DECEMBER BALLER OF THE MONTH

 CONGRATULATIONS, LUCAS! 

Name: Lucas

Hometown: Half Moon Bay, CA

Family members/ Significant Others: Meredith

Did any of them play polo? I wish.. I even bought a water polo ball to try to make it happen

Where do you live now? Temporarily in Cleveland & Canton.. then who knows where we will end up? I'll definitely come to practice when we visit OH  and can be talked into flying out for an occasional tournament

 

Some things about our teammate, Lucas … first although Lucas claims to work in tech – did you know that he was once asked to juggle a chicken, bread, and butter .. on a stage .. at a circus!? Does this mean he actually works in the circus? We’ll leave that to our readers to decide and determine for themselves.

Throughout his 20 YEARS playing water polo, he has only played with CWPC this last year .. well if you are rounding up. We’ll allow it. Within that long time, his favorite memory was playing he Quarry Tourney. As he described it, “it was awesome!”

 

Like any good Sunday polo goer, Lucas claims brunch and multiple gatorades (yes, plural) are the key the success after polo practice. We could not agree more!

Looking at Lucas, you’d probably guess he’s about 7ft – give or take a couple inches. Did you know he’s actually the same height as Trish? Weird. Given his height, though, he naturally lends himself to enjoying the 2M position. Both ends .. all day…every day.

 

Favorite tournament: Indianapolis tournament was a great time (3-1 record, funny/unique interpretations of the rules by the refs, Uranus Fudge Factory, my first visit to the state of Indiana)! We love this for you – hoping this won’t be your last with the team!

How many polo suits do you own? 2 drag suits for practice, 1 normal suit for tournaments

When asked about his favorite part of water polo is in general – here is what Lucas had to share …

 

Big picture: I love that no matter how tired/unmotivated/injured etc I feel, as soon as I work up the courage to jump in the pool I am going to have fun and get a good workout.

Specifics: I love playing polo in the sun, turning a defender or two and making the goalie dance, and finding someone with a great pass especially when they drive! 

 

Tell us something in Portuguese! 

“Eu acho que o super time de Brasileiros da CWPC não perderia um jogo no treino..“

^That definitely probably means something ... 

 

When asked about how Lucas got involved with CWPC … we found out CWPC has been on his radar for quite some time!

I traveled a lot for work early in my career and discovered that it was pretty easy to find polo in major cities. I had actually wanted to come play with CWPC a couple years back when we were in town for holidays, weddings etc, but couldn't make the timing quite work out. Glad I finally did this summer!
We couldn’t be happier that you finally did!

 

So you found us, but why would you hang out throughout this year?

Everyone on the team has been super welcoming and friendly! Mer's family jokes that I have more friends in Ohio than them now because of polo.

 

Lucas’s favorite quote is straight to the point …

Not really a quote, but I love KISS - "Keep it simple stupid". Both in life and in polo!

 

Describe your ideal practice... BUCKLE UP FOLKS! 

“Everyone is 5 minutes early to practice and stretching on deck. There are 2 goalies and just enough for 2 teams of field players with 1 sub each. We swim for 10 minutes then do 5 minutes of perfect passing, the balls are bone dry by the end because they never touched the water. We hand out caps and I get a really good number, like 2 or 4, and my cap has at least 3 rings on the clasp. We then get into UCLA and the ball is zipping around the formation (staying dry) and while the goalies are blocking everything they can't seem to block my perfect high bar corners. After about 10 minutes of this, a local community member who happens to be a USA water polo certified referee with 5+ years of experience serendipitously swings by the pool and offers to ply his trade for the remainder of practice. His BFF, who also happens to be a professionally certified referee, comes by and joins in from the other side of the pool. The ensuing scrimmage is picture perfect, with immaculate fronting, motivational high-brow trash talk between friendly but fierce competitors, and crisp 6 on 5s. The scoring is so close and the life guards are so wowed by the skill on display they let us play for an extra 32 minutes and offer to put away the goals and pull the lane lines in if we keep score for the final four quarters.

 

Pretty standard stuff!”

 

By far the longest response to this question and we couldn’t have loved it more. As the kids say… we’re here for it!

 

In his final comments, Lucas shared with us the key to success in water polo..

Everything in polo, especially your shot, starts with your legs.

And with that … let’s hear what Lucas’ Teammate have to say about him …

"Has had an extra bounce in his step ever since he broke that goal with his shot."

"By and large I had an enormous amount of fun with Lucas on the team.  It's going to be a huge loss when he moves away.  Definitely a tall order to replace someone of his stature."    

" It’s been awesome to add some West Coast experience to our Midwest club. Lucas was immediately and undeniably an impact player. What I like best about him is his willingness and desire to help others on the team improve in all aspects of their game."

" I would also say one of the best things about Lucas is his girlfriend. He doesn’t deserve Meredith and I think he knows it!"

"Damn that boy is a lug!"

"Lucas is indeed a baller, who I admire to play with and against.

He’s strong, aggressive, and takes no prisoners - something everyone should expect from a great player. He’s a leader, coach, and role model to those who want to learn more about the game."

"Always patient to teach others and improve his team’s overall skill. I envy those who have to defend him in the hole, good luck! Glad that he made the move to Ohio and hope his return to Cali gets delayed!"

"Lucas didn't want his last name in this post, which makes you wonder-- For Legal Or Searchability Issues?"

“In addition to being a fun teammate to play with in the water - Lucas has a heart the size of his wingspan. He is incredibly generous and will missed by us all!”

“Definitely tall.“

"Can you believe he's never been to Uranus ... Indiana ... before?" 

Congrats, Lucas! The team will miss you and we appreciate all you've given us even in this short amount of time!