The Coat of Arms

Boys water polo produces in nail-biter

Knights — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:02:24 -0700

by Rebecca Friedman and Madeleina Halley, Sports Editor and Staff Reporter

In an exhilarating final quarter, the varsity boy’s water polo team clinched a victory over rival Menlo-Atherton in the last few seconds of their game on Wednesday. With just 38 seconds left on the clock, senior Luke Carrino scored the final goal and brought the score to 8-7.

Although Menlo had the lead at halftime with a score of 4-2, the lost some players due to fouls and had to play a man down, which M-A took advantage of. M-A caught up in the third quarter, scoring two successive goals and bringing the score to 6-5 by the end of the quarter. The fourth quarter got closer with M-A bringing the score to a tie and earning a two-point lead until Menlo scored the final two goals.

Assistant coach Thomas Foley credited the team’s excellent defense and passing skills in the last half for helping to come back in the last quarter. “They didn’t get flustered,” he said, regarding the close score the teams kept in the second half.

Junior Jack Finch said that they prepared for this game for two weeks, so the win was a huge morale boost for the team. He noted that this winning game helped the team’s seat in CCS.

Construction causes few disturbances

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:17:14 -0700

by Kevin Harris, staff reporter

Still on pace to be completed by August 2010, Menlo’s $31.4 million construction project has so far barely

affected life on campus. Nonetheless, a 42,000 sq. ft. “L” shaped hole has replaced the Douglass Village, Middle School sport court, and Day Care Center.

Over the summer, dozens of workers finished demolition, relocated buildings such as the facilities offices and the Day Care, and completed the excavation phase. “It all went very smoothly,” Director of Operations and Construction David McAdoo said.

The crew is currently excavating the footings, cement trenches that support the walls. Steel rebars will be installed inside the footings before utilities (such as pipes) are installed. In mid-October, concrete and forms for walls will start to go in.

With the Day Care occupying part of the junior lot, concerns about parking availability arose. But according to Dean of Students Tony Lapolla, the loss of the spaces hasn’t caused a significant change. “I think it’s been a seamless beginning so far,” Lapolla said. With the same basic parking plan in place, juniors, seniors, and faculty are parking in the Cartan Lot to accommodate the Day Care’s relocation.

More so than the Upper School, the Middle School had to adjust to the construction site and its complications and logistics. Still, the impact has been limited. “At times it is a bit noisy, but it has not been disruptive to the Middle School classes,” Director of the Middle School Erin Brigham said.

The Middle School has also lost the Sport Court, which was used daily for leisure and sports practices. However, construction has just begun on a new, temporary basketball court between Stent Hall and the Dance Studio. It should be completed in the next few days.

Even after a summer filled with gifts, the project is still $5 million short, according to Director of Development Diane Clausen. The original fundraising goal was approximately $27 million; however, over the summer this figure was increased by about $4 million due to the generous support of donors to date, Clausen said.

This extra money will allow for the completion of the final separation from Menlo College and the installation of major interior sections in the Athletic Center.

New MSA committee launches program to address physical and mental health concerns

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Rebecca Friedman, Sports Editor and Madeleina Halley, Staff Reporter

The Menlo School Association’s new Health and Wellness Committee has ambitious plans to implement a new curriculum that will “support and promote the mental, physical, emotional and social well-being of all members of the Menlo School community,” according to the Committee’s mission statement.

The MSA committee aims to raise students’ involvement and awareness through different programs and lessons throughout the year.

Plans include creating a new website with an online interactive program, providing a rotation in Freshman Seminar, and having regular articles in The Coat of Arms dedicated to the topic. It will also incorporate presentations to assemblies and advocacy along with programs during M-block, and continue the implementation of the Every 15 Minutes program.

The program is especially timely in the wake of the several suicides at local schools. However, these events occurred after Head of School Norm Colb began planning the program and served as further motivation for the committee.

Committee chairperson Kathy Diekroeger calls Head of School Norm Colb “ahead of the game,” as planning the project began last spring.

“There are fun, supportive, inclusive activities everywhere you look on this campus but that is not enough to alter how taxing the life of a high school student can sometimes be,” said Counselor Tracy Bianchi, who works with the committee. She believes that the program will help the school emphasize the compassion that it has for its students and their welfare.

