What a year! It ended last night with a 7-2 loss to Willow Glen. We did not play our best, but we did lose to a very good team last night. All played very hard and we had our chances again, but had a hard time being efficient with our scoring opportunities. The "power Play" is what hurts us last night. We converted only 1 of 8 on offense. On the defensive end we gave up 5 goal on their "power play" with 3 of those 5 goals coming right after we had killed the power play and our ejected player was entering back into the game. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. Jakub had another stellar performance in the cage. He made 17 saves. Jay Louis and Ben Evered each had a goal. We got into some foul trouble early that hurt our chances as well.
What do we take from this experience? If we are to continue to make strides as a program in advancing in the post-season, it will be necessary that everyone involved must mentally focus and prepare themselves for it. What I mean by that is this...Friday night game with RLS was incredibly exciting. That excitement led to an exciting finale with Salinas that ended in a loss. The feeling amongst the coaches, was this...the kids mentally thought the season ended with the loss to Salinas. CCS was an afterthought. Parents, kids, friends, etc. start talking about when the season is over, what are they going to do, etc. We have to now start shooting for CCS mentally in advance. It felt a bit "anti-climactic" last night. It should not be. CCS is the pinnacle! For those of you involved these past few years, you might remember what Salinas did 2 years ago. They went to CCS and were mentally prepared to do something great. They pulled off some major upsets and did something people will remember for a long time. We've been back to the playoffs 3 out of the last 5 years. We've advanced past the first round once, that was a big step because we'd never done that before, ever. That is in the past however, we must be satisfied with qualifying for CCS because that is a great achievement, but we can't let our minds stop there. We must look beyond and believe we can play with anyone. That ability to believe in the our ability begins and ends in the preparation these boys do in the offseason. It is more clear than ever before that what we are lacking as a program is simply "experience". We have the numbers, we have swimmers, we have commitment, parent support, administration support, a beautiful facility, quality coaches, etc. We have more than most programs. The difference is quite simply that the teams from the SJ and Bay Areas play way more water polo than our boys do. Our boys need to simply "play" in the offseason. Legacy is the start, but we have to go a step further. We had great Legacy "practice" attendance this past year, but what we lacked was the number of kids competing in the arranged scrimmages and tournaments during the summer. Become a water polo junkie! Play every chance you get, drag your friends along. Watch polo videos on you tube. Go watch water polo up at Stanford and Cal. Get on their websites and get to some games. Parents you need to help with this. Put Stanford or Cal's calendar on your mind and plan on taking a group of boys up periodically to watch. Swimming is a huge part of advancing in this sport and 80% of the polo boys swim now which is awesome, but it is not the only tool necessary. You must remember that this is a BRAND NEW game for most of these kids. This game must be LEARNED. It is only learned through hours and hours of just playing. For example, you don't see great basketball teams from schools with kids that just play ball the 3 months of the season. No, the great teams have kids that are weekly going and playing pick up games at the local playground and gym, shooting hoops in their driveway for hours on end, watching NBA and college games on TV every chance they get. Do the same with water polo. We have a chance to be very, very good next season and in the seasons to become, but we must improve upon what we have done up until now. Become that water polo junkie!! What better sport is there to devote yourself to. I wish I would have made that commitment early on. High school water polo is here and then gone in a flash. Don't be a spectator.
Important Notes:
I will be forming some "off season" plans and schedules in the coming week or two. It will involve Legacy, weights, cardiovascular conditioning, basketball (cross training), swimming.
The Banquet is Tuesday at 6pm in the Cafeteria. Don't miss it! Be on the lookout for what to bring food wise.
We are also re-instating an old tradition to encourage our boys to dress appropriately for our banquet. There will be a "Best Dressed" Award. This was a tradition started by the great Jim Agan who started the polo program at the high school many years ago. Coach Walthour continued it with the swim program. Come dressed for success boys!!!!
Parkas must be turned in to Diana Vita at the ASB office immediately. They will hold grades and school activity privileges (dances, graduation, etc) until they are turned in. Don't wait please.
We are holding our traditional final practice of the year on Friday @ 3pm. This practice is for the "varsity" team that went to TCAL's and CCS. It is a lot of fun and something to look forward to for you younger players. It includes belly flop contest, 5 lives tournament, amongst others. Lots of fun and there is some pain involved too, haha.
I am very pleased with the entire season. Thank you all so much for your support of these boys, this program and its coaches.
Sincerely,
Coach Gaily
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