First off, there was the girls tournament. This was a first year team. (Olympus hadn't had a girls team for a few years, although there were a few previous players since Olympus combined with Skyline. Skyline had a few players, but no coach and Olympus had coaches but needed a few more players so it worked out nicely. For being huge rivals, they came together remarkably well!) As a first year team, they came into the tournament ranked 8th(?) and ended up beating the number 1 team, but were physically and emotionally exhausted by the end of the tournament and ended up finishing 4th overall. I think they surprised most of the other teams there. Everyone was happy with the final outcome.
Move forward to the next weekend when the boys state tournament took place. This photo was taken before their Friday night game, where they were victorious. (I have learned more about water polo this year than I ever thought I would. I guess I should have seen this coming, being married to Shawn...)
If you have never watched water polo, you may not understand how physically difficult it is. The players are treading water for the entire game - and that's when they are holding still in the water. There is a lot of sprinting back and forth in the pool as well. Not the nice smooth and slow back and forth I do in lap swimming, (at least that's how I like to pretend I swim) but sprinting and chasing after players and the ball. Then there's the pushing and pulling underwater and all sorts of flagrant fouls that may or may not be seen by the refs because most take place under the water. Despite all this, most people I know, once they start playing, become addicted to the game. I know I love it. These kids work hard.
Move forward to the next weekend when the boys state tournament took place. This photo was taken before their Friday night game, where they were victorious. (I have learned more about water polo this year than I ever thought I would. I guess I should have seen this coming, being married to Shawn...)
If you have never watched water polo, you may not understand how physically difficult it is. The players are treading water for the entire game - and that's when they are holding still in the water. There is a lot of sprinting back and forth in the pool as well. Not the nice smooth and slow back and forth I do in lap swimming, (at least that's how I like to pretend I swim) but sprinting and chasing after players and the ball. Then there's the pushing and pulling underwater and all sorts of flagrant fouls that may or may not be seen by the refs because most take place under the water. Despite all this, most people I know, once they start playing, become addicted to the game. I know I love it. These kids work hard. This is how they move the ball down the pool if they aren't passing it.
A little team meeting before the Saturday morning game.
Me with a couple of water polo Moms in the stands. (Even though I'm just a water polo wife, they still let me hang out with them. These 2 happen to also be my neighbors.)
Unfortunately, they lost their morning game, but it wasn't all bad because it was Senior Prom that night and losing put them at a slightly earlier time for their next game. (At least that was the idea, but the tournament ended up getting close to 2 hours behind schedule.) Going into this game, these boys were nervous. They were playing the number 1 team, the seniors had had to call their dates numerous times to say they would be picking them up later, and later still as they were waiting for their game to start. Shawn was planning to go and pick up their dates for them to try to make things easier and allow the boys to focus on the game. In the end, their dates decided not to come to the pool dressed in their formal wear. I don't blame them.
A little team meeting before the Saturday morning game.
Me with a couple of water polo Moms in the stands. (Even though I'm just a water polo wife, they still let me hang out with them. These 2 happen to also be my neighbors.)
Unfortunately, they lost their morning game, but it wasn't all bad because it was Senior Prom that night and losing put them at a slightly earlier time for their next game. (At least that was the idea, but the tournament ended up getting close to 2 hours behind schedule.) Going into this game, these boys were nervous. They were playing the number 1 team, the seniors had had to call their dates numerous times to say they would be picking them up later, and later still as they were waiting for their game to start. Shawn was planning to go and pick up their dates for them to try to make things easier and allow the boys to focus on the game. In the end, their dates decided not to come to the pool dressed in their formal wear. I don't blame them.
Here they are finishing their warm up and their crazy pregame ritual where they bounce and spin and chant to get themselves all psyched up. I think it's fun to watch.
A little poolside coaching from Shawn and Brian before the game.
They played hard and they played well. A few action shots from the game:
Somewhere in the 4th quarter, the score was 11-8 for Olympus, and the scoring table took one of our points away. There was a lot of yelling and complaining from the stands but that's where it stood.
Last minute time out pep talk.
At the end of the game it was 10-8 for Olympus. Everyone was so excited. As a second year team they had taken 3rd place in the state tournament. There was lots of celebrating and cheering.
Woohoo! The game winners!
The players threw Shawn and Brian into the pool. (Fortunately, he had left his phone with me and not in his pocket. He did, however ruin his pedometer, and had really squishy shoes and socks.)
