With the grueling days of pre-season coming to an end, the boys water polo team is putting in the last bit of work before the beginning of the season.

Led by captains Charlie Chappus ‘25, Oliver Chu ‘26, Gray Flermoen ‘25, and Cam Hill ‘25, pre-season looked a little different compared to other fall sports teams. 

“Since we’re a club sport, we didn’t actually have to listen to the rules for dead week. We started a week before other sports in the beginning of August. We would do an hour of dry land and then after that, hop in the pool for 2 hours. Then at night, we’d come back for a two hour scrimmage,” Chappus said. 

Water polo is also unique compared to other sports because other schools are a part of the team. 

“Since water polo is actually a club sport we can take in kids from other schools. We have guys from Grand Rapids Christian, Forest Hills Eastern, and Forest Hills Northern,” Chappus said. 

While the team already had some tournaments in the pre-season, they are now looking ahead to their future competition. 

“We haven’t beat Rockford in recent years, so this year we’re going to try and be more competitive with them. We’re trying to make it to the state tournament and we need to beat Rockford in the district championship,” Chu said. 

Until the team’s first season match against Okemos on Wednesday Sept. 4, practice will continue and the team is encouraging students to come out and support. 

“Water polo is pretty fun to watch. Think of it like soccer in the water. Matches are an hour, and are super fun and high scoring,” Chappus said.