On Thursday October 26th, the Selma High’s JV and varsity boys water polo team, along with the girl’s varsity team, will be celebrated on their Senior Night. The event promises to be a significant occasion honoring the senior athletes’ devotion and hard work throughout the season.
“My journey in water polo has been great, I have loved the sport ever since I started playing my freshman year,” said senior Alyssa Vasquez.
Vasquez has been involved in the sport since her freshman year. A resilient player whose efforts have led to becoming the varsity team captain, and in her lead teaching her teammates.
“I’ve had a lot of memorable experiences in this sport. This season I’m most proud of my teaching moments. Since I was voted to be captain, I’ve been teaching [the] girls techniques to get better” Vasquez said.
The season has led the girls through many adversities. But even so, they choose to focus on the improvements and good moments.
“I’ve always taught the girls to try their best. Winning is always a bonus, however, sometimes it just doesn’t happen and that’s okay.” said Chrystelle Jaramillo, the varsity girls’ water polo coach.
Coach Jaramillo’s focus lies not only on the team’s sports accomplishments, but the efforts and dedication of her athletes too. She believes in honoring hard work as a testament for emerging victorious.
“I want my seniors to always remember that everyone is human,” she confessed.“We learn from our mistakes and we grow from our mistakes. If something doesn’t work out for you, it’s okay to start over and try again. with every situation we’re given we don’t always win, with loss there always comes an opportunity to become better.”
With the season ending, many players find themselves reminiscent of their journey.
“It feels really sad that I am nearing the end of my water polo journey,” confessed senior varsity captain Caleb Contreras. “What it means to me is that I need to soak up the practices we have left, and play my heart out in these last games.”
Caleb Contreras began his tread as a water polo athlete last season.
“I knew how to swim, but wasn’t equipped for the endurance of constantly swimming, and swimming fast amongst others,” Contreras said.
He expressed that his team along with his coaches have been a big factor in his development. “Thanks to them I’ve become the player that I am today. I went from starting out as someone who knew how to swim, to the team captain of the varsity boys water polo team, and a very good player in the sport,” he continued.
Throughout the season, the players have been driven to develop in ways that exceed the sport.
“Although time isn’t taken out of our practices to reflect on their personal growth, it is visible in each and every one of the athletes just by the way they’re learning to carry themselves,” stated Coach Marcus Valdez.
Valdez is the JV boys water polo coach, who also plays a part in coaching the Varsity boys team. Valdez’s philosophy in coaching involves trying to help the athletes realize what they are capable of.
“Even when they are tired physically I encourage them to push themselves mentally and help them prove to themselves that they are strong and can handle more than they realize,” he stated. “Our biggest struggle as a team has been figuring out the balance between being a student and an athlete,” revealed Coach Valdez.
When the team faced off Reedley high school and lost, despite not achieving the desired outcome the athletes held a strong morale.
“I felt that the athletes learned how important it is for them to be there for their team and work as a unit rather than try to play as an individual.” said Coach Valdez.
Through their losses both teams strive for improvement at every step.
“We want to continue to improve our team chemistry and try to improve our offense, and communication in the pool before the season ends,” said Contreras.
As for the coaches, the season has brought forth self-reflection.
“Coaching has been an amazing experience where I’ve been able to see myself in so many of these athletes who have the drive to improve not only in their performance but also as individuals,” Coach Valdez said.
With the season’s end nearing, Valdez pushes his athletes to focus on what is important.
“I remind my players that they’ve played hard through the season with and for each other and to finish out strong together.”
Ultimately, the teams aim for triumph. Working to achieve outcomes that they find pride in.
“With our last couple games approaching I’ve prepared the players to compete in games I don’t expect to be pretty but I do expect our team to come out on top with a couple wins to bring our season to an end,” explained Coach Valdez.
