The CHS varsity water polo team is off to a respectable 8-10 start for its 2010 season.  Leading the team in their quest for a successful district tournament showing are J.B. Garfinkel, Luke Madson, and Brett Downey.

Garfinkel has led the team in scoring with 81 goals already this season.  He will be the team’s key to success in post season play for a conference, district or state title.  However, Garfinkel is far from the most important part of the team.  He has a supporting cast of competent swimmers that aid him in his final season at CHS.

Six other players, male or female as water polo is a coed sport, assist Garfinkel in the pool during a game.  One of these six is sophomore Alex Yepez.  Yepez starts for the team and enjoys his experience as a part of the water polo club.

“My favorite part about water polo is passing and shooting,” Yepez said.  “Proper combinations of these concepts make for memorable and beastly goals.”  Although offense may be a more enjoyable part of the game, a successful water polo team has both a relentless offense and a shut-down defense.

The CHS offense is an “umbrella” formation.  There is a hole-man who sits in front of the opposing team’s goal.  Two wings, one on each side of the pool are apart from each other on either sides of the goal.  Two drivers are also in position on the sides of the pool, ready to swiftly swim down towards the goal to receive the ball.

The wings can pass up to the hole-man or the drivers.  If the drivers do not receive the ball, they return back towards the middle of the pool and essentially switch positions with the wings.  The team looks to for a set, passing up to the hole-man, so he can shoot and preferably score.

The defense is much less organized, but still effective.  Each guard simply swims with his opponent, man to man, to attempt to keep him from shooting, passing, or receiving a pass.  It is essential that each defender guards one offensive player or else somebody will become open to pose as a threat of scoring.

“The most difficult part about water polo is endurance,” Yepez said.  “A good water polo player must be able, more or less, to swim quickly for 20 minutes straight. It is challenging to guard very fast offensive players and to get around quick defenders.”

Teamwork is an important part to water polo as it is much more difficult to maneuver in water as opposed to on ground.  The team aspect to the game was lacking at first to the Clayton club, but they have gotten better as the season moves along.

“The team is moderately successful because of the determination and hard work all team members put in as well as the leadership and skill exhibited by our strongest players,” Yepez said.  With the end of the school year approaching, districts for all spring sports is not far off.

The water polo team hopes to immortalize themselves by putting a plaque up on the walls of CHS.  Yepez has high aspirations for his team while looking towards the future.

“I think the team will do well in districts because we have improved a lot since the beginning of the season,” Yepez said.  “We now go harder and cooperate better. These attributes will lead us to some success.”