Most people don’t know much about water polo or any of the rules, which is understandable. But for the athletes who play the sport at LM, it takes up a lot of time and can become their whole life outside of school. With girls’ water polo being a relatively new team, they don’t have a lot of players—in fact, there isn’t even a girls’ JV team. Nevertheless, the team has a strong bond, and they all work hard to make the team better. This season, the team has had many changes, including a new coach, different practices, new people on the team, and beating new teams.
The LM water polo team has had the same coach since the team was founded in 2017—until this season, when Andre Nyce—a new head coach—was brought on. Nyce has changed many parts of the team, such as the playing style and teaching new plays, and, when asked, former player and current manager Arrow Shapiro ’26 said, “I think the coach has made our skills much better…getting that refreshed point of view really did help our players understand different roles in the pool much better.” When teams undergo large changes, such as a new coach, there are bound to be different reactions from players. Shapiro commented, “A lot of coaching techniques work for different people, and I think this is something across all sports. Some coaching techniques work better for one person and not for the other, and on a team as big as ours there’s definitely been some adjusting.” After talking to many players, the team has a generally positive response to the change: they are definitely happy about getting better and winning more games, even while practices are different than they used to be with the new coach.
Starting this year, for the first time ever, athletes from Harriton were allowed to join the team. When asked how the new athletes blended with the rest of the team, Captain Meryl Grandwetter ’28 noted, “As a team, we try to be very open and accepting to all, and I think we’ve done our best to make sure no one feels left out or excluded.” This is one of the great qualities of the water polo team. Even when there are changes and new people, the girls are very welcoming and try to make everyone feel supported.
On Saturday, October 11, LM girls’ water polo won two games in one day, a first for the team. Going into the day, the team was not sure about whether or not they would defeat Central York High School, a team that had historically always beaten LM; so, the win was exciting and a great way to start the day. When asked how the victory felt, varsity captain Gwen Burris ’28 said, “It felt good to win, and it showed a lot of growth as a team, and I’m really proud of all the work we put in.” The team felt good about the win, and everyone was proud of how their hard work had paid off as individuals and as a team. This is yet another example of how strong their team bond is, because even as a captain, Burris understands that it’s a team sport, and she helps and supports all of the other people in the pool during practices and games, as do all the other captains and players.
The LM water polo team has gone through many major changes this season, such as a new coach, new players, and a different style of playing. All of this has shown as they beat teams they have never beat before, and by watching a game you can see their hard work and dedication paying off.
