Coming from high school to play college sports may sound easy, but it’s not.
A great example is the Delta College men and women water polo teams.
Every year new athletes from different schools across the San Joaquin Valley sign up to join Delta’s program and are put through multiple endurance tests, which consist of legs, shoulders and three sets of swimming laps.
“These guys are no longer boys, they are men,” said men’s Water Polo Head Coach Mike Maroney. “They had high school to prepare them for this type of training.”
Maroney said this year the team is trying to get over a “hump.”
“We just missed the state championship by one game last year,” he said.
After finishing 21-8 last season and earning the No. 3 seed in the CCCAA tournament falling to West Valley 5-4 in the second round, before getting by American River 9-8 in the third place game.
The women’s team, however, is looking to rebound after last year season 16-15 record (4-3) Big 8, finishing in fifth place in the conference and in Northern California.
With 11 new freshmen and seven sophomores returning the future looks bright for the Lady Mustangs.
The women’s team goes through a three-hour practice at June Ferguson Pool in the Budd area.
The practices consist of relay races with the women swimming from one end of the pool to the other.