Despite graduating almost half the team last year, including two starters and one goalie, the Girls Varsity Water Polo Team is looking forward to a strong season this spring. The majority of the starting line-up has been retained, including Captain Benca ’05, Parla Alpan ’06, Emily Brenner ’06, Kelly Chang ’07, and goalie Kathryn Uhl ’06. Coach Meyer will be returning as well, working alongside the new Head Coach, Cindy Efinger. The team’s strength could, however, come from the significant number of newcomers joining the game this year. Only seven out of 18 girls are returnees, although most newcomers were able to attend the spring break training trip to northern California to develop their skills before the start of the season. The training trip consisted of three days of instructional water polo. The first day was spent working on basic fundamental skills, such as passing, ball handling, egg beating, and shot blocking. The second day was focused on defensive and offensive positioning, driving, and shooting. The final day was spent learning more interactive skills, such as guarding the hole and drawing a fowl. Kelly Chang ’07 said of the trip, “This camp was not meant to whip us into shape, but rather to develop and fine tune the fundamental skills that are essential in playing the sport. I really believe that this camp provided a solid basis and understanding of the sport before the season started.” Head Coach Efinger was also able to attend the trip, allowing the team to get comfortable with their new coach. Captain Benca was pleased with the progress made by the team and said, “After a productive training trip this past spring break, I could already perceive a strong team bond both in and out of the pool. The amount of improvement I saw over just three days, especially with the new players, was also very promising.” Parla Alpan ’06 said, “The training trip was very helpful because our team is very young and a lot of players had never played water polo before. Although we worked a lot of fundamentals, I feel that it was beneficial to returnees as well because it helped to break some old bad habits. Not only was the trip helpful in getting us back into shape, it also helped with team bonding.” Overall, Captain Benca ’05 has a positive outlook towards the season. “This team has a lot of talented youth, so right now we are looking at a good upcoming season as well as a solid team in the years to come,” he said.
