Captains of the Week: Girls Water Polo
Girls water polo captains smile outside of the Academy Building. Owen Dudley
By JACK CASSIDY and LANG GOU
With the weather getting increasingly warmer, most Exonians want to jump in the pool to cool down.However, the pool is thep lace where the girls varsity water polo team gets heated.At the core of this team are senior captains Jade Pierce and Claire Fu.
Coming to Exeter, bothPierce and Fu were new to the sport. Pierce, who came from a competitive swimming background, discussed her journey joining the waterpolo team. “I’ve swum my whole life and didn’t even know water polo existed. My prep year I met fellow prep, Matt Dame, who was on the boys water polo team.” Pierce continued, “When he found out I swam he convinced me to try out for the team. At first,I didn’t want to, but spring rolled around, and I found myself trying out anyway.”
Since then, Pierce said she has experienced extraordinary growth as an athlete. Coach Blitzshaw commented on her improvement. “Jade elected to try playing goalie this season and has dramatically improved in a position that was new to her in the last several games.” Blitzshaw said Fu has also shown significant growth as a player, becoming a team player and a flexible myself trying out anyway.”
Since then, Pierce said she has experienced extraordinary growth as an athlete. Coach Blitzshaw commented on her improvement. “Jade elected to try playing goalie this season and has dramatically improved in a position that was new to her in the last several games.” Blitzshaw said Fu has also shown significant growth as a player, becoming a team player and a flexible player able to fit in any role. “Claire has moved into more of a utility role this season and we’ve appreciated her calm demeanor particularly in the offensive set while maintaining a strong perimeter shot and key to our 6-on-5 where she is our primary 1 position player.”
Blitzshaw also commented on the overall growth of the team. “It has been a season of tremendous growth. We are a young and novice team with heaps of potential and it is exciting to see the vast improvement every single player is making.” She continued, “Even with our inexperience, we’ve dominated the sprints winning over 90% of them over the course of the season so far and we’ve capitalized on many of our 6-on-5 opportunities.”
The impact by the captains has been tremendous — alongside coach Blitzshaw, they’ve managed to forge a team of solid polo players from a fairly new group. We can expect girls polo to thrive moving forward in the season, and in coming years.
These captains aren’t only great athletes, but also strong leaders. Blitzshaw commented on the leadership of these two captains. “Claire and Jade have been excellent leaders for girls polo.” She continued, “They not only lead by example with their strong work ethic in the pool but also by spearheading team bonding activities, like our weekly Secret Psychs.”
The captains support their teammates in and out of the pool and are loved by the team. Prep Shawna Jiang said that her captains are “always there for me on and off deck.” She continued, “Everyone is really supportive and will cheer for you whenever you’re in the water no matter if you score or not.”
With Pierce and Fu as captains, the outlook for the remainder of the season is positive. Blitzshaw said the quality they best exhibit is “leading by example to put in their best efforts at practices and games.”
The team is preparing for their final game against Andover. Prep Mena Boardman summarized the team’s attitude. “Andover’s gonna be really good. It’s our last game, so we have to win.”
