Most Seaholm students are asleep at 5:45 AM on weekdays.
Most students, except the girls water polo team.
Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning one can find the whole team in the Seaholm pool getting ready for their next tournament or just improving their skills.
“The team is a huge time commitment,” said senior Juliana Bada. “I wake up at 5:15, go to practice, get ready for school in the locker room, grab a quick bite to eat, go to school, go back to practice, go home to sleep, then do it all again the next day.”
The girls practice five days a week with up to four hours of practice a day.
“Starting Monday 29 we will have three hour afternoon practices, two hours in the pool, and one hour of weights every day,” said junior Ashley Averill. “Some days we have morning practices. So next week, every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we have four hour practices a day.”
The morning practices occur every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Mondays and Tuesdays typically include sprints and suicides for conditioning purposes. Thursday mornings consist of the entire team doing yoga.
“The early morning practices are killer,” said Averill.
Evening practices on Mondays and Tuesdays are spent improving game skills, strategies, and plays. At the beginning of every practice the team does sprints, practices passing in small groups, and treads water. The afternoon practices are broken up into two parts. For the first portion of practice, the team is in the pool for two hours. For the second portion, they lift weights for an hour.
“I really enjoy doing something fun and original,” said Bada.
Although it is important that the entire team makes it to practice, coach Chalmers McGillivray knows that school is important to the girls. He has told them that their studies come before the game.
“He gives us three on-deck study days that don’t count against our attendance records,” said Averill. “To get a Varsity letter, we are expected to attend 90 percent of practices and games.”
Along with practicing practically every day, the team also has tournaments almost every weekend.
“On the weekends there seems to always be a tournament,” said sophomore Abbey London. “I believe we only have one weekend without a tournament.”
Being on the team is more than worth the huge time commitment, according to several members.
“It’s an ongoing cycle that leaves me absolutely exhausted but it’s totally worth it,” said Bada.
“It’s an ongoing cycle that leaves me absolutely exhausted but it’s totally worth it,” said Bada.
Along with improving their skills, the many practices also bring all of the teammates closer together.
“One of the benefits of so much practice is that we spend so much time together, that when it comes to a game situation our communication comes so easily,” said Bada. “We know what our teammates abilities are and we push each other to be better.”
