Wenjie Zou

Varsity Tennis player Isabella Pop (10) high-fives a clinic attendee. She guided the young players in honing their forehand swing technique.

The upper school varsity water polo and tennis teams hosted youth clinics for students to introduce younger athletes to the sports as part of Harker Day festivities on Oct. 4. Varsity upper school water polo players led swimming and shooting activities at Singh Aquatic Center, and varsity upper school tennis athletes guided students through serving and footwork exercises at the Blackford tennis courts.

The water polo clinic began with warm-up and ball-handling activities on Davis Field at 9:30 a.m. Around 10 lower and middle school students participated, led by upper school varsity players and head coach Lee McBride. The group practiced passing and shooting using rebounders to refine their mechanics, with older students offering feedback.  

Afterwards, younger players took a short swimming proficiency test before entering the water for hands-on skill sessions. They learned essential techniques like eggbeater kicks, dribbling and controlled passing, with varsity athletes demonstrating each movement before guiding the younger students. 

“We kept everything very introductory,” McBride said. “We started with a lot of fundamentals — we did light swimming and kept it easy so they didn’t have to tread the whole time. The idea was to keep instructions concise, move from one drill to the next and make sure the kids stayed active and engaged.”

After developing confidence with basic passing, the group split into smaller stations to practice teamwork and accuracy. Then, the group moved on to shooting exercises, with two cages set across the pool. Older athletes played as goalies, while younger players rotated through rounds of catching, aiming and shooting from short distances. 

The clinic concluded with a scrimmage. High school players helped split the participants into two teams and offered tips and encouragement.

Varsity boys water polo player Ian Cheline (11) commented on the highlight of the clinic. 

“My favorite part was when we got to scrimmage with all the kids,” Ian said. “It was so fun watching them play and have a good time and watching it all come together. We have a lot of new talent coming in, and this is the future of what our program will look like when we leave.”

Parents were also invited to attend the clinic. Yearbook adviser and journalism teacher Stephen Baxter, whose fourth-grade daughter Zoe participated in the clinic, noted the athletes’ energy making a strong impression on the younger players.

“She had a great time,” Baxter said. “It was her first time playing water polo — she’d swum a lot before, but she learned a lot. She was really grateful for the opportunity. That was really helpful for the young players.”

McBride explained how the clinic marked an effort to introduce water polo to younger athletes. 

“It’s a great introductory point to get them started early,” McBride said. “They can develop these skills and fundamentals and build on them throughout the years. We’re going to have a couple clinics here in the springtime, and it’s a great time to start water polo as the weather gets warm again. It’s good to be a student-athlete, and there are a lot of life lessons from doing both.

At the same time, both the varsity girls and boys tennis programs held a joint clinic for lower schoolers at Blackford. High school players, led by head coaches John and John Paul Fruttero, guided lower schoolers through hand-eye coordination drills.

The event began at 10 a.m., and 30 attendees split into groups based on skill proficiency. The most experienced players joined the red dot group, intermediate players joined the orange dots and beginners trained in the green dot group.

Varsity players guided each group through serving drills. Afterwards, players chose to either hone their footwork skills with the varsity players or compete against each other in point play. 

John Fruttero concluded the event by hosting lunch for the youth players. He also held a raffle, where winners obtained tickets to future tennis clinics.

Varsity boys tennis player Yash Sachdeva (12) remarked on the growth of some of the returning youth players.

“I’ve been doing this for four years at this point, and it’s a great opportunity to teach other people about tennis because it’s a game that we all love.” Yash said. “I’ve known a few of them over the years. Seeing them also develop over time and grow, it’s been really special. A lot of them come to watch our games sometimes, especially against Menlo.”