Your lungs ache as you struggle to claim your next breath. Your arms feel like you have lead weights chained to them. The last shot you attempted went over the cage, and the coach screamed at you for shooting on your back. Youre trying to sprint up the pool, but some player between six foot four and six foot ninety, with biceps as big as your waist, has a deathlock grip on your wrist. It is at this moment, this excruciating moment, you are thinking one thing.

Water polo. The world's most difficult and challenging sport. To some it's a game. To the rest of us, it's a way of life. Welcome to Calabasas High School water polo, or what we like to call Cal Polo. The Cal Polo program is a member of the Marmonte League, widely considered to be one of the toughest leagues for water polo in southern California. Beginning with the 2007-2008 Boys and Girls water polo seasons, our mission is simple. To continue to build Cal Polo into a feared Marmonte League and CIF powerhouse. It will take time, patience, and hard work. It will take dedication. It will take sacrifice. And most importantly, it will be worth it.

There is a line from the motion picture Miracle, the true story of the triumphant 1980 USA Olympic hockey team. When confronted by a US Olympic hockey board official that he is ignoring some of the best players at tryouts, new head coach Herb Brooks responds, "I'm not looking for the best players. I'm looking for the right ones." My philosophy is the same. The greatest players in this sport have one thing in common. They play with their hearts. I'm not looking for the player who comes to me thinking he or she is a superstar. I will keep the less-skilled player who works hard, and cut the brilliant player with the bad attitude, every time. I can teach anybody the sport. But heart and desire must come from the inside. On Cal Polo, character counts. Hard work counts. That is why we have the best program. And that is what will earn us our first Marmonte League championship.

This is the greatest team in the world.