Season Preview: Women's Water Polo
by Stephen Morales
Throughout our current season preview releases, a general theme has been how the fall teams were able to enjoy a normal offseason for the first time in two years. Another has been mentioning the vast difficulties teams faced to return to action last fall off COVID lockdown, and how those teams dealt with said challenges.
No Huskies' program had more challenges to overcome in their return last year than Women's Water Polo - which is saying a lot.
When athletic programs were allowed to resume on-campus activities back on April 12 last year, Water Polo was left as near-literal fish out of water. Yes, they were able to resume activities, but they had no pool to resume them in. Partly because it took a few more weeks for the ban on indoor activities to be lifted, but mostly because the pandemic caused delays in planned ADA-upgrades to the ELAC swim stadium.
Water Polo had to wait all the way until mid-July to return to their pool. Three additional months of missed practice time, and three critical months of off-season recruiting missed because the program had no pool to show to prospective student-athletes. The culmination was - as one would expect - a seriously uphill battle throughout the fall 2021 season.
As we start the fall of 2022, with all the aforementioned bumps and obstacles behind them, Huskies' head coach Diana Romero is looking fully ahead to the new season. As she's finally able to again set her sights on reestablishing the Water Polo program on a solid path towards the future, we catch up with Coach Romero for a little Q & A on the upcoming season.
SM: Based on last year's results, what is your focus on going into this season?
DR: My focus going into this season is doing better than the previous year. Every year, we face a few obstacles, but we have tremendous leadership on our team. We have many who strive to be better, and they want to work hard."
SM: How was it having a more normal offseason in all aspects?
DR: Having a more normal season definitely feels so much better than last year. We were able to prepare a lot sooner. We had more athletes stick to a training routine. Many improved over the summer. "
SM: Any athletes you'd like us to keep an eye on this year?
DR: As we approach the season, some players that will make an impact right away will be Alina Perez. Another newcomer is Hannah Belt. She is very aggressive and won't stop at nothing to get the job done. She's definitely someone I'm excited to see grow in her role on the team. A returner from last season is Nathalie Martinez.
Coach Romero is certainly ready to have her team hit the pool and score a lot of goals this year.
Key Schedule Dates
Season Opener: vs Santa Monica at Cypress College Tournament, Friday September 2nd, 3pm
First SCC Game: at El Camino, Wednesday September 14th, 3pm
Home Opener: vs Long Beach, Wednesday October 5th, 3pm
Regular Season Finale: vs Chaffey, Wednesday October 26th, 3pm
SCC Tournament: November 3rd-4th