Tonight v. MICDS

Tonight the Chaminade Red Devils varsity squad will take on the MICDS Rams who are playing a varsity-only schedule this year. Coach Casey told me that they have really been hurt by the change of season, but he thinks they can come back strong next year and going forward. This matchup will be at 8:00 PM at Chaminade. Prior to the game, the JV faction of the CCP water polo program will encounter the Longhorns of Parkway West at 7:00 PM.

I played for both Coach Casey's when I was a kid and have coached against them in club play, but never in high school. I'm nervous and excited as these were the two people who first taught me how to play water polo. They also have taught nearly everyone on our team how to play water polo as well. And as you all know, Dan Casey started our program here. So basically, we are all very grateful for Don and Dan Casey and how they have enriched our lives with this sport...but let's drop the hammer on them tonight.

The coaching staff poses two major problems for the Red Devils:

1. They have coached every single player on this team. They know our boys in the same way I know the South and SLUH boys. I bet they know more about our boys than I do.
2. They know how to coach defense. No offense to any other program, but the Casey's and Baud at SLUH are about the only coaches who know how to coach really good defense in this city.

So what does that mean for us? We need to execute. We need to be patient. We need to protect the ball. We need to communicate. If any of those four "needs" breaks down, we might find ourselves on the losing side of this battle.

Starters for varsity:
#1 Blake Stabler
#2 Jack Benage (c)
#3 Michael Kubik
#5 Kevin Arnold (c)
#6 Jake Entwistle
#8 Danny Faust
#12 Chris Watkins

I'm excited for the Parkway West game. West's varsity coach Charlie Cutelli and I have become good friends as he has been coaching Jungle Cats with me for the last couple years. We are the same age and he lives a block away. He is a good coach and very passionate about the sport. Jungle Cats was started when we were sophomores and Charlie and I were among the first in the program. When we were in high school, Charlie's Parkway South team lost one game in two years and that was to my SLUH team our junior year (with SLUH's JV coach John Penilla and Conner Keefe's older brother Ryan as our captains). He has two state titles, so I don't have much sympathy for him when his Longhorns struggle!

See you tonight.