Originally appeared on Vype.com.
Even though Cypress Creek water polo added its sixth and seventh state championships the last two years, it’s often overlooked as one of the area’s most dominant dynasties.
A big part of that is being a non-UIL program, which affects exposure, funding and roster depth.
Coach Jeff Chandler lost four of his seven starters to the 2016 graduation, and a pair of first-team, all-state honorees to this year’s ceremony, but he’s been training this year’s group for a number of years.
If seniors Brooke Jones, Alexis Agueros, Kristina Gantz and Rachel Brewer, as well as junior Kayla McQueen, become the utility players and leaders he wants them to be, a three-peat could be on the horizon.
“It’s the next person up,” Chandler said of his team’s mentality. “They know what I expect, and what they need to do to win.”
Although Chandler joked that “scoring more goals than the other teams” was the key to winning another championship, it’s really going to come down to filling the roles of three losses on defense.
Former all-state, honorable-mention Jones doesn’t expect that to be a problem because she said her team performs the best when its back is against the wall.
“We have a very small water polo community at our school, and I think that may push us to be better,” Jones said. “We don’t have a lot of extra [players], so we have to work really hard to get our small bench to be very good.”
Even with Cy Creek’s tradition and excellence in the sport, water polo isn’t growing at the same rate as other schools in Cy-Fair ISD. Jones said the $250 club fee that athletes have to pay to play the TISCA sport is one of the reasons why more athletes at her school are not coming out for the sport, but Chandler thinks the added district competition will help his program long-term.
“I don’t think there’s going to be major changes until it becomes a UIL-sanctioned sport,” Jones said. “We haven’t had any kids from other sports come over to us.”
This article appeared in the December issue of VYPE Magazine. Pick up your copy today at any one of our locations!
