Ella Plahn, junior, is a captain for Tualatin’s water polo team. But hold up. What is water polo? 

“I would say it’s basically basketball in the water, but instead of a hoop, it’s a soccer goal that floats in the water, and a goalie is defending it. And it’s way more aggressive than soccer and basketball,” Plahn said. 

Tualatin recently had a three-day tournament at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center. Plahn walked us through her game day routine, as well as some other details about the season.

What is a typical game day breakfast?

“I usually go with a  strawberry acai refresher and a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks.”

When are practices and games?

“Practices are every day from 6:30-8:30, except weekends,  and games are usually Mondays and Wednesdays.”

How do you balance school and sports with such a late practice time?

“It’s really hard to balance school and sports, but I try to fit in homework wherever I can. Like sometimes I’ll stay at the pool in between school and games and get a little work done before the game starts.” 

What makes water polo special to you?

“I just love playing water polo in general, and having amazing teammates makes the sport so fun. It’s also a small team of only 10 of us, so it’s easy to do team dinners out, which allows bonding time out of the pool.”