Author: Emily Phillips
After graduating six seniors and almost the entire starting line-up last year, the men’s water polo team is going to have its work cut out for it this season.
Even so, the Tigers have been pleasantly surprised by a team that has a greater work ethic and more team chemistry than the program has had in a number of years.
While the typical SCIAC team has a squad of twenty men, the Tigers have only eleven men on the team. Five of them are first-years, and only one is a senior.
However, many of the upperclassmen expressed that strong team unity is making for a uniquely tight-knit group that will allow them to go far in SCIAC.
“In my four years at Oxy, this team’s chemistry is one the best I have ever experienced. Everyone works extremely hard and no one gives up,” Captain Max Kelly (senior) said. “These guys are some of the best teammates I have ever played with in my water polo career.”
“What we lack in numbers and talent, we definitely make up for with togetherness and heart,” Austen Oliver (junior) added.
“The first-year players are really going to have to step up because of the team’s size, and play some positions they normally do not play,” Greg Benz (junior) said. “So far they have been doing a tremendous job.”Like past years, the water polo season is kicking off with numerous weekend-long tournaments.
While the team struggled in the Inland Empire Tournament last weekend, finishing 1-3, Kelly is very confident that the team will be successful in SCIAC competition.
“In our first tournament we showed everyone that we are still very much a contender for the SCIAC Championship and teams cannot take us lightly. It will definitely be an uphill battle, but our goal is to reach the Western Water Polo Association Tournament for the first time,” Kelly said.
With such a young group of players, the success of the team will be dependent on Kelly and the other upperclassmen for leadership and positive attitudes.”As a small, young team, it is imperative that we have a great captain that we can trust and look up to. Max has a great determination and more heart than anyone I have ever played water polo with,” Oliver said.
“The upperclassmen have been doing our best to help the younger players adjust to the increased physicality and speed of the college game,” Benz said.
Head Coach Larry Zubrin is also optimistic about this year’s squad.
“The coachability of this year’s team is better than any I’ve had at Occidental. [They] are very eager to learn and improve both individually and as a group. It makes our practices much more fun and efficient,” Zubrin said.
The Tigers spend about four hours practicing a day. In their early morning practices, they utilize a High Intensity Weight Training Program, consisting of weight lifting and anywhere between 5,000 and 7,000 meters of swimming.
In the afternoon, the team gets to have a bit more fun, working on game tactics and scrimmaging with a new member of the coaching staff, All-SCIAC former men’s water polo player Andrew Valdes ’09.
“I’m really happy to have Andrew on the staff. Both he and Scott Shannon [’06] do a great job . . . My other assistant Jon Bonefede is also an amazing coach,” Zubrin said. “He works primarily with our goalies, and right now, that’s the strongest part of our team.”
The team is currently at a 1-3 overall record, and has yet to play in a SCIAC conference game. Students get to see the team in action at its first home game on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Men’s water polo will play in the Cal Baptist Invitational, the Claremont Convergence Tournament, and several other non-conference games in upcoming weeks before facing Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in SCIAC play on Oct. 17.
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