“One purpose of the program is to have the student body feel acknowledged and supported by constructing wise, healthy ways of managing each academic year,” she added.

The committee also aims to educate parents about the stress and mental and physical health issues that high school students face, by presenting at MSA meetings as well as other parent education events, having a KnightLine profile and articles in the Menlo Magazine, and using the web and their new website to send out emails, blogs, and monthly “webinars.”

While the teachers of these programs are currently undecided, the committee is planning to bring in outside experts as well as members of the Menlo community to teach these programs.

In order to make the implementation of the curriculum as effective as possible, the committee has organized the year by different topics. In the fall, students will learn about stress, depression, and fostering a healthy learning environment. The winter’s focus will be on sleep and nutrition, and the spring’s focus will be on substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.

The committee is also looking for new ideas and issues that are of interest to the community. “We realize there’s a lot under this umbrella,” Diekroeger said. “But I think there’s a lot we can do quickly.”

Online textbooks offer accessibility and customized learning to students and teachers

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Ryan Stastny, Staff Reporter

In the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s announcement to introduce a free digital textbook plan in California, Menlo teachers and students have considered whether such a model would be appropriate for the school.

This decision marks one of the first steps in developing new forms of educational techonology.

CK-12 Foundation, a nonprofit based in Palo Alto, has produced four free online textbooks that meet Schwarzenegger’s academic requirements.

The founder, Neeru Khosla, is the mother of junior Neal and senior Vani. CK-12 has been acknowledged nationwide for being a leader in converting hard bound textbooks into online resources.

Neal Khosla and two other Menlo students, juniors Robbie Jasek and Brad Eckert, worked for CK-12 this summer in editing the textbooks themselves.

Upper School Science teacher James Dann donated his physics book, The People’s Physics Book, to CK-12 in 2006.

He is “excited about CK-12 and the software they created to allow teachers to take books like the PPB and modify them to the students’ needs and save schools hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Neal Khosla is also enthusiastic about the idea of online textbooks because he believes they “will reduce paper use, reduce money schools spend on textbooks, and allow flexibility for teachers to shape their textbook around their curriculum.”

Back in May, Amazon launched a new version of its e-book reader Kindle. The product can download over 300,000 titles and can store 3,500 titles at once.

Some students in universities such as Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are starting to use this new technology in science classes.

Students consider the possibility of online textbooks in terms of convenience.

“I wouldn’t want an online textbook because I don’t always have a computer available and want to have my materials always at hand,” junior Matt Fackler said.

From the faculty’s perspective, the use of online textbooks also allows for the customization of lesson plans.
Upper School Math Department Chair Rachel Chou isn’t a strong believer in the use of math textbooks, but she likes the idea of the online textbooks “because you guys have way too much stuff in your backpacks.”

Upper School Science Department Chair Mark Abruzzese is concerned about the quality of edited online textbooks.

He suggests that the high cost of traditional textbooks is worth it because they are revised by multiple experts to ensure accuracy.

Nevertheless, a formal conversation concerning the use of online textbooks has yet to happen on campus.

Ball commits to tenth-ranked Stanford

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Tim Benton, Staff Reporter

Over the summer, Senior Jamin Ball made a big decision in his tennis career by accepting a verbal scholarship to play at Stanford University.

The two-time All-American participated in three big tournaments this past summer, including Nor Cal Sectionals, National Clay Courts and The Kalamazoo Invitational. Ranked as one of the top 50 players in the country by the United States Tennis Association, Ball attracted the interest of Yale, Harvard, Michigan and Stanford.

On his decision to commit to Stanford Ball said that Stanford’s combination of academics and athletics was hard to match. Stanford is ranked as one of the top ten tennis teams in Division 1 NCAA. Ball was also attracted to Harvard and Yale’s academics, but realized they may not have the same athletics as Stanford. Michigan was also one of Ball’s top contenders because they too have great academics and their tennis team is among the top 25 in the nation.

