Under the leader ship of new coaches, golf, water polo, and tennis raise the bar
Golf and water polo have finally joined a new league this year in Marlborough sports, and both teams, in addition to the tennis program, have received a new coaching staff.
The three sports have all gone through their shares of ups and downs within the last few years.
With the addition of a new coaching staff for each sport, the overall goal is to further develop the programs, said Athletics Director David Collicutt.
“This year,” he said, “we’re stepping things up, and our new coaches have a wealth of experience in their designated fields.”
New water polo coach Keith Nadel has been involved in the sport since his childhood, and has two sons playing at high school and college levels. Nadel also played at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and won the national title in his sophomore year. He was the graduate assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s swim teams at CSUN after graduating, and eventually lead the women to a National Championship in 1987. Later, Nadel coached at Pacific Palisades High School and then moved to Marymount High School, where he stayed for five years.
Now, he’s turning his attention to leading the Mustangs to victory, although he’s prepared for the initial difficulties of joining the new league.
Both golf and water polo were inducted into the Ocean League, a division of the locally based South Bay Athletics Association, with two other large conferences. Marlborough is now included in a league with much larger schools, including Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica, El Segundo and Torrance High Schools.
“The hope and objective is to build the program,” said Nadel. “At this point we can’t worry about wins or losses, because it’s going to be a struggle.”
With their inclusion into this new league, the biggest inconvenience will be travel time, because Marlborough will have to travel to games up to an hour and 22 miles away.
On the other hand, the golf team no longer has to travel long distances to practice. Thanks to new head coach and Marlborough parent Rick Rielly, the team now has access to the Wilshire Country Club, where Rielly is also the head professional golfer.
According to the team’s two assistant coaches, Laura Morrison and Mary Jacobs, spirits on the golf team are high.
“They’re doing really well,” Morrison said. “Every time they’ve played they’ve gotten better and better.”
Suzana Santos, the new varsity tennis coach, has been practicing at the Los Angeles Tennis Club with her team.
“Everyone loves her,” said Andie ’12 on her new coach, “She’s amazing and we’ve already started the season off well.”
Overall, reception has been positive for the slew of new coaches, and they seem to be enjoying Marlborough as well.
“I’m absolutely happy to be at Marlborough. Every girl has already proven herself as exceptional,” said Nadel.
