Moms Pool Their Talents to Form Water Polo Teams

For years they’ve gone to all the games, driving from school to school to sit long hours on hard bleachers, watching their kids compete.

They’ve cheered the teams, kept score and brought the snacks. They’ve planned the banquets and road trips and been the loyal mothers of teen athletes.

But now they’re in the water, up to their chins, treading to stay afloat and waiting for the ball to come their way. They’re moms who play water polo, and it’s their turn to have the fun.

Of course, treading water, swimming 50 laps and passing the ball for 90 minutes isn’t everyone’s idea of fun. But the 65 women on two teams that have formed in Long Beach and Thousand Oaks say they enjoy the workout and the competition.

They’ve been gearing up for their first tournament on Saturday at Thousand Oaks High. There may be only two teams competing, but there’s plenty of enthusiasm.

How do you get women, some of whom work, most of whom have kids living at home, out for practices two nights a week?

Libby Azevedo, who started the Shore Aquatics Moms water polo team a year ago in Long Beach, said it’s simple.

“Most of the women hated going to the gym--riding bicycles, doing the treadmill--they thought it was boring,” Azevedo said. “But after playing water polo, they realized they were losing weight, their thighs were getting smaller and they were sleeping better. And they weren’t even aware it was happening--they were having fun.”

While Azevedo’s team has attracted about 25 women, Tammy Renault’s Conejo Valley Moms water polo team has 40 players.

“I made the drive to Long Beach four times to practice with Libby’s team last fall,” Renault said. “But when the other moms found out I was doing that, they said, ‘Oh, we could form a team here.’ We had 17 people for the first meeting in February, but 40 signed up within the week. We’ve had to turn away women.”

Renault said her team has only two requirements: that you be a mom and know how to swim.

Craig Rond, coach of the Conejo Valley’s South Coast Water Polo Club, coaches the moms’ team. Justin Jewell and Josh Shadrick, water polo players for Long Beach State, coach the Long Beach moms.

For the moms, there’s a lot to learn.

Azevedo said the hardest thing for her players, who work out at the Long Beach State pool, has been learning the eggbeater kick. That’s the circular motion a player makes with her legs to stay afloat and lift herself out of the water for passing, receiving and shooting the ball.

Renault said she’s found that strengthening and endurance is the toughest challenge.

“Learning to shoot, receive and pass takes skill, but doing all those laps and diving to 12 feet--sometimes you get so out of breath, it’s scary,” Renault said. “Yet, you soon realize that if you just keep working at it, every week everyone gets stronger.”

Renault, whose players range from their mid-30s to mid-50s, admits that “sometimes we don’t want to go [to practice]. But women love the fitness aspect. Water polo works the entire body--stomach, arms, legs, hips. We’ve even found it gets rid of that flabby part of the mid-back. When you’re playing a game, you forget you’re exercising. And we do a lot of laughing and joking around.”

She said when Rond recently suggested the Conejo team take a two-week break, the players nixed the idea.

“The women were all afraid we’d lose everything we’d gained,” Renault said.

The two teams are looking for more competition. They’ve heard there might be a team forming in the Santa Clarita Valley, and the Conejo team would like to split in two by using the pool at Newbury Park High. But the problem is finding pool time.

“We’re competing with school teams, club teams, seniors, and now for summer, camps and recreational swimmers,” Renault said.

For now, the moms are trying not to be nervous about Saturday’s 11 a.m. game, their public debut and a chance to play “strangers” whose skills they’re unfamiliar with.

Afterward, the teams will get together at Thousand Oaks High for a picnic with Beach Boys music, Renault said.

Added Azevedo, “We’re having a barbecue so we don’t have to cook. It’s our reward.”

*

For more information, call Libby Azevedo at (562) 985-4292 or Craig Rond at (805) 577-9613.