by Mandi Kane
Daily Lobo
With just over 40 members on the roster of UNM's newest club sport, the water polo team has struggled to make waves in the world of collegiate athletics.
Chartered just this year, the water polo team came to be after a few friends put their heads together to come up with a way to "provide students with an opportunity to play water polo at a collegiate level," according to Student Activities Web site.
Water polo is played in deep water with the players constantly treading water and passing the ball in an attempt to score goals and accumulate points.
"It's kind of like soccer," said Jeremiah Stanton, a co-founder and president of the team.
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The team, which is tight knit in and outside of the pool, is "very accepting, friendly and always welcoming of new faces," Stanton said. With a wide variety of experience on the team, membership is open to anybody Stanton said.
The team has "come a long way in a short time," he said, but the challenges of being a new organization are still very real.
Without funding from the Athletics department, the members of the organization have counted on support from ASUNM, as well as money provided through the team's own fundraising efforts.
Unlike varsity sports, the water polo team is co-ed but that hasn't been an issue, Stanton said.
"Playing with the guys is a good experience for the most part," said Allison Chavez, a female member of the team. "The guys on the team are experienced and strong players so practicing with them is very beneficial."
Despite struggles to find pool time, the team practices twice a week. The practices are led by the more experienced players, but the team is keeping its fingers crossed about securing a coach sometime in the near future, Stanton said.
The team is not competitive this semester, but hopes are high that the spring semester will not be sat out.
"I have talked to the Air Force (Academy) coach about going up there for one of their tournaments," Stanton said. He also mentioned a possibility of competitions in Arizona as well.
As for right now, the team is just working on improving with regular scrimmages against Albuquerque Water Polo (AWP). Just this past Thursday, the team noticed a dramatic improvement in their scores.
"We usually lose by a lot of points, but Thursday we only lost by one or two so that is a pretty dramatic change," Stanton said. "We are also starting to get a lot of points from new players."
For the first time, the University will be offering a water polo class next semester from 9:30 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While open to the school, many members of the team will be enrolled to get extra practice, Stanton said.
He said team members are hoping that their work is going to surprise people.
"It is great to go in being the underdog and coming out on top," he said.
