By Eric Pineda
@evpineda311
Whistles, speed caps, and water vigorously splashing everywhere call for a time of competition and excitement. It however takes the right pool of talent to make the difference between a winning or losing season.
The men’s water polo team is headed in to their second year and looking to capitalize on the teams experiences from season.
Head coach, Rob Arroyo, understands what it means to differentiate and create success as he has been a coach for several years at numerous schools, including one year at Las Positas College.
Arroyo has been working diligently with assistant coach Jason Craighead and is one-week shy of his team’s first game. He hopes to develop his players and get them to the next level. He would like to see them succeed.
This year the coaches are working to exploit player’s weaknesses and strengths to prepare and create better opportunities in their upcoming matches. .
“We had a couple players that helped lead the way a lot last year.” Arroyo said. “Andrew Kettenhofen, Sasha Lazzererschi and Jeremy Usedom.lead us academically and were our top three scorers, and top three in assists.”
Lazzererschi thinks that there are a few areas the team could focus more on including working on defense, being aware of the ball and staying in shape.
“We’re able to put 15 goals on the scoreboard, no problem,” he said. “Defensively is where we really got hurt. Being in shape on defense and being aware of the ball is what we want to emphasize this season.”
Some training these players do to prepare for this upcoming season include a 300m warm up, passing drills as well as shooting exercises.
Veteran Erik Lundeen explains that with the development of last year’s training and hard work and effort, the team should be a lot more water polo savvy and connected with each other.
“They have come a long way,” Lundeen said. “They have put a lot of work in during the summer to start the season strong.”
The men’s season begins on Friday, September 2nd and coaches encourage Las Positas students to support their athletes at the games and be open to taking water polo classes.
“It’s a sport that people can play and enjoy, it’s just a matter of creating awareness,” said Arroyo.