New guidelines mean Northwood water polo teams could possibly begin seasons soon

A look at the Northwood High pool, the home of the girls and boys water polo teams. (File photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Northwood High School Coach Kyle Kim-E welcomed Friday’s update on the return to play guidelines from the California Department of Public Health and the CIF.

It meant that the girls and boys water polo teams he coaches will be able to start their seasons soon if Orange County meets the coronavirus average of 14 or below per 100,000 residents.

“I’m ecstatic about today’s updates and I know that all of our water polo student-athletes are too,” Kim-E said Friday. “For the past six months, we have been constantly stressing patience, perseverance, and resilience.

“Although it took longer than we had hoped, it feels like a big win. 
I know that Pacific Coast League and Irvine Unified administrators are developing plans on how to get athletics back up and running as smoothly and quickly as possible.”

Kim-E said he is not sure about when the teams will launch their seasons, although the CIF has said it could be as early as Friday, Feb. 26 if the criteria is met. The season is scheduled to run through Saturday, March 20.

All the players are scheduled to get weekly coronavirus testing. 

“Until I have more information from our league and district administrators though, I don’t know exactly how scheduling will look,” Kim-E said. “I know that there will be some questions on how the testing requirements will look and whether that limits how many games we can play per week.

“But, on our aquatics side, we have successfully figured out a schedule that coexists with the swim team where we practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they use the pool for the rest of the week. This allows us to schedule games on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is when our league games normally are.

“Then, I would try to schedule away games on the other days of the week and try to schedule some Saturday games which could potentially be home games as well. Mondays and Saturdays seem like good days for games since IUSD isn’t having school in-person for those days.

“A potential schedule like this one would admittedly cut out a lot of practice time but I think at this rate, everyone would happily play games rather than practice. 

“The ultimate goal in a perfect world is to have as few conflicts as possible with our NHS swim teams and the city of Irvine club programs, while also scheduling as many game opportunities as possible for our water polo programs. 

“Although there are still a few hurdles left, I feel optimistic that we should have things figured out soon and will ultimately be trying to play as many games as we can before our seasons conclude on March 20.”

Cameron An, one of Northwood’s top returning players, said he is also looking forward to the start of the season.

“I was ecstatic when I heard the news on Friday, as I’m sure a lot of my teammates were,” said An, a three-year returning starter. “It’s been such a long ride this past year and just hearing that we have the opportunity to play games in the near future is very exciting. During the long off-season, I tried to attend as many club and high school practices as I could. When I could not attend either of those, I sometimes went to my community pool or lifted weights at my house to stay in shape.

“Conditioning drills have mostly consisted of swim sets, weight balls, and weight belts since we can’t have any contact during practices. For me, playing games this season doesn’t really affect my chances of getting interest from college teams because I’ve already submitted all my applications and received support from some of the coaches. 

“As of right now, I’m just waiting for decisions from most of my schools. It’s a bummer that COVID didn’t allow me to potentially get interest from other coaches before applications were due. My goal for this season is to just have fun with my teammates. This will probably be my last time competing with all these guys so I will really treasure this opportunity.”

Northwood junior Sanjana Venkatesh was also excited to hear that the girls water polo team would be playing soon. Venkatesh was an All-CIF and all-league goalie last year along with being the team captain and MVP on the Timberwolves’ league championship team.

“Finding out water polo would happen again was really a shock, I didn’t expect to be playing so soon given the restrictions that have been in place for so long,” she said. “I’m really excited to be able to play a few games and showcase our hard work that we’ve put in these past few months. I’ve been practicing with my club team during this off-season and I attended a tournament in Utah, which were my first games in a year.

“At the beginning of quarantine, it was hard to find anywhere to swim so a couple of girls on the team and I got together and started practicing at my community pool, which was a great way to keep in shape. With the high school team, we did weights and pool practices at the beginning of the school year and did a lot of swimming due to the fact that we couldn’t pass or shoot on goalies.

“Conditioning drills have been a lot, both mentally and physically, but I’m so proud of the girls for sticking through all the morning practices and swim sets. They put their 100 percent effort every day, which I think shows a lot about our team. Provided we begin in March, our goal is always to defend our league championship title and win PCL, but this season, I think it will also be about finally playing with the team and having fun. We’ve all been working so hard, and to finally be able to play this year after so much uncertainty is the best result we could ask for.

“I have decided to play water polo in college, and I am hoping that next year I can have the chance to commit to a college.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com