| What Sports comprise the Aquatics department? | MCHS provides (3) distinct spot opportunities – Boys Water
Polo, Girls Water Polo and Boys & Girls Swimming. BWP is a fall sport (beginning in late August, continuing through mid
November) Girls Water Polo is a winter sport (beginning late November, continuing through mid February)
Swimming is a spring sport (beginning in February, continuing through May) |
| Can I participate in more than one? | Water Polo players are also expected to be members of the swim team. This
is required to maintain endurance and build speed off season. WP players may participate in another sport,
but only with permission of their WP coaches. Swimmers who do not play water polo may play another fall
or winter sport that doesn’t conflict with the swim team schedule. |
| How do I get started? | If you are a current student, incoming freshman or new to Mira Costa
High School, you sign up to participate in any of these sports when you select your classes for each semester.
BWP & GWP are 1st semester courses and Swimming is a second semester course.
All (3) aquatics sports are 6th period PE classes (more information on actual times below).
Coaches for these sports are advised of your interest in the sport via these class sign-ups. |
| Can I sign up for water polo or swimming both semesters? | Water Polo is only offered first semester for both boys & girls. With
approval of the Varsity Swim Coach, Dan Bartlett, a discreet number of swimmers may
sign up to swim both semesters. These swimmers must work out and swim all year, not just during swim season
|
| Can I
still play water polo or swim if I didn’t sign up when I chose my fall 2010 classes? | You must be enrolled in 6th period PE in order to play a sport.
You need to contact your education advisor as soon as possible to see if your schedule can be changed. You can sign
up for swimming when you select your classes for second semester 2011. |
| Is there a try-out & do I need previous experience? | There is not a try-out for either boys’ or girls’ water polo, but all prospective
and returning players are required to participate in the summer water polo program as a prelude to the fall or winter season.
This program is administered through the Summer School Program and our off-season organization, Costa Club.
Players are required to register for summer school, pay Costa Club dues & be current members of USA Water Polo
to participate in the summer program. Experience is not expressly required, but some previous play experience
and basic knowledge of the game is encouraged. Experience and skill will dictate team placement. There
are (3) levels of play – Varsity, Junior Varsity and Frosh/Soph. Frosh/Soph is the development team. All (3) teams have
separate play schedules . Swim team try-outs are held just before the start of the second semester (usually in late January).
All prospective swimmers try out for team placement and must have knowledge of basic competition strokes and technique. There
are (4) levels of participation and competition. Varsity, Junior Varsity Select, Junior Varsity, & Frosh/Soph.
Varsity and JVS are the primary competition teams and compete at both home and away meets JV swimmers
may be invited to compete on relay teams at home meets and frosh/soph swimmers are strictly developmental and do not compete.
|
| How do I make a particular team? | Players are placed on teams based on skill, experience, commitment, adherence to team
policies, attendance. |
| Can I move
up or be dropped down during the season? | Occasionally a player or swimmer will be moved up or down from their team depending on performance or some
significant change in any of the original team placement factors. |
| Are there specific scholastic or other requirements participation
requirements? | All participants of
any of the aquatics sports must meet both MCHS & CIF requirements for participation in any sport. The following link provides
detailed information http://www.miracostahigh.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=78269&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=139425&hideMenu=0&rn=6390029 |
| When &
where are practices held? | Practices are held
in the pool, weight room, track, and occasionally the beach. The team that is currently in season,
has priority over pool scheduling, requiring the other teams to accommodate those needs. During a
team’s season, the team has use of the pool in the morning from 5:30 to 7 am, in the afternoon from 2 to 6 m p Monday
through Friday, and on Saturday mornings as well as for any scheduled weekend events. There are specific
practice times for teams that are announced at the start of each season. |
| What happens when my sport is not in season? | Water polo players whose teams are not in season during the 1st
semester report to PE for 6th period and practice or work-out during that time period Monday through Friday only. (This applies
to girls from the start of school until November and for boys from November to early February) Extended
practice schedules or other times are not scheduled during this time for these teams. Year-round swimmers
also report to the pool during 6th period. 2nd Semester swimmers
should be enrolled in another 6th period class (PE or other) if they are not year-round swimmers and are not required
to report to the pool during 6th period until the start of the 2nd semester. |
| How much time is required? | F/S, JV teams can expect to practice 5 days a week for two hours a day – 10 hours
to 12 hours per weekVarsity teams can expect to practice
twice a day for about 3.5 hours, 5 times a week and one time a day twice a week for 2 hours - 20 to 23
hours a week |
| What does
it cost? | There are numerous
fees for each player annually; - The Manhattan Beach Athletic Foundation fee - $325.00 for the 1st
sport & $200 for the second sport – per player- Mustang Boosters membership - $100 annually per
family-
Summer School Registration* -$250.00-
Costa Club dues* $275.00 (returning players)
$150.00 (freshman players) - USA Water Polo membership* $55.00 to $75.00 – depending on membership type selected-
Uniforms – various
– most clothing items are optional ,but all swimmers on each team are required to purchase
basic pieces – estimated costs $50 to $100. *Boys’
& Girls’ water polo only |
| What do these fees cover
and what are the roles of these entities? | a. The Manhattan Beach Athletic Foundation or MBAF – Over arching body founded in 2002 to provide ongoing financial support for physical education and
athletic programs in the Manhattan Beach Unified school district. The MBAF stepped up in 2009-10 academic
year to save team sports at Mira Costa. Faced with federal, state and local budget shortfalls, team sports
at Mira Costa were facing elimination. The MBAF began the administration of a fee based program that has
allowed Mira Costa to continuing offering these programs (unlike many of our neighboring schools). The
fee covers basic coaching fees, transportation (buses), facilities maintenance, safety equipment, the athletic trainer,
any CIF or league fees, athlete insurances – all costs formerly part of the school district budget
(federal tax-exempt organization FEIN 02-0603467) The fee for one sport is $325 and the
fee for the second sport is $200. These fees are due annually for each player. Gary
Wayland, MBAF President http://mbathleticfoundation.org b.
