Water polo is a sport where standing still isn’t an option. It already takes a lot of energy just to stay afloat, but the water polo players do it like it’s second nature.
The team is made up of both JV and Varsity teams, led by head coach Mr. Kevin Van Such.
“I think we have like seven or eight freshmen and another seven sophomores, so that’s really good to see.”
Mookie Dombar ’27
Sixth Former Mookie Dombar notes an additional surge of new freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s really refreshing to see a lot of new guys coming in. We have a lot of young guys on the team. I think we have like seven or eight freshmen and another seven sophomores, so that’s really good to see. There are guys really working hard and really getting after it,” Dombar said.
The water polo team opened its season with mixed results, going 3-2 at their first tournament: The Philmore Cup in Maryland.
“[We had] one really close loss and another where we kind of just got blown out,” said Dombar. “But I think it really shows us our baseline of what we’re capable of, and we have a lot of potential to be really good this year.”
One of the team’s major goals is winning the largest high school and youth club water polo tournament on the East Coast: the Beast of the East.
“We want to be Flight One, which is the top-eight teams in that tournament,” Sixth Former Ezra Walters said. “Then we want to win Easterns, which is our end-of-season, big conference tournament.”
This year, the team is striving to establish a stronger culture that aims to find the balance between having fun and hard work.
“Personally, my goal is kind of just to foster a community of brotherhood on the team.”
Ezra Walters ’27
“The team kind of just moved to, ‘Oh, it’s just a big play date where everyone’s laughing, goofing off, and having fun.’ While that is obviously still important for building team chemistry, we need to reinstate that sentiment of, ‘We are better than other teams because we work harder than other teams.’ We’re really pushing to fulfill that sentiment in practice by encouraging hard work and leading by example,” Dombar said.
Walters wants to focus on team camaraderie.
“Personally, my goal is kind of just to foster a community of brotherhood on the team. We’ve had a lot of problems in the locker room before, and I kind of want to turn away from that time and build towards something better for the future,” Walters said.
Dombar also notes Fourth Former Brian Lentz as a promising rising goalkeeper, praising his growth throughout the years.
“I’m also really excited to help Brian Lentz grow as a player and watch him develop into a better goalie,” Dombar said. “He got so much better over the offseason playing club and summer. He is definitely better than I was when I was his age.”
Though it’s great to have outstanding players in the season, the best outcome is to make the whole team take a place in the spotlight.
“I really hope this year, while we do have standouts like [Sixth Formers] Thomas [Springer], Henry [McDade], and Mookie [Dombar], everyone thinks of the whole team when they think of the water polo team,” Walters said. “They’re not just thinking, ‘Oh my God, some guys are just so good ’; they’re thinking, ‘Wow, this team really works together.’ They’re able to move the ball, get goals, and get good blocks as a team, not just as individuals.”
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