By Jessica Jimenez — Reporter
Many athletes endure hardships.
They work hard to become the best athletes that they can be, but when met with no training facility or home pool, they begin to lack team spirit and motivation.
The San Jose State women’s water polo team faced several challenges that came with having to train six days a week off campus for three seasons while the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center was being built.
The team trained and played games at West Valley College in Saratoga.
Fifth-year student Sierra Painter never felt that “home atmosphere” because she never saw her team colors plastered anywhere.
“When you come for the Division I experience, you’re expecting to play at a pool on campus,” said Painter. “It was definitely a challenge being away from home and not surrounded by a home crowd.”
For sophomore Jaime Pitcher, commuting was the biggest setback.
Having to drive to another pool where they couldn’t properly represent the Spartans and practicing late into the evening was tough on the team.
When hosting “home” games at West Valley, their opponents tended to have more fans than their own.
Being back on campus is now even more exciting for everyone.
“Getting to practice in our pool, I think is a whole different ball game,” Pitcher said.
Coaching off campus was also hard on then assistant coach Beth Harberts, who is now the head coach.
There was no office to debrief after a practice or game. Many players carpooled and meetings held them up.
“It was really problematic in terms of catching up on life, meeting for water-polo-specific stuff and just those unsolicited interactions,” Harberts said.
By training and playing games at the SRAC relationships are now stronger and the team connects more with Spartan culture.
Playing in home water gives the team a sense of belonging, seeing their colors and Spartan heads everywhere.
Having spectators is also encouraging for the team.
“Now we’re not just playing for ourselves, but we’re playing for our program, our coaches, for other people and our school,” said goalkeeper Hannah Henry.
Crowd involvement is amplified.
“You could be dying because there hasn’t been a stoppage in three minutes and a person gets a steal and the crowd goes crazy,” Painter said. “All of a sudden you have energy because people have started screaming, they make a big impact on the game.”
When playing at West Valley, coach Harberts helped motivate the team with what they were working toward.
She reminded the team of the alumni who came before them and their expectations.
Meanwhile, those same alumni have continued to show support for the athletes.
“They understand that it’s not just about them,” Harberts said. “It’s about everyone else that fought the good fight so that they could be in a good position with this program.”
She and new assistant coach Taylor Adair have increased team spirit since returning to campus.
In previous seasons, the team had a male coach and the athletes felt it was difficult at times to communicate because of the male perspective and he did not understand things the way coach Harberts and coach Adair do.
For Painter, both coaches complement each other well.
“Beth brings great energy and she really is pumping everyone up,” Painter said. “Taylor has a very strategic, very mindful view of the game.”
This season’s goal is to work as a unit.
Coming out of the locker room with a strong mindset is what the athletes try to achieve.
While in the cage, Henry can see teammates lose stamina as the game progresses.
“We just need to build that energy back up and stick together,” Henry said. “We will start winning more if we do that.”
Pitcher’s goal is to maintain everyone’s support.
As a team, she wishes for a bigger outcome.
“I want us to be a top-10 state school so we can beat Indiana, ASU and even beat Cal again and then our conference games will be huge for us as a team,” Pitcher said.
For the first year back on campus, coach Harberts and Adair’s hopes are to build a foundation.
This season has already been more successful than she anticipated, which is positive reinforcement for the coaching staff because it highlights their potential.
Adair wants the athletes to improve and not become stagnant.
The team is already meeting her expectations. They focus on details and their development.
For Adair, the most rewarding part is women coaching women even if it sounds cliché.
“Being able to get them to understand how powerful they are as individuals and how powerful they are when they come together and really buy into the team atmosphere, the tactics and the communication that requires to be successful is key,” Adair said.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessicajim06
