Fans to cheer on Sacred Heart Prep boys' water polo team at season opener

The decision by the Atherton private school was made Monday, assistant principal of athletics Frank Rodriguez said, with guidelines from the California Department of Public Health and San Mateo County Health being strictly adhered to.

“We are going to allow fans at those games,” Rodriguez said. “We’re going to start slow. Our safety protocols … it has really taken our larger venue. It’s a great venue. But because of trying to keep people socially distanced, it’s going to cut back on how many people we have here.”

Fans will be limited by roster size for the competing teams, with two spectators per household allowed to enter. Sacred Heart Prep will also allow spectators at Tuesday’s girls’ tennis match with visiting Harker. This past Saturday, Sacred Heart Prep held its first official sporting event of the year, hosting its first-ever on-campus cross-country meet against Crystal Springs Uplands, but no fans were allowed to attend.

For the reigning nine-time Central Coast Section champion boys’ water polo team, there will be no chance of winning a 10th straight title as there will be no playoffs this year.

The boys’ water polo team has 12 games on the schedule, all with other teams in the West Catholic Athletic League, though the WCAL will be split into two divisions this year. This is because a team can only compete with another team from within its own county, or from a neighboring county. Teams from Santa Clara County and San Francisco County are not allowed to compete against one another, as per state health guidelines.

SHP boys’ water polo head coach Brian Kreutzkamp said his team is happy just to be playing competitively again. Teams were allowed to resume regular practice March 1.

“This year has a totally different vibe, and the vibe is we’re just happy to be playing,” Kreutzkamp said.

The Sacred Heart Prep girls’ water polo team will open its nine-game schedule Friday in the quad against Saint Francis.

“I think we’re so lucky to get something for this season all the changes, knock on wood, to get any kind of games is great,” SHP girls’ head coach Jamie Frank said.

The girls’ team is coming off a CCS Open Division championship, the first CCS title of Frank’s career. The Lady Gators enjoyed a 10-year streak of CCS Division II dominance, winning the title every season from 2007-16. Last year marked the program’s first Open Division championship.

Eleanor Facey returns at center, and Bella Bachler at utility — both were 2019 first-team all-WCAL players — and Ola Szczerba is returning WCAL second-team driver. Senior goalkeeper Megan Norris, an all-WCAL honorable mention, returns to the cage, and may not have to choose between her two standout sports of water polo and basketball, as basketball has yet to be cleared to begin play.

“Right now, we’re taking it one step at a time,” Frank said. “As of now, she’s all in on water polo. Obviously, basketball, she’ll be playing in college next year. With indoor sports ramping up right now, we’re just trying to gauge how it’s all going to work right now.”

The boys’ team has added even more depth than the young squad that captured the program’s ninth straight CCS championship last season. The 2019 Gators didn’t have any seniors on roster and will be returning the entire squad, including Princeton-bound senior Isaac Rotenberg.

“It was great,” Kreutzkamp said. “Last year was a year where we had no seniors on our team and made the CCS championship. We played well; we played a great defensive game. … So, it was a huge boost for our program that we won one when we really weren’t supposed to.”

But the Gentlemen Gators will be even more formidable with a pair of talented transfers joining the team.

A 2-meter standout, Michael Heller, transferred from nearby Menlo-Atherton. Gavin West, a junior, comes from Greenwich, Connecticut, and played for the Men’s Junior National Team last year.

“We’re going to have a very deep rotation, I’ll tell you that much,” Kreutzkamp said.