Thursday, November 30, 2017

LJ g water polo: 'Havana'

Havana, ooh na-na (ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na
All of my heart is in Havana (ay)

                        "Havana" by Camila Cabello

By Ed Piper

Visitor (eyeing a peanut butter sandwich): "Oh, you eat that? Now I know what water polo players eat."

Same visitor later during break between scrimmages (seeing a Viking buying a mango smoothie from the concession stand at the Rancho Bernardo High pool): "Now I know that water polo players like smoothies, too."

La Jolla players' reaction: "Huh?"

"We like mac and cheese in Panera bread bowls, with a baguette on the side," called out a varsity team member.

Music was playing out of a player's portable speaker. Coach Amy Jennings was a short distance away, standing alongside opposing coaches, using the back of the metal spectator stands as a convenient prop to lean against.

La Jolla had just vanquished the host team, the Broncos, 14-1, in a game that didn't count, with all hands on deck. Even freshman newcomer Kyla Westfall got into the scoring act.

The vibe between practice games was good. The vibe was confident. These are highly-skilled club veterans. The Vikings trifled with their opponents, dangling the ball in the air at point-blank range in front of the RB goal, then firing the ball in to the unguarded sides of the cage for easy scores toward the latter stages of the scrimmage.

A running clock, with 20-minute halves, was used. Several other teams and their family members were coming and going as the six hours of games continued.

It was hot.

Regarding how she handled slimming her varsity roster from 19 swimmers to 17, Jennings said, "They were a sophomore and a freshman. The sophomore is brand-new to the sport, so she knew it was coming. We talked. I encouraged her to keep growing." These two were moved down to the junior varsity, so they'll see a ton of playing time there.

Characterizing the select 17 who survived the cut and make up the 2017-18 roster, the veteran coach, in her second year at La Jolla High, said, "We're a little bigger than last year. We have some players from the Shores (club). A majority play for the La Jolla club" run by Tom Atwell, the long-time LJHS boys water polo coach.

The vibe back among the girls continued. Munching, chatting, relaxing to music. Recharging for the second scrimmage.

Senior Kiley McClure piped up. A reporter asked if she knew Evan Brown. "I'm going out with Evan Brown," McClure said. "He's a junior. You robbed the cradle," joked the visitor. She laughed.

"Tell he him he failed to respond to my text." "I'll text him," she said. Brown, on the Viking varsity basketball team, responded immediately: "Sorry I didn't respond over Thanksgiving. I just came back from a broken wrist."

No comments:

Post a Comment