With only 20 seconds left on the clock, Sacred Heart has possession. They make one final push, passing the ball to an inside player and hoping for a shot at goal. Noise echoes and the clock ticks. A score is attempted, but goalie Sami Maldonado blocks the shot. Staples quickly gains possession, the end-of-game bell rings and the squad beats Sacred Heart with a 27-7 victory.
As summer nears, the fields flood with athletes eager to end their spring seasons with a win. However, one team, playing far from the stadium lights and crowds, finished their season with a splash: girls’ water polo. The team ended with a 5-4 record.
Water polo is historically a Staples sport, however, the lack of players in the past two years has prompted the administration to allow players who do not have a water polo team at their school to play at Staples.
The squad now includes players from eight different schools who live in a variety of towns. Although this may seem like a setback to the team atmosphere, players clicked effortlessly.
“I’m really lucky to be in such an amazing environment,” Wilton High School player Maddie Gimby ’25 said. “We all naturally support one another and joke around, so our chemistry is very natural.”
Coach Kade Ramirez’s experience coaching at water polo clubs in Connecticut allowed the team to recruit from a talented pool. Unlike most water polo teams, which recruit players with a heavy swimming background, Ramirez approaches the recruitment process from a non-swimming background, working to build teamwork and endurance at practice.
In addition to recruiting year-round players, some new members had never played water polo before this spring.
“We spent a few practices teaching [new players] the basics, and now they have grown on their own so much that our opponents mistake them as year-round players,” Gimby said.
Next season, the coaches hope to continue building this community, expanding competition and the recruitment process.
“We plan to travel to other states nearby to tap into more competition,” Ramirez said. “A major goal for us is filling the stands at our home games and showing people why they should come watch.”
