STANFORD – USA Water Polo junior Olympics wrapped up session two in the California bay area a few weeks ago. During the competitive four-day event, which featured teams from all over the nation and athletes from all over the world, local club Praetorian girls teams put up stiff competition in every contest.
The Reedley based water polo club features girls from many different high schools, including Sanger, Reedley, Kingsburg, Hanford and Bullard. Water polo is widely considered one of the world’s toughest sports. There’s no touching the bottom of the pool, so that means swimming and treading for close to 28 minutes in a game.
Marjorie Krueger will be a senior at Sanger High School this coming year. She has competed with Praetorian for a number of years, this summer playing for the 18 and under girls team. This year for Krueger has been amazing as usual, especially since she has developed great friendships with her fellow teammates and been able to grow with them together through their experiences. She talked about the importance of athletes today who are striving to medal in sports, to be able to work through adversity and play their best despite the outcome.
When she sees a teammate struggling, Krueger‘s approach is to take the time to help them work on their skills and reassure them so that they don’t get in their head with their setbacks. Her goals are to continue on at the collegiate level and beyond. Krueger and her teammates, including Kiera Lopez from Sanger, led the Club to wins against Newport Hills, 19-3, Oahu Kai, 11-10, and Thunder, 6-4, placing eighth in the Gold Division overall.
Coach Erik Baymiller, of the 18 and under, talks about the influence of club water polo.
“It’s an incredible way to develop athletes quickly by exposing them to high-quality competition and training. By coming together as a team, working through adversity and never quitting, we strive to produce high quality, and high character, athletes. With the constant exposure to high-level opponents, a heavy focus on fundamentals and building morale, our athletes make big strides from one high school season to next. They must work hard to achieve their goals, but Praetorian WPC gives athletes the tools to build themselves into the best players they can be.”
Praetorian’s 16 and under Bella Hatch will be a sophomore at Sanger High School this coming season, and is competing in her first year at Junior Olympics. This is the biggest tournament she has participated in and commented that it is fun and tiring. There are a lot of tough teams, and Hatch says after a difficult loss, the best approach is not to let things get to you, remembering that it will not define your next game.
In a 5-6 Loss to LowPo out of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Hatch put two balls in the back of the net, including an extraordinary, second effort goal that tied the game 3-3 in the third quarter. Bella put a lot of work into water polo and recognizes that there’s always room for improvement. One of the things she is focusing on is getting the ball out of her hand quickly when it comes into her at set. Bella has plans for attending college after high school and is keeping her options open as she moves forward in selecting a career path. She enjoys music and plays the trumpet in band at school. Bella was joined in her efforts by teammates Ashlyn Johnson, Lizzy Biddy and Gianna Marra from Sanger with victories against Clovis B, 3-2, Shaq White B, 12-7, Santa Barbara 805 C, 7-4, and Santa Cruz Blue B, 6-5, placing sixth in the Bronze level.