Mustang Boosters is our tri-sport family organization that was also founded in 2002
to provide financial support to our programs. The boosters cover the costs for assistant coaches, (goals,
balls, timing pads, timing equipment, fins, etc.), non-league tournament & league fees, motivational events, clinics,
awards, some facilities maintenance (awnings, scoreboards), and scholarships. Effective 2009-10,
Boosters will now be responsible for funding all equipment deemed non-safety - goals, balls, timing,
fins, lane lines, flags, etc. An annual family membership is $100 and covers both WP & Swimming (federal
tax-exempt organization FEIN 91 2159941) Christy Miller, President Mustang Boosters
2010-11 http://www,mcaquatics.com c. Summer School - The summer water polo programs for both boys and girls are run as
summer school classes and all players participating must be registered. The summer school fee for this program is $250.00
and covers all district costs, including use and maintenance of the pool and course instructor (coach). Any player in the
pool must be registered in summer school for liability reasons. http://mbathleticfoundation.org/mbaf_pages/mbaf_summer/mbaf_sumprgrm.html (summer school registration d. Costa Club. While the use of the pool is funded by the summer school fees, the costs for the summer program are funded
by Costa Club dues. Costa Club is an age-group USA Water Polo sanction club in the Coastal
California Zone (just like one of the other local clubs your son or daughter may be a member of) Your Costa Club dues
pay for USA Water Polo Club fees, officials, assistant coaches & summer league play. Cheryl
Burdiak burdiak@roadrunner.com e. USA Water Polo is the National Governing Body for the sport of water polo – from our US Olympic teams on down.
Our summer league play falls under the control of USA Water Pol. All teams must be USA Water Polo registered and all
players must be current members. Players do not need to join Costa Club if they are current USA water Polo
members of another club. For liability purposed, players may not participate in any Costa club practices
or other events if they are not USA Water Polo members/The annual fees range from $55.00 to $75.00. http://www.usawaterpolo.com f. CIF, There are no fees or CIF membership required but for your information – but CIF (California Interscholastic
Federation) is the governing body for high school sports in California. For more information http://www.cifstate.org g. USA Swimming is the equivalent organization for swimming. Mustang swimmers are not required to be USA
Swimming members as we do not participate in any off-season events or events. http://www.usaswimming.org h. Uniforms: Uniforms selections vary with each team. Most of the items available
for purchase are optional – but again, this will vary from team to team and sport to sport. All players
& swimmers are required to have a team suit that meets CIF regulations. Girls Water Polo players are also required to
have a dark and a light swim cap. Varsity swimmers are required to have a team suit that depending on team
and gender. is made from a high performance fabric and all swimmers (boys and girls) are required to have
a team swim cap. The prices for these items range from around $40 to $80, |
| What is the best way to get information about these programs? | We have a combined website for Boys & Girls Water Polo and Swimming.
http://www,mcaquatics.com this is you best source for information. Each sport has their own set of pages and
are clearly indentified on the site’s navigation bar. |
| Who are the coaches? | a. Head Water Polo Coach, Boys & Girls - Jon Reichardt jreichardt@manhattan.k12.ca.us b.
Assistant Water Polo Coaches, Dave Halushka,
Damon Kern, Head Swim Coach, Dan Bartlett dbartlett@manhattan.k12.ca.us c.
Assistant Swim Coaches, Jon Reichardt,
Dave Halushka, Damon Kern, Alan Rupp, Amy Dotson |
| Who are the members of the 2010-11 Mustang Boosters Board? | a. Christy Miller, President Mustang Aquatics –christymil@aol.com b.
Ann Huttinger, Vice President Boys water
Polo – hutts5@verizon.net c.
Colleen Bauman, Vice President Girls
Water Polo – colleen_bauman@roadrunner.com d.
Cindy Odegard, Vice President Swimming
- Cindy.K.Odegard@kp.org e.
Monica Linnell, Secretary – hbchica@hotmail.com f.
Kate Milstead, Treasurer – kbmilstead@verizon.net |
