Damien Lawrence, water polo coach and biology teacher:

Q: What is your coaching philosophy regarding academics and waterpolo?

A: On campus coaches have the unique ability to blend the two. Both are supposed to mirror and prepare students for life, so the qualities I expect to see in my athletes should also be demonstrated in the classroom. Foremost of these is personal responsibility! Managing one’s time is paramount. If we have a tournament approaching, it is expected that students will communicate with their teacher and take care of all details without prompting by coaches or teachers. Essentially, I expect they will show an excellent work ethic in and out of the water and strive to improve in all they do.

Q: How does participating in water polo contribute to students’ discipline?

A: Water polo by its very nature is a pretty violent sport. A full contact sport, without any kind of protective gear, means at some point an elbow or fist is going to find an uncomfortable target. A natural reaction to getting struck is to get angry and respond in kind. We do a lot of talking about not being reactive and retaliating. This takes an extreme amount of discipline.

Q: Do you have any stories of athletes who have succeeded both academically and athletically?

A: We have a long list of students who have attended prestigious universities and play water polo, so that is nothing new. I think what has brought me the most pride is that this year’s team was crowned the San Joaquin Section Academic Champs. It is a new award but basically our water team had the highest unweighted GPA of any other team in the section.