Boys Waterpolo returns after dry season
The boys water polo team has returned with a new coach for all teams and a new routine after being postponed for two months due to the pandemic.
New protocols to ensure the players’ safety has led the team to take many new precautions, making it different from past years.
Water polo is a very contact heavy sport, but the team is making the appropriate adjustments to stop the spread of the virus between the players and coaches. Billy Cornado, sophomore, who plays left wing, a player on the left side who makes offensive plays, on the JV team explained the expectations when practicing. “[I] had to get a test weekly, to make sure we don’t have COVID…Outside the deck they make us wear a mask, unless we’re in the water,” Coronado said.
Players, including Drew Powell, sophomore, are still excited to jump into a new season despite the restrictions, which are slowly winding down as the practices start shifting back to normal. “Had you asked this last year, I’m sure there would’ve been a lot more to my answer,’’ Powell said. “As of now, however, practices have been fairly normal. There was a time where a large amount of players had to quarantine, but other than that there haven’t been any major differences.”
This year, NPHS welcomed a new coach, Chet Hardy. Hardy played water polo for four years at Camarillo high school and has an additional four years of coaching experience. “I have a great group of guys who love the sport, who want to win and I think that’s a big contributing factor into why everything is going so smoothly so far,” Hardy said.
Powell has been playing water polo for three years. “I had started purely because there wasn’t anything else I was doing at the time,” Powell said. Powell was not afraid to point out the perseverance that is required to play. “My favorite thing about water polo might just be the knowledge that I’m playing the hardest sport there is, and we’re having a good time doing it too,”
Despite the challenges this new season may bring, the coaches and players are excited to begin a new chapter. It is always hard to adapt to new things, but the water polo team is adapting well to the new restrictions. “It’s good to have tournaments again with multiple teams [and] lots of fans with energy,” Hardy said. “It’s just really fun [to be] kind of back to normal.”
