Boys water polo builds a team, a program

The Aragon boys varsity water polo team had its final match of the season against Carlmont on Oct. 31. The Dons scored ten goals, but still lost to the Scots 10-7 due to a miscommunication between the players and the referee. In the fourth quarter, the referee deducted three points from Aragon and set the game back to the third quarter because an ejected player continued to play. During the miscommunication, the referee did not tell the ejected player or the coach and penalized the Dons by erasing the three goals Aragon had scored while the ejected player was playing.

Says senior and team captain Daniel Gorn, “The second half of the third quarter and first half of the fourth quarter were erased due to a technicality…and that segment of time coincided with a period of Aragon dominance… I just think the refs should have calmed down about the technicalities of the game and just let the game be played out as the players play it.”

After the call, Gorn and junior Rick Miyagi gave a speech to motivate the team. “They can take our goals, but they can’t take our momentum. They can take minutes that we played well away, but they can’t take the rest of the game from us,” Gorn said to the team. Following the motivating words, the Dons outscored the Scots in the fourth quarter 2-1.

“Even though it wasn’t the greatest result, we played our hearts out, left it in the pool, and gave it out 200 percent,” commented Miyagi. “I think both teams knew that performance wise, the game was won by us.”

“Daniel and Rick’s speech definitely gave us motivation… and we took their words into action,” says senior Brian Lin.

Wednesday’s loss meant the Dons ended fifth in their league this season. The loss also meant the team lost their chance to compete against the number one ranked team in the Ocean Division in the Central Coast Sectional tournaments.

Despite the loss, Gorn still remained positive and says, “This was the first time this year something happened that everyone started play better… as a family… The fact that the team fought afterwards shows tremendous mental fortitude.”

Coach Nick Gonzales brought a new system to the team when he began coaching the team two years ago. At the start of this season, the team moved up from the Ocean Division to the Bay Division in the Peninsula Athletics League after finishing third last season.

On top of implementing a new system, Coach Gonzales also motioned for a year round program like other schools in the Bay Division. Miyagi adds, “[The past coaches] knew the sport of water polo, but their only objective was to coach the season. Nick’s trying to create a year round program, so it’s not just like a two month thing – especially because we get compared to private schools, who play year round.”

Miyagi concludes, “This year was a stepping stone year. We already have a general idea of how we want to play next year.”