Sherpa hoodies:

T-Shirts:

Order form:

<Will be attached later this week>

Here are a few of the reason given for losing:

• No clocks
• Unfair reffing
• Bad coaching
• Other team is too physical
• Teammates not coming back on defense
• Teammates taking bad shots
• Teammates making bad passes
• No used to shallow end
• We warmed up too much
• We didn’t warm up enough

I could probably list more, but I ask that the reader carefully looks at the list and tries to find a common thread. If you look carefully at each of the above excuses, the one thing missing from all of them is the player himself.

Let’s say that I am a horrible coach. Let’s say the refs are completely biased and make up arbitrary rules as we go along. Let’s say, that you are the only person on the team who is working hard and trying. Let’s say that……..you get the drift.

Even if all of these things are true, for better of for worse, this is the team you committed to and this is the hand that life dealt you. The only thing that you will always be in control of is you reaction.

• What are you going to do when you get a “bad” teacher in college? Excuse away bad grades?
• What are you going to do when you get a “bad” boss or a “crappy” job? Quit out of principle and not provide for your family?
• What are you going to do when faced with a tragedy in life? Stop living, be miserable?
• What are you going to do when those around you lie and cheat and compromise their integrity for the sake of success or popularity? Give up your integrity as well?

I beg you all to consider that how you teach yourself to react to a bad game or difficult situation now, WILL stay with you your entire life. Right now, in the game you just played, you are learning to deal with adversity.

So, please, please, do NOT feel bad for yourself, do NOT complain about external forces beyond your control, do NOT react in anger, do NOT let this loss go to waste.

Carefully think about the things you could have done to better prepare. How can you better support your team? What will you do next time you face an insurmountable challenge.

Tomorrow we play Rio Mesa, and we still have there more games. You all get to choose right now, how the next two weeks will go. Are we going to concede defeat and go through the motions, or will you all go into every game with renewed focus and determination. None of the next four games are pre-determined. No matter what happens tomorrow, we CAN beat Oxnard, we CAN beat Pacifica, we CAN beat Hueneme…but how badly to you guys want to win and make it to CIF this year?

For the next two weeks, don’t play for me, your parents, or anybody else. Make sure you walk away from every contest proud of yourselves and confident that you gave all that you have.

HERE is a video to cement this mentality.

Lets do this,

Matt

ONE LAST WEEKEND to get through!!

Next weekend is our third of three double tournament weekends…we are in the home stretch of a marathon.  Needless to say, Lance and I are proud of everyone and grateful to all the parents.

I want to specifically thank Lance as I could not do this without his support.

Here are the schedules for this upcoming weekend:

Ventura JV Toruney           (<—-Click here to download!!!)

Oxnard Varsity Tourney   (<—-Click here to download!!!)

This week and next:

10/11 Tuesday @Hueneme – V-3:15pm  JV-4:15pm  Fr-None      @ Hueneme (<-Click)
10/13 Thursday vs Pacifica – V-3:15pm JV-4:15pm Fr(2)-5:15pm @ RMHS
10/14-10/15 Fri/Sat- JV and Varsity Tourneys (NO BUS, MUST CARPOOL)
10/18 Thursday @ Oxnard – V-3:15pm JV-4:15pm Fr(2)-5:15pm @ Oxnard Pool
10/19  Team Photos @ RMHS
10/20 Thursday vs CI- V-3:15pm JV-4:15pm Fr(2)-5:15pm @ RMHS

Polo Shirts

We will be taking orders for Polo Shirts immediately to ensure that we get them ASAP. Order forms (See Lisa Fadden) will be handed out today or tomorrow and due by Thursday directly to Lisa (do NOT hand them to Coach or leave them in a box). Lisa Fadden (lisamfadden@gmail.com, 803-491-8836)

Please wait a day before bugging Lisa as we are still working out the details (:

Shirts will be professionally embroidered with team logo and year and will be delivered by late next week. Cost will be $21/shirt.

Thanks,

Matt

Thanks,

Matt

Tomorrow, we will NOT have practice, but WILL have our boys game vs Pacifica at 7pm…same players as last monday.

I’m really proud of both teams…

-Coach Matt

1) Since there seems to be some confusion about games, let me clarify:

All boys who are physically able to attend on BOTH Monday AND Thursday nights are to show up!!!!! There is no Varsity, JV, or Frosh right now…Unless you speak with me DIRECTLY and I explicitly tell you otherwise, I expect all players to be in attendance. You may play or you may help with clocks/setup, but either way you need to be there.

2) Right now there are NO teams…cuts are pretty much guaranteed to happen.

Do NOT let me hear anybody speak about “Senior Privilege” or “I’m not going to be cut, they need me.” or “This team is lucky to have me” or anything along those lines. This is a rebuilding year, returning Juniors and Seniors are being kept for the leadership they offer…if you do not plan to tow the company line and help reshape this team, you may want to reconsider your future plans with us. Be a positive force on the team or get out….

