Danielle Lewis

Spotlight Editor

In honor of the end of the 2017 girls water polo season, The Roar sat down once again to hear about the countless horrors of water polo. This year, the team welcomed various new freshmen to the team. These rookies were especially shocked when exposed to the game’s aggressive nature. Although from afar the game may just seem like swimming and passing a ball, the underwater battles are what make the sport so intriguing. Here are just a few of the countless hostile water polo accounts as told by the Milken team:

Alex Bekhrad ‘17, one of the team’s captains, recalls being defended by an unreasonably aggressive and violent girl. After trying to fight back, the other team’s defender punched Bekhrad and said, “I dare you, touch me one more time. Do it and I will literally kill you.” At the end of water polo games, it is customary for all of the players to high five their opposing team. As Bekhrad lined up, ready to high five each player, her defender retracted her hand and greeted Bekhrad with a dirty look instead.

As a girl on offense swam towards Maya Robin ‘20, Robin prepared to defend her. However, to Robin’s shock, the girl looked her in the face and proceeded to poke Robin in the eye. Robin describes this act as “really rude” and remembers her eye tearing for a while afterwards.

Ayelet Goldman ‘17, another one of the team’s captains, very often ends up guarding the most aggressive of the other team. In a recent game, she faced a girl who constantly kicked off of her. At every turn of the ball, this girl kicked Goldman to get a head start towards the goal. As Goldman continued to defend, the girl resorted to scratching. By the end of the game, Goldman exited the pool with red scratches along her arms. Goldman remarks that “this kind of behavior is fairly normal in water polo, but some girls are worse than others.”

These stories are only just a few of the countless vigorous encounters during a season of water polo. Although often overlooked, they are what ultimately make the game the thrilling sport that it is.