Ball’s play has been noticed at large invitational tournaments, such as those he competed in this summer. Coaches approached him before and after matches, where he could get a feel for those colleges that really wanted him. Ball is confident in Stanford’s program. “The last two years they’ve had the number one recruiting class,” he said. Ball also seems optimistic for another recruit joining his class this year.

He is willing to do what it takes to prepare for the college level of play. “The next level would be starting on Stanford’s team as a freshman. I’m trying to get in really good shape: running sprints, practicing a lot and working hard,” he said. Although Ball may be ready for college, he has another year of high school tennis to look forward to, defending a NorCal Championship.

2010 Benefit theme announced

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Madeleina Halley, Staff Reporter

The Benefit committee has unveiled their theme for the 2010 Menlo Benefit: “DREAM.”

The theme, which was announced to seniors on Sept. 3, took several months of planning to be decided upon by the Benefit committee, who also worked with Creative Arts Director and Director of Strategic Communications Alex Perez, choreographer Jan Chandler and consultant Jeffrey Adair in brainstorming how “DREAM” would be represented on stage.

“It’s about the seniors living their dreams,” Benefit Co-Chair Julie Douglass said. “Menlo is a place where you’re given so much opportunity to pursue your dreams.”

Douglass said that the Benefit committee was looking for a theme that would reflect the aspirations of the seniors and the entire Menlo community.

The single-worded title marks a step out of the box from previous Benefit themes, which usually involved a play on words with “Menlo” in the title. Co-chair Debbie Rosenberg said that there were “lots of different directions to go with [DREAM].”

Chandler said that she loves the theme because it is left open for interpretation.

The broad title earned different reactions from students. Some seniors said that they liked “DREAM” for the different interpretations it can have.

But some worry about its open-endedness. “It’s not that specific,” senior Angela Chen said. Senior Divya Rao called the theme “generic” and said she was confused when it was announced.

Several seniors said that they weren’t yet sure if the theme would be really successful or not, though several acknowledged that the elaborate planning of the Benefit turns out well in the end.

“So much work goes into it that no matter what it is I think it’s going to be great,” Senior Lucas Sokolsky said.

Perez said that he believed that this is “the most personally student-centered theme” they’ve had in recent years. The committee also aimed for an optimistic theme, due to the economic problems plaguing the country right now.

The committee is hoping that this year’s theme will be memorable.

Although she worries that “DREAM” is vague, senior Sarah Rosales acknowledged “they always make it incredible.”    

Artists of the Issue: Musicians Layla Allman & Allen Rettberg

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Anna Larson, Staff Reporter

School is just a day job for both junior Layla Allman and Allen Rettberg, ‘05. Allman’s band was featured on MTV and more recently honored with a VMA, while Rettberg just released a song on iTunes. Allman is the lead vocalist of Picture Me Broken, a band with a national fan base. Rettberg creates instrumental tracks for artists under the alias “Track Mason,” because “everyone has to have a stage name”.

For Allman, this is just the beginning of the realization of her long time goals as a musician. Rock music has been her passion since age 12, when she started a band with three of her classmates.

Over the past four years, they have come far. She and her bandmates had entered a contest to have MTV feature their band in a brief 30-second commercial.

They were one of the three bands selected and MTV filmed them live. Since this commercial, Allman said, “The response has been huge,” and Picture Me Broken’s Myspace and YouTube channel both had a huge jump in page hits.

They have a large fan base, especially in states like Texas and Arizona. “We’re definitely looking to tour around this year,”Allman said.

Allman is not the only one having commercial success. Ever since Middle School, Rettberg has been interested in the possibilities of creating music on the computer.

In high school he began putting beats together using programs such as Protools at the Reikes Center. While at Menlo, Rettberg was a member of the Jazz band.

He said, “I picked up all of my understanding of melody and harmony with trumpet. And then, I did everything with rhythm with [the] drums.” Everything started coming together when an acquaintance of Rettberg’s started a record label with R&B artist Monique Martinez, and together they created the track “Lock It” now available on iTunes.

Rettberg previously had worked with various rappers, but this was his biggest project. He said of creating tracks: “You have to be confident that what you are doing is right”.

