I think I mentioned earlier how all consuming water polo gets to be in the spring. We started off the first weekend in May with the JV state tournament. The only way to see Shawn on a tournament weekend, is to go to all of the games. Between the boys and the girls games, pretty much all of the weekend is taken up. It's fun to watch him coach, though and fun to watch Jonas play.
Jonas, Shawn, and my nephew, Robbie. Don't they all look thrilled?
Most of these boys learn to be pretty comfortable standing around in speedos. Jonas sees speedos as a huge downside to playing water polo. He only wears his for games, otherwise he's in a jammer. I think I prefer his modesty to him not caring at all, that's for sure.
Since this tournament was just JV players, the younger kids got a ton of playing time. It was so good for Jonas.
(Warning: There are a ton of pictures of Jonas playing water polo coming up. Like, really a lot. I put them on here for the day when this blog post goes into a book for our family, but I know not all of you have the same interest in water polo - or Jonas for that matter - that we do. So feel free to tune out whenever you've had enough.)
Jonas plays all different positions, but he does really well "in the hole." Also known as defensive hole or "D-hole." (I know. It almost sounds like a bad word doesn't it?) Anyway, this is the guy right in front of the goalie. It's a pretty tough position to play. Very aggressive and high contact. Usually as a parent, I just hold my breath and hope that he manages to come up for air before too much time has passed. And sometimes, I am thinking, "OK Jonas, time to let him up for air." That's just the way it goes, I guess.
(This is also where the family phrase, "Don't make me go all D-hole on you" has come from. Fortunately, it is so far just a phrase as no one has actually gone all defensive hole on anyone around here - yet.)
Anyway, I digress. At this point, Jonas doesn't have any problem going up against just about anyone. In fact, it's funny to watch some of the bigger guys as they see Jonas get into the pool, because he's kind of a scrawny kid, they tend to think it will be easy to go up against him. But he's kind of like a bull dog, and before long they realize they just can't shake him and they get so frustrated. Very entertaining (as long as no one is being held underwater for too long.)
Number 18's face is pretty hilarious here.
So many shots of Jonas seem to involve the other guy being under water. Not sure what to think of that. I think I'm partially proud and sometimes worried that he's being too aggressive. Shawn is always saying it's totally fine - the thing about water polo is how much you can get away with. (I'm still a little undecided on that one.)
See? Other guy under water again. And I don't think he got there all by himself. Just sayin'...
Finally out for a much needed rest.
The game must be going well. That's a happy coach.
A couple shots of Robbie:
And back to Jonas:
He's #14 this year, but I think he's gunning for #13 (Shawn's old number). Numbers are kind of given out by seniority. As in, the seniors, then juniors, etc. get first choice.
Some serious leg strength here to get himself that high out of the water.
We like how this one ended.
The obligatory post game handshakes.
A quick team cheer and debriefing following the game.
I'm just so glad that Jonas has finally found something that he doesn't hate and that he's actually getting pretty good at. Makes us all happier. And I'm so proud of how well he has played this year and how committed he's been. Sometimes it's awesome to watch your kids grow up!
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