The boys changed, most of the seniors ran off to pick up their dates (2 1/2 hours late.) We took pictures. We had won. Only.... apparently we hadn't. The next teams warmed up and lined up to start their game when the ref announced that there was a mistake on the score sheet in our game and it was a tie. (What?!) Everyone needed to get back in the pool. Probably 15 or 20 minutes had passed. No one could believe it. Not a single person had protested the outcome of the game. Not a single complaint from coaches, parents or players of the other team, and yet, the ref said it was a tie and they had to get back in the water. As parents/spectators, you watch that score closely, making sure each point is accounted for. Shawn had to ask his one remaining senior to take off his tux and put his speedo back on. (That was a first for him as a coach, I'm sure of that.) They got back in the water....and lost in overtime. It was heartbreaking. There were tears and cursing and physical aggression (fortunately, not towards other people - just things like kicking stuff and punching doors - that one resulted in a broken hand.) I couldn't believe it. None of us could believe it. I think I was most bothered by the fact that not a single player, parent or coach from the other team said, "This isn't right, we lost the game. We all saw what happened."
A little poolside coaching from Shawn and Brian before the game.
They played hard and they played well. A few action shots from the game:
Somewhere in the 4th quarter, the score was 11-8 for Olympus, and the scoring table took one of our points away. There was a lot of yelling and complaining from the stands but that's where it stood.
Last minute time out pep talk.
At the end of the game it was 10-8 for Olympus. Everyone was so excited. As a second year team they had taken 3rd place in the state tournament. There was lots of celebrating and cheering.
Woohoo! The game winners!
The players threw Shawn and Brian into the pool. (Fortunately, he had left his phone with me and not in his pocket. He did, however ruin his pedometer, and had really squishy shoes and socks.)
The boys changed, most of the seniors ran off to pick up their dates (2 1/2 hours late.) We took pictures. We had won. Only.... apparently we hadn't. The next teams warmed up and lined up to start their game when the ref announced that there was a mistake on the score sheet in our game and it was a tie. (What?!) Everyone needed to get back in the pool. Probably 15 or 20 minutes had passed. No one could believe it. Not a single person had protested the outcome of the game. Not a single complaint from coaches, parents or players of the other team, and yet, the ref said it was a tie and they had to get back in the water. As parents/spectators, you watch that score closely, making sure each point is accounted for. Shawn had to ask his one remaining senior to take off his tux and put his speedo back on. (That was a first for him as a coach, I'm sure of that.) They got back in the water....and lost in overtime. It was heartbreaking. There were tears and cursing and physical aggression (fortunately, not towards other people - just things like kicking stuff and punching doors - that one resulted in a broken hand.) I couldn't believe it. None of us could believe it. I think I was most bothered by the fact that not a single player, parent or coach from the other team said, "This isn't right, we lost the game. We all saw what happened."The ref signed the score sheet without allowing coaches or anyone to look at it, and that was the end of it. Except, that it isn't. After everyone had left, except Shawn, who stood shivering in his soaking wet clothes (and me), he asked for a copy of the score sheet and told them we would be protesting the game. They decided not to award the 3rd place trophy that night. Shawn and I looked over the score sheet. The "correctable error" that the ref had changed was indeed an error, but not in the other teams favor. It was our point. And according to the rules, the game should have been played from that point on, not played as overtime. Also, it turns out that there is no procedure in place for protesting the outcomes of games. (Seriously?!) Plus, the opposing team's coach is also the head of Utah Water Polo. (A slight conflict of interest if you ask me.) Oh, and the ref that made the change, is the head ref. No one above him. The more we looked at things, the worse things looked. It was just so wrong. After studying the score sheet further, we (with the help of additional coaches eyes) discovered that there were errors on the score sheet from the very beginning, with the scorers confusing white and dark caps repeatedly, (although, somehow managing to still give the point to the correct team.) So, the final sore of the game was correct. We won. Only, we can't prove it, because we don't have it on film and we didn't keep our own score sheet. There have been many sleepless nights over this, and Shawn has written to the tournament director, the coach, the ref and the head of both Utah Water Polo and the head of the Mountain Zone water polo. He's told them we don't want the trophy - it's tainted at this point, but they expect a full review of the game and I expect there will be changes made at the coaches meeting in the fall.
Shawn told his boys that it could have been worse - google the 1972 gold medal basketball game to see another example of refs gone wrong. Definitely more at stake there, but it felt the same. At the very least I hope for an apology from the ref and maybe from the other coach. I hope something will change so that a single ref can not be so all powerful and make a change like that without input from someone else. I just want someone to admit that what happened was wrong, and I hope that things will be fixed so that that will never happen to anyone again. But, once again, I'm realizing that you can't make other people do the right thing, you can only be responsible for your own reactions and behaviors. I guess if nothing else, that is a good lesson. And I know that if the roles are ever reversed, Shawn and Brian would not put their players back into the water in that situation. They will say, "That's not right, we lost the game."
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