Allman too has music set for release on iTunes. Picture Me Broken recently finished recording a six song EP, which will be on iTunes any day now. Allman’s experience with music has been different though equally rewarding. She said “[being in a band is] like a marriage… we’re very serious about this.”

Equally passionate and dedicated, all members of Picture Me Broken share the same drive to succeed. “Music is my first priority,” Allman said.

Both Allman and Rettberg have their backups. Rettberg is studying for his degree in Computer Science at Riverside College while he builds his track collection.

Allman said that even her father, Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers Band, had a backup: “He was prepared to go to dental school if his band wasn’t signed.” She then added, “Thank God he was signed.”

Scheduling changes yield classroom gender imbalances

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Jake Batchelder, Staff Reporter

On the first day of school, Robert Wickers made his way to G block—Global Issues for Global Citizens with History teacher Stephanie Portman. When Wickers stepped into the classroom, he was amazed to find 14 girls and a mere four boys sitting in their seats, a ratio unfamiliar to the junior boy. The numbers just didn’t add up.

“I thought I was in the wrong class,” Wickers said.

On the other side of the spectrum from the Global Issues for Global Citizens class, AP Economics, taught by both Michael Brody and Charles Hanson, is known for being a “guy-heavy” class.

This gender imbalance is not what Upper School Registrar Julia Hammack wants, and does all in her power to prevent.

“Menlo is all about choices,” Hammack stated. “We want both genders to enjoy all the classes and opportunities that Menlo has to offer.”

When creating the master schedule, Hammack and Upper School Director John Schafer look at each of the classes and try to make them as gender-balanced as possible.

Portman would rather have gender balance in a class any day. She said that balance allows discussions to be more diverse, and encourages students to think about things from different perspectives.

This diversity of opinion is especially important in Global Issues, which is geared towards discussion and debate of the UN Millennium Development Goals, such as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Both Wickers and Portman agree that the class dynamic in Global Issues has not been different from a balanced class thus far, even though the recent research project completed by students in groups of two featured work from more girl-only pairs than would be found in other classes’ presentations.

However, junior Kyra Vargas, a student Global Issues, thinks that gender usually does not play into a diversity of opinion, and that discussion alone brings out diversity, such as in a recent class discussion where students moved to a side of the classroom depending on their opinion of two leadingexperts on poverty.

Still, Wickers believes, “The girls do get less attention because despite there being an imbalance, the teacher still wants a diverse collection of opinions from both genders.”

Senior Kristen Lee, a student of AP Economics and one of only five girls in her class, feels that Brody has treated everyone “As if they were the same gender.” This may be partly due to the construction of the course—it is more lecture-based than Global Issues.

Portman thinks gender imbalance stems from job ambitions, and that girls can take a class geared more towards “feelings” because they feel less pressure to support their future families.

Lee, one of the few girls in AP Economics, agrees with this notion, citing an aspiration to be a businesswoman.

Hammack says gender imbalance has a lot to do with switching classes. She describes the implications as a “domino effect.”

Since schedules were distributed, changes made by juniors and seniors altered the rosters of 775 classes, according to Hammack.

When freshmen and sophomores are considered, more than 1125 classes have been impacted by course changes.

As of Sept. 18, 2009, seven of 82 core courses offered by Menlo have a gender ratio of 2:1 or greater. Of the 86 electives offered (not including Language and Creative Arts), 30 meet this benchmark, Hammack said.

The Coat of Norms hard- pressed for relevance

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Megan Yang, News Editor

Saturday Night Live: funny. US Weekly: gossip-worthy.

The Coat of Norms: neither.

On the week of Sept. 3, The Coat of Norms got one classroom talking: the Journalism room.

Look, an underground press faces all the same issues as something like the Colbert Report or SNL’s Weekend Update: it has to have an objective.

Typically, that is either to be wickedly clever, with comments on issues that would be otherwise inappropriate to print in a respectable publication; or to try to play the role of a tabloid and uncover controversial issues.

The Coat of Norms—what exactly are your intentions?

Clearly you weren’t trying to provoke dialogue amongst your readers; I bet a majority of the campus didn’t even know we had an underground press. (Words of advice: print more copies.).

