It’s Water Polo Season!

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photo by courtesy of Coach Saldana

Boys Water Polo is reaching for greatness this year!

by Nicolas Vega, Staff Writer

The Boy´s Water Polo team has started off with a rough start of a 1-2 streak, but is expected to wake up and strike back. Boys Water Polo finished 5th in the Empire League last season and Coach Reihle Saldana says that the league was very competitive and will be competitive once again this season. 

Saldana said that the team has been focusing on defense to stop the teams that scored ¨one too many” goals last season and to stop counter-attacks.

The team has many strengths, but one that Saldana said will impact the game the most is the teamwork that the boys have. She said,¨All the boys are really close, they treat each other like family and just seeing them work together, they always push each other. I expect great things from them.¨ They are all looking forward to this season but are most excited for the Pacifica game. They lost last year, all because they had a play they just couldn’t get their heads around, but they have been preparing and are excited to see how their game plan works out.

Cooper Laws is a Varsity player on the Water Polo team. He has a lot of confidence in his team this season, he says that he thinks that the team is going to do great this season, that they have a lot of seniors on their team and that everyone has been working hard. 

He’s been on the team for all his four years at Cypress and he’s built up a lot of chemistry with his peers, but one player he’s had a lot of chemistry with is Arlie Henderson.  They’ve been playing together for four years at Cypress and do great together.

Laws has been practicing solo moves.  One of his moves that he is planning on using this year is called a turn: you grab the other player’s hips and turn them and they end up on your back. He says that it is very useful. 

One of the hardest parts of water polo, according to Laws, is the conditioning. You have to be in really good shape to be getting up and down the pool, but he says that boys are in really good shape this year and are prepared.