Mark Morris Water Polo:
Rebuilding the Legacy
There was a moment in my life where if my alarm clock yelled at me before nine o’clock in the morning, I would probably rip it out of the wall and try to stuff it down the garbage disposal. Unfortunately, I would probably then realize that by doing this I would not only have inadvertently gotten myself out of bed, which is what my annoying bed side companion was trying to get me to do anyway, but now I am forced to buy myself a new clock along with a new garbage disposal. This must be true given the fact that I have not seen many industrial strength garbage disposals that could eat an alarm clock, or any other form of electronics for that manner. This time in my life is much different however, and when I was given the opportunity to do my volunteer work at my old high school as the assistant water polo coach, getting out of bed at four o’clock in the a.m. was not as bad as I would have figured it to be.
My old high school coach used to tell us that as gentlemen we need to allow the women the better practice time. This meant that we had to get our two hour work out in before the sun even got up, and the girls swim team can sleep in and slowly make their way to the pool after school at their leisure. At the time we were not entirely happy with that tradition, because it was not very appealing to roll out of your warm bed and land in a cold pool. Now, 11 years later, I am happy to say that this is one of the conventions that I see continue throughout this program. Unfortunately it is one of the only traditions that still exists between the hours of 5 a.m and 7 a.m..
During my time playing water polo for Mark Morris High School, we had a strong since of what it meant to be a team. It was what we were, and it guided the way we acted and behaved toward one another outside of the pool. It did not matter what circle you were in, because no matter what, we had one another’s back. We took care of our team, and there was nothing stronger than that bond that we all shared. Oh, and we were also very good. It was that sort of mentality that I found myself missing when I walked on the deck for the first time as the coach of this very new and completely different organization.
Let me start by saying that, outside of learning of my wife’s pregnancy, showing up as the new coach was one of the most surreal moments of my life. As you enter the pool, you get the overwhelming smell of chlorine. It is a smell to many that burns the nose and causes mild nasal discomfort, but to us water sport enthusiasts it is the smell of hard work, great victories, mind numbing losses, and brotherhood. Boy, it smells good! The dark hallway opens up to a water arena equipped with all you need to host any event. There is a diving board at one end, starting blocks and buzzer at the other. On either side of the pool there was what I had been looking for, water polo nets warn and dried out from countless competitions. Next to them, garbage cans filled with old water polo balls, each marked by their years of service.
I really did not know what to expect the first time I made an appearance as the new water polo coach for this organization. How were the players going to respond to me? Was I going to have the ability too motivate and inspire them to work their hardest? Could I be the guy that my coach was too me, or was I going to be more of a joke? Dealing with elementary students is one thing, but high schoolers had the potential to look at me much differently. At this moment though my worries had to go on the back burner. It was to late to put much thought into it now, because I had chosen to get myself into this, and I needed to make the best of what I was trying to become.
The new head coach was probably feeling much of the trepidation that I had been experiencing, plus some. This was also his first year coaching, and he had to put a lot more in to the organization aspect of the team along with trying to learn what I was trying to learn, and build what I was trying to build. We were unable to show any of our fears as the season started, because we knew that we were relied on by a group of young men, counting on us to lead them, and there parents, wanting the best possible experience for their children. The coach and I had met before the season started, and had a plan set for the first day of practice. There was nothing to do now but wait and see how this was all going to work out.
As the first wave of sleepy eyed water polo players walked out on to the deck for the first time, the season had officially began. I had looked on line for coaching tips, and how some coaches lay out their season. What I found out is that conditioning is the key to opening practices. As the year starts, players are inclined to work their hardest. The beginning of the year holds promise to more victories and a better spot on the team, so they tend to push themselves harder to either impress the coaches or to increase their chances of a winning streak. So, for the first two weeks we worked on swimming and building endurance with a minimal focus on game skills.
Unfortunately for us the season had started later than we wanted it to. We didn’t have all of our guys available at first. Being that it was the end of summer break there were some of our veteran players that were out on vacation with their families. We had to eventually cut down on conditioning and increase skill practice. This is were I came in. I have been involved with water polo for many years and between coach and I, I had more knowledge of the game and better understanding of training. This is the moment when I found out that high school kids are not much different then I had anticipated. When you hold yourself high, demand respect from both coaches and players, the guys in the water hang on every word coming out of your mouth.
These practice times had been a combination of both extreme frustrations and great advancement. The coach for this team in the previous years had really tried her hardest to reinvent the sport. By doing so, she had also created innumerable bad habits, and unrecognizable play strategies. These guys needed a complete overhaul on what they thought they knew. There were many times I felt that there was not anything that I could do to help them see what I saw. Contrary to those moments, there were times when I could not have been happier with what I was seeing.
Four weeks after we started our journey, we had our first game. I will always remember the moment that followed after pulling up to our competitor’s pool. We all filed off of the bus, and stood around like no body had any idea of what to do or expect. After looking around for a brief moment coach told us to wait around and he would run up to the pool and see what we need to do. As he left I decided that it would be a good moment to talk with the guys and try to motivate them as well as remind them what we had been working on. It took a while to get their attention, and I started to feel as if I was the only one there that took this seriously. I have to admit that I got a little emotional, not to the point of releasing the water works, but still enough to get worked up. I remember standing there thinking about my experiences with my team and then with their team (which is now also my team). It seemed at that moment that I just opened my mouth and the words poured from it as if by turning on a faucet and breaking off the handle.
“You guys need to know that you are not here alone, and that there is a lot more to this team that you do not see. There is a lot that we, as coaches, do before you get in the water and after you crawl out, so we are all here together. I need you all to get serious right now. We are a team, and we need to act as a team, and we need to treat each other as one of our own, as a brother. This is our moment. It’s our time to shine, to make a stance, to put all of our hard work into going in there and giving it all that we have. Walk in like you own the place, with your head held high. Win or lose, do the same when you walk out. I am here to make this work, and I will not role over for anybody, so if you are willing to fight with me let’s go in there and rebuild our legacy.”
The rest of the season was full of similar moments, and despise our losing record, we saw much improvement with what we had started. Parents would approach me and beg me to continue on with these boys the following year. There has never been an experience until now were I felt so good about what I had chosen to do with my life. I continued working on the deck as a positive figure, and eventually got to take a team of junior varsity kids to a state competition. I will never get over the feeling of being called coach, and maybe this coach will eventually rebuild this program to what he remembers it to have been years ago. A lone team working their hardest to shine even before the sun gets a chance to.
