chance to accomplish their goals, which is to go to playoffs and win the California Interscholastic Federations (CIF) Championships. 

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“Our first goal is to win CIF because we got 4th place last year. Second goal of the season, there are about over 10 new players, so we want to get them going,” Bowden said. 

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Though last year they were really close, they are now working extra hard this year in order to obtain the title of becoming city champions.

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As for this year, they have the advantage of accomplishing that goal because there are a lot of new members in the team including coaches. Coach Austin Pestonji is the new boys water polo coach and was a former player at the school. Consequently, he is able to pass on the skills that he has learned through his experiences from playing the sport from various past coaches at the school. 

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They will be able to collaborate with various new coaches and players, while learning new skills and strategies from each other. Also, most importantly, they are looking forward to having fun and bonding with each other as a team. 

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“I’m looking forward to the playoffs, having a lot of fun, and winning a lot of games,” Bowden said. 

This bond will lead them into relying on each other, while building a sense of confidence in approaching every game as well. Hopefully, their new strategies will work, they will be successful in their upcoming games. Be sure to cheer them on in their next game today at Culver City High School.

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