Please check in during that period and complete the following:

 Roll-out and stretching - 15 min
 Cardio Warmup           - 15 min
 Abs/Core                - 15 min
 Upper (MW)/Lower (TTh)  - 30 min
 Stretch Again           - 15 min

• NO “Polo School” For Now….Just weights!

• Yes, we have games this week, please scroll down for times and instructions. If you can’t find the scroll bar, CLICK HERE

Summer is pretty much here! I hope that everyone is on the ball and has been keeping up with their grades. I am still working hard on summer tourneys and events and both boys and girls seasons.

RSVP For June Games Required

As I cannot coach nor coordinate games over the dead period (read end of post), Christa Hansen and Suzy Galan have volunteered to ensure that we have enough people for each game and that everyone will get to play.

Boys and Girls With NO Experience

Please show up to support and learn on any nights you are free to do so. Boys, we really need help on Wednesday night as we are hosting

ALL Boys With ANY Playing Experience

Please respond to BOTH nights regardless of anticipated level of play; we will likely need some Varsity players to ALSO show up Thursday and some Frosh Players to show up Monday.

Monday    6/13, On deck at 9:10
Thursday  6/16, On deck from 8pm->10pm
Monday    6/20, On deck at 7:10
Thursday  6/23, On deck from 8pm->10pm
Monday    6/27, On deck at 8:20
Thursday  6/30, On deck from 8pm->10pm

Please contact Christa Hansen: hansen_christa@hotmail.com with the nights you are in town. If you need a ride or can offer a ride, please let her know so she can connect you guys.

ALL Girls With ANY Playing Experience

Tuesday 6/21, On deck at 6:45, vs Oxnard
Tuesday 6/28, On deck at 8:15, vs CIA

Please contact Suzy Galan: suzygalan5@gmail.com with the nights you are in town. If you need a ride or can offer a ride, please let her know so she can connect you guys.

Weightroom For Next Week

We are in the weight room next week M-Th at ACHS 7:15am-8:45am. I will also be holding polo school after weights for all athletes on Thursday.

Dead Period

June is technically our “Dead Period”, here is what this means:

I may ONLY work directly with athletes in the weightroom or classroom stuff. Running and pool coach-led workouts are strictly prohibited. I also MAY NOT Coach them directly in games during this period.

Athletes are permitted (and strongly encouraged) to engage voluntarily in the following:

Weightroom and Classroom Training

League Games (These are through USA WP and neither Lance nor I will be coaching during the dead period)

Hikes (These are an optional activity and are not mandatory workouts; If you want to hike, I am letting you know when and where I am going)

Team BBQ/Dinners (Again, optional…)

One athlete in particular hands me their tourney list…only one tournament out of the five is filled out. The conversation goes something like this:

“Is this enough coach?” they say.
“Well, it is summer. I take it you guys are going on several trips?” I respond.
“No, It’s just that we lost our entire team last year and are going to lose everything. Losing sucks…I hate losing..etc”

Now, being completely honest, my initial response was not incredibly positive: “These ungrateful kids!! I am giving up my summer for them…don’t they see this!? Do they really think I want to be gone nearly every weekend to drive hours away for a handful of games which may very well be frustrating to coach” And it went on in a similar fashion from there…

Now this is all happening around other people and several parents, so I give him a honest, yet very watered down, response: “This is how we get better”, “Tourneys are fun”, “You’ll bond with the team”, etc… All of those sentiments are true, but, in hindsight, the fact that they even raised the question highlights a failure on my part to set the proper mindset and tone.

Right now, these emails, this summer, and next year are the first step on a very long journey. We will be great…we will be a legendary program…we will help set the standard for what a great waterpolo team is. This, however, will not happen overnight, nor will it happen in a year. We, as one team, are starting on a journey which will make us all stronger, better people. Some will be with the program long enough to see us make some amazing accomplishments
(league, 2nd/3rd round CIF). Some will move on before we get there,  hopefully taking what they have learned here and making a mark in the world that awaits them out there.

As I hope the kids will learn, water polo is a very small part of what we are doing here; These kids may never be asked to stop a counter attack after high school, but they will need to face failure, challenge, adversity, and be able to work with diverse groups of conflicting personalities to reach common goals.

So, back the original theme of: “Dear God, we are going get killed over the summer!” This….this may very well be the case. I plan to achieve amazing growth as a team over the summer, but we simply do not have teams chock full of big, experienced seniors. Our varsity teams will consist of many Sophomores and some Freshmen, some of whom only have a year or so experience. What we lack in experience, strength, and size must be made up for with heart, dedication, and focus. This next year will be a challenge and will be the ultimate test of just how much we all want to accomplish our goals.

I say “Challenge Accepted!!!” and I invite all of you to join me on this adventure.

Let’s kick some ass,

Coach Matt