Joshua Troeger, the first-year head coach of the Santa Maria High School girls’ water polo team, offered a sage response when asked what was his team’s best win of its young season.
“Honestly, a lot of our best games have been losses,” Troeger said. “You learn so much more from losing, from the really good teams that push us.”
Troeger’s healthy approach to embracing failure has made a positive and meaningful impression on his players. While many teams hang their heads after losing, the Saints recognize that each game is all part of the big picture of improving and growing.
“We understand that we’re not going to really learn anything from success,” said Jenae Tell, Santa Maria’s senior goalie. “You have to fail before you can actually understand what you’re doing wrong. We push ourselves toward making ourselves better.”
That’s not to say the team isn’t capable of winning games. Santa Maria has started out its 2015-2016 season with a respectable 4-4-1 record, showcasing quality victories over Pioneer Valley and St. Joseph high schools along the way.
The Saints are led this year by a strong group of seniors, starting with Tell in goalie.
“Tell is in the bottom five in the league for goals allowed,” Troeger said. “She’s on her way to having a phenomenal season.”
Tell comically attributes her success to wearing contact lenses, which she didn’t realize she needed until her sophomore season.
“I literally couldn’t see,” she said, laughing. “Once I figured all that out, I could start to get real experience and improve as a goalie.”
Others dominating the pool this year are seniors Lizbeth Hernandez, Kim Macario, and Hannah Lange, who have a combined 39 steals so far this season.
“You can’t knock the bonus you get from being a senior,” Troeger said of the trio. “They know how to anticipate passes before they come. That’s the key to stealing.”
Macario received heartfelt praise from Tell, who said her teammate brings invaluable leadership to the group.
“Marcario really wants the team to work,” Tell said. “She’s always making sure that everyone’s doing what they’re supposed be doing, and everyone is where they’re supposed to be. She doesn’t get the glory, but she should.”
Sophomore utility player Ruby Alvarado has also come out strong. She’s second on the team in scoring with 10 goals, and many of those goals came from counter attacks, assisted by Tell after she made a save.
“Ruby’s really available to get the ball,” Tell said. “When I throw it to her, I trust that she’s going to bring it where it needs to go. She knows what’s she doing.
“We kind of have a connection there,” she added.
Though the Saints enter the new year with a .500 record, the so-so numbers don’t do justice to the amount of progress that’s taken place in the Santa Maria water polo program when compared to previous years.
“Our main goal this year is to outdo previous years,” Tell said. “Last year, it was hard for all of us to work together. This year, we feel like we’re closer to each other and have more trust in the water and out of the water.”
Tell attributes a great deal of that togetherness to the addition of Troeger as head coach.
“Troeger’s method of coaching is bringing us together,” Tell said. “It helps out a lot.”
Historically, Santa Maria water polo struggled to find commitment and consistency from players year to year, which led to a lack of team cohesion and ultimately disappointing seasons.
Troeger, a ’98 alum of Santa Maria High School and a longtime community figure, was an assistant coach prior to taking over as head coach this year. In that time, Troeger saw the difficulty the team was experiencing, but he also saw the solution.
“It’s been a big struggle for us [in the past],” he said. “You need to have a healthy string of four-year players to be a competitive team on a regular basis.”
To Troeger, the only path to fielding a competitive varsity team comprised of four-year water polo players is to develop a robust junior varsity team with lots of freshmen and sophomore talent.
The program has greatly improved on that front.
“Our JV team is about 45 girls,” Troeger said. “It’s the largest JV team in the history of our program. It’s huge for us.”
Santa Maria launches into Los Padres League play on Jan. 13 against Santa Ynez, followed by a game against St. Joseph on Feb. 5.
True to the team’s motto of incremental growth and improvement, Tell told the Sun that the Saints are just taking things game by game right now.
“In different games we have different strengths and weaknesses,” she said. “We’re just working on what Troeger’s teaching us and applying it to each game.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Dec 24-31, 2015.