Few people realize the intense nature of water polo. The skill set necessary to compete at a high level combines the utmost fitness with the ball-handling technique, mental toughness and game awareness that rivals any other sport.
The Connecticut College Men’s Water polo program has the challenge of competing in this difficult sport against some of the toughest competition in the country. Despite the fact that Conn College is a small liberal arts school that must abide by strict NESCAC athletic procedures, the Camel water polo program faces the likes of Division 1 schools such as Fordham, Brown, Princeton and Navy. While these teams are able to dish out scholarships to some of the top polo recruits in the country and organize in preseason training long before the fall start time set by NESCAC standards, our men’s water polo team pushes forward year after year to be as competitive as possible.
Without a lengthy preseason training period enjoyed by most of the teams they compete against, the Camels must have an extremely rigorous training regiment from the moment the team arrives on campus. This means two-a-day training sessions, 6 AM and 4 PM, from the start, with little more than one or two days off to recover. The team tackles long swim sets before the sun has risen, and heads back to the pool to work on game play in the afternoon. In addition, to switch things up, Head Coach JJ Addison has the players on a weight lifting and dry land training regiment. “There’s nothing better than getting up in the morning and swelling to beats provided by Nick Sizer and James Green,” said senior captain Sam Mitchell, “Sometimes when I lift I feel like Atlas, we really pride ourselves on our vocalizations in the weight room.”
James Green '12 (Photo from Web)
From the moment the season starts, the team has a little more than two weeks to prepare for its opening weekend of play (with the unfortunate timing of Hurricane Irene, the Camels had even less time to prepare for competition this fall). This puts the team under a massive amount of pressure not only to be in top physical form, but also to have developed solid team chemistry in a very short time frame.
Disregarding the stress of the preparation for the season, the Camel athletes must focus hard on their tough academic workload. NESCAC athletics focus on the importance of the student-athlete and, despite a schedule that includes mostly Division 1 teams, the Men’s Water Polo program is no exception. “My top priority at Conn is to find the balance between tickling my brain and tickling the twine,” Mitchell added. Coach JJ Addison has enforced strong academic standards for the Camels. The men engage in study halls weekly and must submit academic check ups for all classes. (Not surprisingly, Addison’s Women’s polo squad posted the highest GPA in the country last spring, with an impressive 3.52 average).
Despite the academic and physical challenges presented to the team, the Camels started the year off strong, posting a 5-0 record. The first four wins came against strong NESCAC opponents including Wesleyan and Bates. While Conn has the only varsity polo team in the NESCAC, the games gave the Camels a chance to get comfortable in competition, as well as show off the results of their hard work thusfar.
However, hard work isn’t the only thing the Camels boasted in their opening weekend. Coach Addison revealed an impressive starting lineup of players, both old and new. Freshmen Robert Schramm (Schramm slam), Robert Spencer (U-Boat), and John Stark (Tony) all broke the starting six and for good measure. Their combination of speed and talent was obvious in the first four games for the Camels. Coach Addison’s newly focused recruitment plan has already made a huge impact along with the hiring of assistant coach Ryan Pryor. Returning impact players James Green ’12, Sam Mitchell ’12 and Sam Burns ’13 rounded out the starting roster. In net, last year’s honorable mention All-American goaltender Clayton Witter ’13, showed Camel fans once again why he is one of the best shot stoppers in collegiate water polo.
After a weekend of NESCAC games, the Camels headed to Annapolis, MD to compete in the North/South Invitational at the Naval Academy. In their first game, the team continued its winning ways, defeating Division 3 rival Washington and Jefferson by the score of 10-9. Sam Mitchell notched the game-winning goal. The Camels went on to suffer losses to east coast water polo powerhouses Princeton, George Washington and Navy.
The Camels will make their annual visit to California over fall break to compete in the Claremont Convergence Tournament. The team will face off against strong California programs such as Claremont McKenna and Occidental. Past California they will face off against east coast rivals such as MIT, Iona and Harvard. Be sure to get down to the Lott Natatorium Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29 to support the team as they host Iona and Fordham.•
- James Green ’12 (Photo from web)
