Last year was one of the most successful seasons that the CHS girls water polo team has ever seen. With all of the coaches’ collaboration, the frosh, JV, and varsity teams all went undefeated and were able to collectively secure the title of league champions. However, the coaching arrangement has changed rather drastically. Both the previous frosh coach Enrique Barrajas and junior varsity coach Devin Hunter left the Claremont program to take over various other coaching positions. In their stead, two new coaches are set to join the girls water polo team this year. The first, Andrea Bonavida, plans to take over the junior varsity and frosh coaching position and has already been coaching at CHS for preseason and summer practices. The second new coach, Kevin Hammond, is set to be the assistant varsity coach but has yet to come to any practices this year. There is currently no word on his ambitions for the season. Bonavida, on the other hand, already has a plan for the team.
Having coached water polo at her own high school right after graduation while playing on a college team all the while, she has had recent experience both as a player and a coach. Now, she transferred to CHS with a plan.
“Honestly, I really want to see everyones’ swim times go up, because without swimming there is no waterpolo,” Bonavida said. “I want everyone to participate, grow, and reach their full potential, which can only come with better attendance. I want to work on the technical things; the little details. If we do all that, I believe we have a really good chance this season.”
Similarly to Bonavida, the athletes of the girls water polo team still have high aspirations for the season.
“I think that we can still push through and continue growing as a team this year like we would any other,” sophomore Hadley Silvas said.
“We might have different coaches, but the team is mostly the same. Hopefully, we can win league this time around as well.” Silvas will be playing on the CHS team for her second year, having started out as a frosh player last season. Her opinion seems to be a popular one, the general consensus for the CHS girls water polo team being that no matter what changes are in store for the girls this year, the team will persevere.