Word: pikes
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Although tonight's game will mark the team's varsity debut, first-year-coach Stephen Pike is not thirsting for experienced athletes. Only two of the squad's starters graduated after last year's 10-7 season...
...Pike and company say the increased competition may prevent the team from improving last year's record, but the season will provide the team with an opportunity for higher education, Hansen says. The tougher schedule also "puts us on the first step to parity" with top teams, Pike said earlier this week...
Aside from a tougher schedule--and the daily four-mile runs and two-mile swims the coach will require--varsity status means that the University can start to recruit better players. In the past, Pike explains, it was hard to bring in all-Americans, who knew that because Harvard only had a club, they could never compete on NCAA qualifying squads...
...everything else is changing, however, team members hope that the new status will not hurt the open atmosphere and friendliness that characterized water polo as a club sport. Although the varsity team will carry only a 16-man squad at home, pike says he will keep everybody who can meet minimum requirements--"good swimming skills and a knowledge of the game." The coach adds that he will also encourage women to try out for the squad and will emphasize the women's program in the spring...
...this year, Pike contends, water polo will no longer be viewed as a second-rate sport or a conditioning ground for swimmers. Last year, team members "proved to the athletic department that they were very serious about the sport," the coach says. Varsity status--and the ability to schedule tough matches--"puts us on the first step to parity" with the big guns, he explains...