After finishing strong, ending the longest win streak in CIF history, and earning the title of CIF Champions, the boy’s water polo season has finally come to an end.
As Mr. Brett Ormsby, one of the team’s coaches said, “Eveything goes back to training…You have to be consistently respectful of the process, and the process begins with proper training and attention to detail.”
This attention to details and proper training may be achieved in many forms. The day prior to each game, the team would do anything from video study and lifting to swimming and conditioning exercises. The team also would do drill work and “walk-throughs” or simulations intended to pinpoint and improve upon weaknesses, achieve a better understanding of the other team’s tendencies, keep up speed and strength, sharpen technical skills, and maximize preparation for game situations.
The team would also meet in Mr. Ormsby’s room during lunch to review their game plans, before proceeding to start any mental, physical, and emotional preparations necessary.
The amount of hours the boys put into training during off-season, as well, is noteworthy. For two hours, four days a week, the boys are preparing for upcoming seasons during this time
As team member Patrick Collins said, “The team puts a lot of effort to keep the same consistency in practices and working hard to always get better, so once we get to our quarter final, we can cream our opponent. But we also know that we have to take every day, and the challenges each day presents, as individual steps to reaching our final goal of winning our CIF final. One of our bigger challenges this season was the North South Tournament in NorCal. It put in perspective what we need to work on to achieve out overall goal.”
One of the better seasons Mr. Ormsby has coached over the past six years, this year there was a very talented group of seniors leading the charge. Mr. Ormsby said, “A lot of them have been starting for three or four years. It’s been building towards this year for a while.” Of the nine seniors on the team, seven were starters, and nearly all of them were identifiable, one way or another, as leaders or some of the best players on the team.”
Further, while the leadership is shared among the seniors, the two team captains are Grant Curry and Kevin Shultz. “Grant is a very positive vocal leader, and he does a great job of keeping the morale up and encouraging his teammates. Kevin is the type of person that is capable of being vocal as well, and he is very smart and aware, so he can offer great insight into team dynamics. In general though, he leads by example and is a very hard worker”, said Mr. Ormsby. He added that players like Austin Rone and Jordan Colina were also very key when games begin, since they called a lot of the team’s plays. There are also players like Junior Riley Folk, the only non-senior with a leadership role on the team, who contribute quite a bit.
It becomes important, then, that the players on the team are smart, able to make adjustments, and learn new techniques and tactics on the fly. In terms of mental attributes, the coaches are looking for players who are tough and who can respond well to adversity. Physically speaking, the team has been known to rely heavily on the counter attack, so speedy players are key contributors there.
As Mr. Ormsby said, “In the end, though, anyone who is willing to put in the time, work hard, and sacrifice for the greater good of the team can find a contributing role in the program.”
Mr. Ormsby commented on the interesting family aspect the team maintains as a result of this.
“I know some of the other teams here are close, but with this group, they all sit together at lunch, and they all play club as well. For the seniors especially, it’s a super close-knit group. Literally every kid fits together really well, which is really cool.”
Mr. Ormsby is adamant that many of the boys on the team will go on to have good college careers as well. He is not, however, worried what the seniors’ graduation means for the rest of the team.
“We’ll certainly miss them, but we won’t be in a bad place. We’ll be okay. For now though, we just need to focus on the season immediately in front of us…Finish out the season with the win, get the league title. Then we’ll be backing off of training, making sure everyone’s fresh and good, that the energy is right, and preparing for specific opponents. It’s important that they’re excited and enthused so we can win CIF.”
The team members themselves also got together and set their own goals, ones that, by now, have mostly been completed. As Mr. Ormsby said, “We want to show who we are, not just to San Diego, but to the rest of the state, also”. With a 22-3 record and the stops placed against Mater Dei’s domination, it would seem the team is well on their way to doing just that.
Collins, then, expresses the collective interest the team has for its school’s students to come out and support them: “When we play in front of a crowd, we do that much better.”
