After winning the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Los Angeles City Section Championship for 11 consecutive years, the Pali Boys Water Polo Team’s streak came to an end on Nov. 13 in a game against Cleveland Charter High School at Los Angeles Valley College.
The athletes faced a challenge on the way to their game: Immediately after leaving Pali, their bus broke down on the Pacific Coast Highway. Coaches Theo Trask and Kevin Basurto were forced to use their personal vehicles to transport the players to the match.
Goalie and team Co-Captain Logan Mirzadeh said that this unexpected hurdle heavily impacted the athlete’s mental states.
“We had a hard time getting to the game, and it was definitely nerve-wracking,” Mirzadeh said. “Going into the game I was a bit nervous, but as a team, we knew we had a real shot of winning.”
However, he said the team’s pregame rituals helped transition them to a more positive mindset.
“We walked into the pool, and started stretching and meditating,” he explained. “This gave us the calm vibes that we needed.”
Ultimately, Mirzadeh said that as the game progressed, the team started to forget their fundamentals and camaraderie, contributing to their loss.
“The defense just was not there, and we started getting mad at each other, losing our chemistry,” Mirzadeh said. “We didn’t keep our composure, and I think that’s what sold the game.”
Co-captain Charlie Speiser explained that the team itself is very young, with limited water polo experience compared to prior teams.
“In the past we have had our athletes playing club water polo in the offseason, but unfortunately, we started from ground zero instead of starting with a leg up,” Speiser said.
Speiser added that the loss felt personal, given his brothers’ involvement in the team’s winning streak.
“Both of my brothers, who graduated in 2018 and 2020, have been here for all 11 years of the streak… I didn’t want to be the one brother to lose the streak,” he said. “I was sad, but as champions, we can’t win them all. At some point, we had to go down.”
Similar to Speiser’s personal sentiments about the game, Trask added that he also felt pressure to maintain the streak, given that it was his first time as head coach for the team.
“I felt disappointment….it’s hard to be a head coach for the first time and end the longest streak in city history,” Trask said.
Pali was the odds-on favorite to win the championship, so much so that CIF coordinators engraved Palisades Charter High School onto the 2024 City Section Championship trophy prior to the match.
Speiser discussed the legacy of the team and his hopes for the future of boys water polo, saying: “I keep telling the younger kids stories of the amazing things this team has done in the past… I hope they learn, grow a bond, and step into their own leadership roles in the future.”
