By Tracy Lam
Making it onto a varsity team means you’re the best of the best; it requires a great amount of skill which one would think takes years to acquire, but that wasn’t the case for freshman Ruben Andelin.
“I’ve been playing water polo for a year and a half. I originally started on a swim team, but I was getting bored of it,so my parents and I were looking into other sports and we thought water polo would be good since I was already familiar with being in the water,” said Andelin
To learn a sport and acquire varsity-level skills is something that requires passion and resilience which Andelin clearly has for any sport associated with a pool, as he was primarily trained in swimming.
“Before I was in fifth grade I did a swim clinic and I really liked it, so my parents signed me up for a summer camp and that’s where I started to learn.”
Andelin has acknowledged the challenges of being the only freshman on a varsity level team brings, but he has a positive mindset and is prepared to learn as much as he can in the following years.
“Everyone’s bigger than me and they have a lot more experience than me, but I think by the time I’m a senior, I’ll be better because I’ll have the experience of playing against other varsity teams,” said Andelin.
Although being so young, he has proved to possess the discipline and passion it takes to be a part of this team.
“Every team we play is different, but the key to beating those teams is being able to communicate and work well with your teammates. So something that helps me is the people I’m playing with. My favorite thing about water polo is the people you get to meet and it’s also fun to be part of a team.”
