Men’s water polo looking forward to next year
After his first year as men’s water polo head coach, Brian Eskridge is looking forward to the possibility of returning for a second year. With the decision being left up to the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, the team already voted in favor of keeping Eskridge as head coach following a closed-door team meeting this past Wednesday.
“It’s looking good, but the final decision is on them,” said Eskridge, referring to the Board of Trustees.
Despite a 4-15 record this season, Eskridge felt the team made big strides through out the year, especially at the end where the team won two out of three games.
Eskridge’s only other coaching experience was as head coach at Culver City High School from 2005-2009, which is also when the team’s current captain, Alex Myers, played under his instruction.
Myers was one of the players who were very vocal about keeping coach Eskridge next year.
“It’s sort of fitting, we have a young team that is just starting and he is a young coach,“ Myers said. “We are just starting from scratch, even though we didn’t have many wins it was a building year, so we learned a lot about ourselves. That’s what [Eskridge] brought to this team.”
As the team now enters the off-season, Eskridge finds himself in the recruiting process, looking to gather more talent for a team that will be built around returning players Austin Shaheri and Kyle Charmit.
Shaheri finished with the team’s second-highest goal tally behind Myers. Myers, however, has already completed two seasons and will not return next year.
Eskridge mentioned that one of his main offseason goals is adding depth to the team, something that affected the Corsairs through out season. “It’s all about getting out and recruiting now,” said Eskridge.
Eskridge looks to lead his team to their first playoff victory in conference play since 2002.
“That’s what we are trying to build towards,” said Eskridge. “Next year we are trying to win some conference games and do something in the conference tournament.”