Welcome

a. Definition of love: a feeling of deep affection 

b. What it means to our team: As an athlete at Clovis North, there is a high standard to uphold. You must balance your academics, athletics, personal life, and your responsibilities all at once. What we ask of you is more than what you will be asked of just as a student. To uphold these expectations, you genuinely have to love what you do. Water polo is more than just a sport that you get to play with your friends. It teaches you what hard work feels like and what can come of it. It teaches you to become a student of the game. It teaches you how to navigate your feelings. Water polo teaches you so much about yourself that you will learn to love it. This sport also teaches you how to love others. You will go through some gnarly swim sets, tough nail-biting losses, and emotional rollercoasters… however, it will all be together. Going through struggles as a team evokes trust and most importantly – love! 

a. Definition of a growth mindset: your skills and abilities can be expanded with dedication and hard work

b. Definition of a fixed mindset: the qualities and skills you have been given in your life are fixed and not able to be changed

c. What this means to our team: Being able to understand that you are in charge of how good you want to be as an athlete, student, and person allows you to hold yourself accountable for your success. Knowing that bad practice doesn’t make you a bad player, and not being good at a shot now doesn’t mean you won’t be great at that same shot later, are both examples of a growth mindset. 

a. Definition of sacrifice: the surrender of something for the sake of something else

b. Definition of the team: a group of individuals who come together to achieve a common goal

c. What it means to our team: To sacrifice for the team, you must understand that your own goals/schedule needs to align with the holistic goal. Your agenda needs to come second. Put the team first in your decision-making. 

i. Example: “Should I go out with my friends late on Thursday?”… Thought process should be along these lines: I know I have morning practice on Friday. If I hang out with them, I shouldn’t be gone that late. I need to get a good night’s rest so I can be reliable at practice tomorrow. ***Notice this is not a “Don't go out with your friends!”… this is a “Please be smart in your decision making so that you can be 100% present at practice (physically and mentally) every day.” 

a. Definition of competing: strive to gain or win something by establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same. 

b. What it means to our team: Competing does not just apply to a game setting. We are going out to win our games every time, it is at the root of the essence of sport. Every day you come into practice, you should be ready to ‘compete.’ It is about setting standards for yourself that you can achieve and set yourself apart from your teammates. Competing is about digging deep and finding the grit to beat the person next to you to make yourself and them better. 

i. Example: Today at practice, we are going to do a set of sprint 25s. I am swimming right next to Sally. We are about the same speed, but I want to beat her on every single one today. 

ii. Example: Today we play Clovis East… I don’t like what it looks like when green, blue, and gray are put together. I am going to win.

a. Definition of challenge: a task or situation that tests one’s abilities

b. What it means to our team: As a program, we want you to strive to make yourself uncomfortable. We will provide you with the challenges in our workouts. However, it all boils down to personal accountability to create challenges for yourself that push the limits of your “comfortable.”