How often do people look at you with amazement when you dare to mention that you get up at 6 a.m. for the sake of exercising? It happens more often than one could imagine. While others remain in the comfort of their bed for a couple more hours, water polo players get up twice a week at the crack of dawn to enjoy an early practice at the SF State swimming pool.

Yes, enjoying is the right word.

“Practices are great, early but great,” said Shifteh Einollahzadeh, president of the newly created Water Polo Club.

Einollahzadeh, who fell in love with the sport, had an unusual first introduction to water polo.
When she was in Aliso Viejo High School, she joined the water polo team to get out of the two-mile run scheduled by her physical education class. She has played ever since.

Transferring to SF State from Orange County’s Saddleback College in fall 2007, she realized that the university did not have an active water polo club and that something had to be done.

“Conor Powers was the main person that helped start this club. He’s my wingman, my partner in crime. And let’s not forget Steven [Stodola], he’s such a sweetheart, he helped a lot,” Einollahzadeh said.

Word of mouth mainly drew the 10 water polo players to the twice-a-day practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help players better their skills thanks to specific game set-ups.

“Nobody is in charge, so nobody would feel left out,” Einollahzadeh said about the practice organization.

Swimming some laps on the side of the 25-yard pool, passing and doing some ball work are the essential components of the warm-up.

Players align along the width of the pool, throw the official water polo ball of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in front of them, keep their head above water and swim front freestyle to make the ball move with them. A piercing whistle blows. It is the sign to turn around and start doing the same exercise in the opposite direction.

Then, walking along the pool and holding a box in her arms, Einollahzadeh takes out white and blue caps designed to identify members of the same team and protect players’ head and ears from possible injuries that might be caused by the high speed at which balls are thrown.

The true water polo game is about to begin.

Three against three, players pass the ball to a member of their team, come as close as possible to the cage guarded by the goalkeeper and throw the ball to score a goal.

“The water polo rules are simple: do not push away, do not dump players and do not punch,” Einollahzadeh said.

This game has an aggressive side that Courtney Siogo, an undecided freshman who has been playing the sport for three years, portrays.

“It’s a really aggressive sport so it’s fun and it’s good practice,” Siogo said.

Like any other club sport, the satisfaction comes also from the opportunity to compete against other schools and at a higher level.

Crystal Mathews, a senior cinema major, has a long history as a water polo player. Mathews was captain of the water polo team in high school and during water polo camps in Berkeley and Long Beach. It was thus natural for her to join the SF State team which she said has great potential.

Mathews, Einollahzadeh and Danielle Techner, the financial officer of the team, all focus their attention on the team’s near future: the Women’s Nationals from July 25 to 27, which requires gathering nine committed players and registering at the end of March.

If there is one thing water polo players agree on is that it is a fun but exhausting sport.

Einollahzadeh remembered that the first time she tried water polo, she could not move following the practice.

Akeem Little, a business freshman who wanted to join a team while enrolled in college, was introduced to water polo for his first time.

“It was intense,” Little said following practice. “But it’s good to wake up in the morning.”

After a two-hour practice, no yawn can be heard. The players feel great.

It might not be the case of their friends back home, half-conscious and only starting to emerge from their long night sleep.