This winter, along with the many other sports, water polo has resumed training. Coach Pavle Filipovic, the head coach of the team, has been Sage’s water polo coach for the last 3 years. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, he played for the Serbian professional water polo club, Partizan WPC. In the US, Coach Filipovic played water polo for 2 years at Long Beach City College, where he helped his team win 2 state championships. He has coached water polo for the last 14 years, and he has been recognized multiple times for his exceptional coaching skills. Even though he has accomplished so much in his career, he is able to work well with both beginners and experienced players. 

“Coach Pavle is not only a very experienced coach in that he has practiced at one of the highest levels multiple times in his life, but he is also a very caring coach in that he is determined to see everybody on the team improve, whether you are a new or veteran player,” said sophomore Ralph Ho, who has been coached by Coach Filipovic in both swimming and water polo in his time at Sage. 

This year, Sage’s water polo team had to adapt due to COVID-19. The team has been practicing on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, with a morning and afternoon practice on Fridays. This schedule holds true regardless of the learning modality that Sage is in. However, with all of these practices, the question remains: Will they be able to compete? 

“To be honest, I don’t expect my team to play any matches this year because COVID seems to keep coming back, but I think if we are practicing, everyone will be in the same boat with getting back into shape and back into the groove of things,” said sophomore Carson McNeill, who has participated in both water polo and swimming at Sage. 

However, it still is too early to tell, as the COVID-19 situation can change very quickly without warning. While the team has to wait with uncertainty for any possibility of competition, COVID-19 has changed the team’s practices in other ways as well. As a result of COVID-19, the team has barely practiced with balls, and they have focused more on conditioning and getting into shape, which is a more social-distancing-compliant format. As with everything else in the world right now, the situation with Sage’s water polo team remains as undefined as ever, but hopefully, we will be able to see Sage’s water polo team back in the water soon enough.