Notre Dame's fledgling squad looks to make a splash
Observer Staff Report
In the spring of 1995, Mary Sundy, Bridgid Fitzpatrick and Katie McCoyd approached Brian Coughlin, then the captain of the men's water polo team and currently the rector of Carroll Hall, with a simple request: They wanted their own game; they were tired of playing with the men.
Although there had been women playing with the guys' team for a few years, there were never quite enough to form a separate team. However, by 1995, a handful of women were coming to practice consistently.
Coughlin agreed, but with one stipulation: there would have to be nine women at practice every night for two weeks. Then he would get them a game.
Amazingly, 14 women attended practice every night for three weeks. True to his promise, Coughlin called a fellow captain at Bowling Green State University and they set up a tournament between four Midwestern teams.
The original squad, comprised of nine women from Notre Dame and one from Saint Mary's, went to the tournament and proved to be far better than the other women's teams, having practiced with guys for so long.
In 1996, the Notre Dame Women's Water Polo team was one of the original members of what would eventually become the Midwestern division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
Although the women's team still scrimmages with the men's team once in a while, the women's skills have improved substantially since the team's inception.
Senior captain Lisa Thomas attributes the program's success to the fact that "water polo has gotten a lot more serious in the Midwest."
"The competition has gotten better, which has lead us to practice harder than ever," she said. "The swim sets are harder, and in general, the practices are more focused and more organized," Thomas said. "Our team now would kill our team of three years ago."
However, Thomas also notes, "We've improved at about the same rate as the teams we play."
So far this season, the team is 10-3, beating Northwestern University, the University of Illinois, Bowling Green State University and Ohio State University, among others.
Notre Dame's three loses have been tough games; the team lost to Michigan State 11-4 in their first game of the spring season; they were also beaten by University of Miami-Ohio twice. At the first tournament they lost 8-6 and the second time they were narrowly edged out in sudden death overtime 11-10. Miami is traditionally the team's biggest division rival: last year Notre Dame lost the championship to Miami in triple overtime.
"It's pretty amazing," said Coughlin, who coaches the women's team. "Before, we had to teach everybody everything; now there are a lot of girls who've played in high school."
When Thomas joined the team in 1997, between 8-12 women traveled with the team to weekend tournaments. The number varied greatly from week to week because most of the players were not committed to the team and did not attend practice on a regular basis.
Thomas claims that when she attended her first water polo tournament in November of her freshman year, she had never seen a drive, one of the most fundamental offensive elements of the game.
Thomas is now the lone senior on the team; of the six or seven freshmen who joined with her, only one, who was from California, had played water polo in high school.
This year, five of the six freshmen on the team have played water polo competitively. Because the team lost three starting players to graduation last season, they have had to redirect their focus a little.
"We spend a lot more time teaching the basics and fundamentals of the game," said Coughlin. "The freshmen have been really eager to learn and open to what we're saying."
Since the squad is comprised of so many underclassmen, some of the younger players have had to take leadership roles on the team. According to Coughlin, the two junior captains, Parolin and Lauren Kuzniar, along with Thomas, have filled this assignment well.
"We have more in common and we're able to have a lot of fun in and out of the water," said Kuzniar.
Coughlin believes that the team's unity has helped increase the level of play. "People are more eager to go to practice and tournaments because they enjoy spending time with each other," he said. "It also helps playing because everybody believes in and trusts each other."
The increased popularity of women's water polo at Notre Dame stems directly from the surge the sport has experienced throughout the country. Although it has been played in California since the 1920's and 30s, the first teams did not emerge in the Midwest until 1982, when dedicated individuals who had played in California began moving eastward and becoming coaches.
The growth of water polo became particularly apparent when universities in the Big Ten conference began to gain varsity status four years ago. Indiana University and the University of Michigan were the first to make the transition. Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin are in the process of becoming varsity. At most of the Ivy League schools, water polo is also no longer a club sport.
Colleges are realizing that women's water polo is a great addition to any athletic program. It is expected that another 20-30 teams will move to varsity programs in the next few years.
Although the Notre Dame women's water polo team is competitive with Indiana and Michigan and easily beat Purdue and Wisconsin last year, it is still a club.
"Sooner or later, if Notre Dame wants to keep competing at the level we have been, we're going to have to look at going varsity," said Parolin. "We're not going to be able to keep playing the varsity teams if we're not getting the same funding and recruiting benefits."
Right now, however, the team's goals include beating Miami and improving on last year's seventh-place finish at Collegiate Club Nationals.
Saturday the Notre Dame women's water polo team takes on Purdue at 8 a.m., Northwestern at 10 a.m., Illinois at 3:30 p.m. and Grand Valley State at 6:30 p.m. at Rolf's Aquatic Center.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 16, 2001
