by Jasper McGrath
Game time: 8:30am. Be there one hour early. Plan for the one hour drive, one hour to eat breakfast and get ready, and enough time to go through all three phases of your annoying alarm clock. After adding up the calculations that means I’m getting up at 5:00 A.M. Its game day, or should I say tournament day. I pack Clif Bars and other quick energy snacks in my drawstring backpack, already occupied by my extra small Speedo and towel. After everything getting prepared, I start to stretch until my mom gets up. And of course, every pre-game needs it’s hype up music, so I quietly hum to myself as my headphones echo noise around the house. At 6 A.M. we start our journey to Steele Canyon High School. Our entire team arrives around the same time with tired eyes. Parents with hot cups of coffee start searching for parking on the gigantic campus. Once we find the pool, we get situated.
Immediately, we are in the pool warming up. Tensions high, the cold water works as a wake up call. I'm confident in my team, but nervous because we are playing older experienced teams. Thirty minutes later, I float my way out to the goal for the start of the game. Our starting six line up on the wall, ready for the starting sprint. The referee blows the whistle, and our team takes off racing to the middle. It’s a close game, and we are playing a strong defensive game. A rule that few know, is that everything underwater is fair play and the cougars seemed to take advantage of that. In the end, it comes down to the final seconds, and we lose on a debatable play that, in my opinion, was a bad ref call.
This loss sucked, especially because we were so close. I was upset but I got a sense of what Pointer Pride is when all my teammates and parents came over to comfort and support me. They lifted my spirits enough for me to get in the zone. All I wanted to do was play. Two hours flew by and we are back in the water, fired up. Four long quarters and we come out victorious. 14-3 victory. The moment got even better when we learned that our Varsity team swept the competition in their games as well. As we walked off the campus, I was proud to be a Pointer.
QUICK UPDATE: With just a little more than a week left in the fall season, water polo is really starting to heat up. Varsity is hoping to make it to CIF with a strong record 17-5 on the season. They are in the top teams of their division. JV has played fewer games, but are faring just as well with a 6-4 record. To finish it all off, the freshman team has a .500 record of 5-5. All teams have an upcoming game this Tuesday at their home pool, Memorial Pool. 2902 Marcy Ave, San Diego, CA 92113. Be sure to come out and support, Go Pointers!