Half of what was printed in The Coat of Norms were articles that could have easily been printed in The Coat of Arms. ‘No hazing at Menlo’? – last issue. ‘PACT’—check out News page five. ‘Rejected first day themes’ – rejected CofA brainstorming idea.

As a self-proclaimed journalist and member of The Coat of Arms, I feel it’s my job to bash on an underground newspaper and, for example, pick out the abundant copy editing errors. (Freshmen is plural, ‘freshman’ is not. Also, surprised, not ‘suprised’).

To the staff of The Coat of Norms—I commend you for your effort. Really, it takes a lot of guts to write how you really feel (for instance the implications of this article itself are controversial).

But next time, if you want your readership to actually talk about what you print, why don’t you figure out your purpose, and try utilizing a Xerox.

Football features scoring bonanzas

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Roshan Sathyanarayana, Staff Reporter

After their three opening games this season, the Menlo football team is sitting at 2-1 with league play looming ahead.

After allowing only 20 points in their first game of the season, a 55-20 win over Hamilton City, the Menlo defense fell apart on the road against Carmel last week and allowed 49 points. Despite senior quarterback Danny Diekroeger throwing for 333 yards, the Knights couldn’t pull out a win. “We just weren’t ready to play.” Junior defensive end Mafileo Tupou said, referring to team illness and lack of practice.

However, the team rebounded this week with a 48-39 win at home against Justin-Sienna. “The offensive line stepped up and had a big game,” running back Beau Nichols said. Nichols had a great game of his own, with 170 total yards and a fumble recovery.

Head Coach Mark Newton also noted the success of the offensive line, and was satisfied with how the offense moved the ball.

Both Menlo wins have now come at home. “The guys love playing at home, in front of their fellow students. It definitely makes a difference,” Newton noted.

Coach Newton thinks the key to success is “working as a team in the system.” He sees lots of potential in the team, but “they need to stay focused,” and step up and make plays that make a difference. Newton didn’t hesitate to name Will Stark the MVP to date, due to his consistent performances on both offense and defense. Consistency is key Newton emphasized - something the Knights have lacked on defense and extra points. Newton aims to work on certain key elements of special teams.

The defense has been the headline story of the season so far. After allowing only 127 yards of total offense in the first game and shutting down Hamilton City, they surrendered 528 yards in game two, and 542 in their third game. “We’re going to make some adjustments on defense,” Newton said. “On the defensive side of the ball, all we have to do is stick with our assignments.”

“The pass defense seems fine it’s just stopping the run that we have to work on,” Tupou added. The defense has allowed an average of 287 rushing yards per game. In the next two weeks Newton also hopes to work on “fundamental tackling and defense.”

After three games the Knights’ offense has produced a total of 1344 yards, averaging 319 passing yards, and 140 on the ground per game. Newton’s key to the offense’s success is to stay focused, and work on timing and passing. Diekroeger said the offense needs to continue to convert third downs, in order to score.

Diekroeger and junior backup quarterback Robert Wickers have thrown for a combined total of 864 yards and the team has run for 401 yards, scoring a total of 117 points, while allowing a total of 108 after three games. Senior receiver Clay Robbins also has had a big year with 360 receiving yards and some key plays. Tim Benton, another receiver, has racked up 210 receiving yards.

The Knights have a bye week next week, and will play Hillsdale on the road on Oct. 2.

Newton has high expectations for the team, and thinks they’ll finish near the top of their tough PAL Ocean division.

Boys, Put On Your Dancing Shoes

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

By Kent Lacob Staff Reporter

As Lady Gaga would say, “Just Dance!” Dancing is what boys at Menlo have been up to lately, and it’s starting to catch on. This year the dance program has eighteen boys, doubling its numbers from last year.

The dance program is made up of the extracurricular hip-hop group Knight Life, Beginning Dance, and Advanced Dance.

Beginning Dance teaches basic concepts, terminology and choreography to students interested in learning formal dance technique, but it is also focused on incorporating flexibility and stretching, which brings athletes into the class.

Advanced Dance deals with more advanced concepts (no surprise ther

e) and terminology, and also moves at an advanced pace. Unless one is a very experienced dancer before entering the class, students usually start with a year of beginning dance, and then take the advanced class for the rest of their tenure in the program.

