Women’s Water Polo Season Abruptly Cancelled
The women’s water polo team has been treading unsteady ground for quite some time now, unable to boast a record with more than four wins since the 2015-16 season. Out of 23 games in the 2024-25 season, the Corsairs finished just 2-21, constituting last place in the Western State Conference. In fact, over the previous decade, SMC finished four of its past ten seasons without a single win.
“We didn’t have enough players … we tried to hold on for as long as we could … but we weren’t able to fill the team,” said head coach Brian Eskridge regarding the cancellation.
Mahoor Manteghi, a second-year student at SMC and current team member, offered to provide more clarity regarding the decision. “We have the exact amount of girls needed. However, classes and game schedules get conflicted … so when only one or two of the girls can’t go it messes up the whole team,” said Manteghi.
Coaches and players alike are devastated by the circumstance, given that just a marginally larger team would’ve ensured a whole semester of play. Despite a shaky 2-9 start to their season, this year’s team was eager to snap their losing streak with a big win at home.
“The morale going into every game is good. We all hope for the best and try our hardest.” said Manteghi. The Corsairs still had eight stand-alone games and two tournaments left to play ahead of Wednesday’s bout, which was nearly half of the season.
What exactly caused this season’s lack of participation remains unclear. Team members, however, point to limited visibility and support on campus as a probable cause.
Elisabeth Marcot, starting goalie and team captain, believes that the team, and to an extent the entire sport, is neglected by SMC. “More than anything, the school itself needs to encourage students to join ALL sports. It’s common for the school to heavily advertise the soccer and football teams and sort of forget the less mainstream sports.” says Marcot.
She goes on further to add that unlike other sports that SMC offers, water polo gets virtually no attention from the school’s social media platforms. “They posted our schedule once on their story and then never again. Even the website has news stories from years before I was here, because not enough has been written recently to fill the page.”
Several players emphasized that lack of representation for the program was the most important issue this season, and smaller programs need external assistance to step out of the shadow of larger sports programs. Rather than a reluctance to play, potential talent may simply be unaware of the team’s recruitment efforts.
“With a little more visibility and support, more girls would see how fun and rewarding it is to be a part of this program… Hopefully that can help us keep building for the future,” says Manteghi.
For those interested in joining the program and helping build the team back up, you can contact head coach Brian Eskridge at eskridge_brian@smc.edu. The program welcomes students of all experience levels, “Effort is a hundred times more valuable than skill or strength,” says Marcot. “Time and time again I have seen our best players be those who work their hardest every day, rather than those who join the program already proficient.”
Irrespective of the rather unfortunate end to the season, the team is adamant on persisting through adversity and remains steadfast in their faith of a brighter future for the program. “For now, we’ll keep practicing and improving so the first year girls can have a good shot next year.” said Manteghi.