Regals Water Polo remains resolute amidst coaching staff suspension

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Photo by Marcel Hurtubise - Reporter

The Regals will look to continue the success of the Cal Lutheran water polo program this season following the Kingsmen’s historic 2022 season.

Marcel Hurtubise and Yousef Manna

Determined to surpass last season’s end in the semifinals of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, California Lutheran Universityโ€™s Regals water polo is prepared to tackle this year’s conference despite losing their entire coaching staff earlier in the pre-season.

According to Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communication Mark A. Berry and CLU Sports, Associate Athletic Director Brianne Talboom will manage the Regals water polo team.

With the water polo coaching staff getting suspended only a few weeks out from the Regalsโ€™ first game, they needed to train and come up with game plans and lineups by themselves.ย 

โ€œI went to UC San Diego last weekend to film both teams weโ€™re playing, CSUN and Concordia, so I filmed that and we kinda broke it down as a team,โ€ junior goalkeeper Izzy De Souza said. โ€œAnd from there we kinda figured out, like, what we had to work on, defensively, offensively. Just scouting like that.โ€

Swim and Dive Coach Jennifer Vreeke has stepped in to assist as a temporary interim coach for the Regals, which De Souza said has been a help to the program as it has brought more order and leadership to the team.ย 

โ€œMy main concern was making sure that these athletes were back in the water playing the sport that theyโ€™re gonna play,โ€ Vreeke said.

Though Vreeke said that she is limited by her being the diving coach, she wanted to help the womenโ€™s water polo team as much as she could.

De Souza said that the team captains are still helping with the overall planning of their training.

โ€œFor us, luckily, we have a lot of incoming freshmenโ€ฆwho are going to be really beneficial and theyโ€™re really going to help us out with some new skill,โ€ De Souza said.

Sophomore attacker Madeline Raab agrees that the team has a solid player base coming into the season, and is optimistic about what lies ahead.

โ€œI would just say this year we have a very balanced team of, like, sprinters and attackers and shooters, and I think weโ€™re gonna do very good,โ€ Raab said.

Raab also said that the team has benefitted from all the work they have put into the preparation.

โ€œWeโ€™ve just been practicing concepts in the pool, out of the pool. Just getting ready for our first two games,โ€ Raab said.

Vreeke said that coaching diving and water polo are two very different things, especially since she went from one diver to a full team of water polo players.

โ€œThis is a team sport, itโ€™s really high intensity. Diving is an individual sport, you know, itโ€™s very quiet, calculated,โ€ Vreeke said.

De Souza said that the team began the season making goals for themselves, both personally and for the team.

โ€œWe had a little buddy system and now that buddy system has kind of turned into the whole unit and holding each other accountable and helping each other out and becoming closer as a familyโ€ฆ Weโ€™re definitely gonna need to rely on one another this season in order to be successful,โ€ De Souza said.

Vreeke believes that the Regals have the potential and talent to make it further in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference than they did last year as long as they can come together during the season.

โ€œTheyโ€™re fully capable of it, I know that and they know that. But again the team dynamicโ€ฆ needs to be strong in order to get to that point,โ€ Vreeke said. โ€œAnd then seeing how successful the men were this year I think it really put them in a mindset of, โ€˜Oh, we can get to that point too, weโ€™re just as good,โ€™… I think that it has made all of them really aware that this program can get, not only have they gotten up to that standard, they can remain up at the top.โ€

The Regals are looking forward to pushing through the season and showing off their talent in the SCIAC tournament this year.

โ€œWeโ€™re all a family and Iโ€™m just excited for all of us to accomplish our goals together this year,โ€ Raab said.

On Saturday, Feb. 11 the Regals played against Cal State Northridge and Concordia Irvine. The Regals fell to Northridge 9-13 and again to Concordia 7-12. Their next game is at home on Friday, Feb. 17 against Westcliff.