Boys’ water polo, 0-11, played well this season, but it wasn’t easy. 

Even though the Gondos had little practice and lack of access to the pool, they still succeeded, according to coach Sophie Sabbah.

“I see our boys are putting everything they can into it,” she said. 

Senior Will Duerr described why this season was so challenging. 

“We jumped straight into the season without enough practice and a lack of upperclassmen,” Duerr said. “It was just challenging both physically and mentally.”

He spoke of how difficult it was to play this season, which resulted in making “too many mistakes due to lack of practice.”

“It means less finesse and skill,” he said. 

Sabbah said that the team had fewer opportunities to condition.

“All the schools we competed against, they’ve been in their pool since January and April,” she said. “We just got ours in October.” 

At the Gondos’ final match against El Camino Real Monday, November 1, the crowd was still enthusiastic. 

El Camino Real beat the Gondos 17-12. 

“When things get going, and the game starts to get unpredictable, the crowd tends to get excited.” 

Water polo is known to be more of a mind game than a physical one, Duerr said.

“Once you get frustrated, you start making obvious mistakes like messing up plays and forgetting the different strategies you can use to initiate play,” he said. 

Although the team lost, they still played like champs, Sabbah said.  

“I did not have big huge expectations, because we’ve been out of the pool for two years, but, I think they did amazing,” she said. “I think they did fantastic. And I look forward to next year.”