Even though hip-hop is not a class, it has become very popular. It has also been very successful in getting boys to try out dance, because hip-hop is a more appealing genre of dance to many guys.

Dance teacher Jan Chandler said, “[Male dancers] have been afraid to take dance, they’ve done hip hop and then they suddenly realized they want to get better.”

According to Chandler, hip-hop dancers traditionally do make up a good portion of the boys in the dance program.

However, this year, there is an unusually large number of boys taking the Beginning Dance class, and not one of them is in the hip-hop program.

There are nine boys in Beginning Dance; of the 18 involved in the program half are new to dance this year.

This begs the question: why are so many boys choosing to take dance? As it turns out, there are more benefits to taking the class than just learning to dance.

Over the years, a few athletes have taken dance every year, but this year there has been a surge in boys participation, which appears to indicate that boys are starting to recognize the benefits.

“Boys are starting to realize that the constant work on flexibility and strengthening of core in dance is going to aid them in their sports,” Chandler said.

Senior Harrison Nida, who is now in his second year of Advanced Dance (he also did a year of Beginning Dance), plays basketball at Menlo and believes dance has helped him tremendously. “Taking dance has made me realize just how much my flexibility was limiting me on the court,” Nida said. He went on to say, “I think [dance class] is really making a difference.”

While Junior Jordan Williams has also seen benefits in athletics as a reason for taking dance, he clarified that boys take dance for a number of different reasons. “I took dance because I loved to dance at all the school dances, and for me it’s just really fun. Another part was to get stretched out for sports and make sure I wouldn’t get any major injuries,” Williams said.

Some boys may take it for sports, or some may take it because of the girls. Regardless of the many reasons for taking it, boys are proving that there is no problem with the Menlo dance program being a co-ed environment.

“Dance isn’t only something for girls to do at schools…it’s great to show other guys in the school that they can have fun doing something mostly girls do, but is also fun for guys,” Williams concluded.

With that being said: guys, do a little dirty dancing, get your night of the Roxbury on. Heck, maybe even flaunt some Hava Nagila. It just might do you some good.

Boys water polo drowns competition

Knights — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

by Roshan Sathyanarayana, Staff Reporter

Coming off a strong campaign last season, the Menlo boys water polo team believes that they can repeat the feat in 2009.

“Our team’s main goal this season is to be our best. It’s something that the team, so far has absolutely done, and we’ll know in our hearts when we’ve done it,” Head Coach Jack Bowen said a couple days after the Knights 15-6 victory over Serra High School, a game in which junior John Holland-McCowan scored five goals to lead the Knights over the Padres.

He also added, “Being our best so far in the season led to an absolutely outstanding performance against Serra.” Bowen praised Holland-McCowan saying he was one of the top five centers in CCS.

According to both Bowen and Holland-McCowan, the team’s strong point is their team-oriented offense. Even though we have very talented players, they would be worthless if they didn’t have a team around them, Bowen said.

Though Holland-McCowan did add that because their offense relies so heavily on passing and teamwork, it leads to a very small weakness in individual outside shooting.

“As for [other] weaknesses, nothing out of the ordinary seems to be a problem. Most high school coaches worry about that players might not be able to play as a team,” Bowen said. Clearly, teamwork has not seemed to be an issue for the Knights. “We’ve done some hard conditioning, and I haven’t gotten any complaints. It’s just been 100% effort from them.”

Both Holland-McCowan and Bowen also commented on how hard the team has worked on their counter-attack. “Counter attack, in water polo is not just about speed, but also intelligence, and so far we have a very good counter-attack.” The Knights have developed a strong defense to match their stellar forward play.

Bowen praised the team’s stellar goal keeping they have gotten over the offseason led by Keegan Williams. Menlo has three strong goalies this season, a rarity according to Bowen.

Menlo hosted the 12th annual Roche tournament last weekend.

The Knights started off strong, cruising to the semifinals, but fell 4-11 to Catholic Cathedral, the eventual tournament winner, and then lost 6-9 to St. Mary’s in the vicious third place match.

The Knights are poised to carry on Menlo’s rich tradition of water polo.