Polo

I don’t often write about the hubs here on the blog…he’s not one for social media. He doesn’t have a facebook or instagram and says that social media is going to be the end of all….I think he's just grumpy!! haha

But today I’m a proud wifey! Yosh has coached water polo since I met him…literally…like the first time I EVER saw him, I was in high school at Fontana…and he was the JV Coach at Redlands. My whole team (including myself) thought he was the hottest polo coach ever! haha
Yosh started coaching when he 18 years old…and hasn’t stopped since (minus the whole taking the year off when I was going through chemo!) But he has bounced around to a few different schools…been part of fully established programs winning CIF like Redlands, struggled with athlete retention at Pacific, helped create winning programs, like at Centennial and started BRAND new ones, like with our Roosevelt Mustangs.  7 years ago Yosh and I started the aquatic program at Roosevelt. It was TOUGH! It was just him and I…trying to create something that we weren’t even sure was possible! We started with boys polo season…having a few boys come out and most didn’t even know how to swim. It was crazy.  Yosh was the head varsity coach and I was his assistant and Head JV coach. I will say…it was a testament to our new marriage (we were newly weds…only getting married 2 months before we started coaching together!) There were times we wanted to kill each other BUT I think he DEFINITELY was an awesome mentor for me as  new coach…and I challenged his veteran ways! We were a good team!

This was our first game…EVER, September 2006. At Corona high…and we hadn’t even seen most of the boys in the water yet (since our pool wasn’t completely finished being built yet!)

Then we had girls season…yep was pretty much a repeat of boys season EXCEPT the good part was we had a pool from day one. 

Our first game with girls…at least they “looked” like they belonged to a team! haha

And now 7 years later my husband has questioned himself MANY MANY times. Times have been tough with MANY ups and downs. Going from a winning program to a new program can be challenging.  Starting the program from scratch was difficult as well.  When you have players complaining or questioning…difficult parents, yes we had MANY stressful nights here at the Souza house!

It only took 7 years BUT I feel that the hubs has been given the validation he finally needs and deserves! This weekend Roosevelt Girls Polo took 1st place in the 17th Annual Redlands Winter Classic Polo Tournament!!

It’s a first for our school history to place 1st in a tournament. And it didn’t come easily…a few rough games but the girls played amazingly and came out the victors!
Yosh is a damn good coach…I know that and many others do as well. But sometimes over the past few years his record didn’t reflect that! I’m so proud of him…and ALL the hard work he has put into this school…and continues to put into it daily! He scarifies time with his family, for these high school students and I hope and pray they all understand how much he genuinely cares about each and everyone of them!

Good Job Babe…and Great Job to the Varsity Girls Polo team!!!