San Jose State kinesiology freshman Kasey Coughlin, has been playing water polo since she was five and began playing competitively with the American River Water Polo Club at 9 years old.
Throughout high school, Coughlin competed in the U.S. Junior Olympics and said she had no plans of stopping there.
As there is no longer a women’s club water polo team at SJSU because of low roster numbers, she reached out to the men’s team.
Coughlin isn’t the only one. Two other women joined the men’s club team this fall as the club league is coed.
“I mean, to me, it makes no difference whether I play on girls or guys [team],” Coughlin said.
Coughlin said although she was really nervous going to the first practice on Aug. 29, the men were welcoming.
“I think they enjoy having some girls, you know, because not in a weird way, but it balances out some testosterone and competitiveness, you know?” she said.
Kinesiology junior Katarina Capulong said she was also nervous but immediately clicked with the other girls. Meanwhile, the men were sweet and supportive.
“If we missed a shot, they're [men] like, ‘It's okay, you're doing great as long as you show up every day,’” Capulong said.
She said she’s excited to be in an environment where winning or losing doesn’t matter and the team’s goal is to only have fun.
Coughlin said it has only been three weeks since the team started practicing but she’s looking forward to continuing competing against men, which is something she’s never done before.
“Especially in college, it's a very different game and environment,” Coughlin said. “Guys play way differently than girls do so I'm excited to get a taste of that.”
Aside from competing, Coughlin is able to meet new people and have fun.
Jade Moya, biological sciences and systems physiology freshman, said playing with Coughlin and Capulong feels like she’s with her sisters.
“It just feels like we have a bunch of big brothers that are here to help us throughout this experience,” she said.
Moya said taking 15 units this semester has been stressing her out, but having her space on the water polo team is her relief.
“For me, it's my therapy, so I get a lot of my anger out in the pool,” she said.
Brian Tsui, who is in his second year of coaching the club men’s water polo team, said he’s happy to have the girls contribute to the team and improve their abilities.
“I think that it'd be really great if the girls had a club water polo team, but with the fact that they don't have enough players this year, we're glad to have them,” Tsui said.
Tsui said he aims to bring unity to the team this year and ensure a supportive and positive environment.
Senior men’s club player Adam Thomas said although the three girls know the differences between men’s and women’s water polo, it hasn’t stopped them from coming out to every practice.
“They've just come out every single day just giving their best effort and that's all I can really ask for,” Thomas said.
He said the sport can look scary but it’s only because it’s a physical sport with no malice intentions.
“If you're just wanting to come play, we're very open to accepting new people. Whether you have a lot of experience or no experience, you know, we will accept you and teach you along the way,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he hopes the team can start off strong with their first competitions on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2.
“Even if we start down early, we just finish strong. That's all I can really ask for even if we do lose. I just want us to finish strong,” he said.
