Local student excels in water polo

Water polo has only recently become a sport available for the students of Hays CISD, with 2022-23 being the first season. However, it is quickly becoming a known and loved sport within the student body as the players and coaches are putting passion and energy into the game and into promoting it to the students and fans. With this, in addition to high school football, basketball and baseball stars, schools are now starting to have stars in aquatic sports. A prime example is Alissa Villarreal of Lehman High School.

During her freshman year, Villarreal was drawn into the sport by the “passion” of her coach, who played water polo during his career. This led to Villarreal advocating for the sport during her sophomore year with the other captains and teammates through summer camps as well as social media. At this time, she had already been swimming for more than four years.

Since starting her water polo career, Villarreal has quickly seen success. In her senior year as captain of the Lehman girls varsity team, she finished at the top of multiple statistical categories in the district, according to MaxPreps. She finished first in her district in goals and points, concluding the season with 102 goals and 115 points, placing her in the top 20 and top 30 in the state.

According to the Lehman water polo captain, her “long standing goal” was to get over 100 goals in a season and when she accomplished that, she described it as her favorite moment of her career. Because of the noteworthy nature of her achievement, Villarreal stated that she has gotten a “ton of recognition in the district and on [her] campus.”

“My favorite part about water polo is the culture,” she said. Villarreal loves the competitive nature of the sport and the constant strive to get better that is shared between her and all of her peers. This and the “mutual respect” that comes from water polo being “such a niche and [challenge]” is what allows the Lehman senior to see so much success and have so much fun playing water polo.

For the future, Villarreal hopes to continue playing water polo in college and to get involved in club play, as well.

While working toward her goal, Villarreal also works hard in and outside of school. When she’s not competing in swim, she also likes to spend time with her family and friends as well as “stay involved with most Lehman activities,” as she is a senior class officer for her school.

In this area, and in Texas, water polo is still very new. Because of this, many people are unaware of how the sport is played and it isn’t recognized how it “should” be, Villarreal believes. She also believes that through “educating themselves on the sports,” people can start to make a difference in how much water polo and other aquatic sports are highlighted and appreciated. Taking the athletes seriously like people do with other sports is important, whether it’s through taking the time to talk to an athlete about their sport or simply watching a few minutes of the game, Villarreal said.

While the 2023 fall water polo season is over, people can still show their support to the local aquatic programs during this upcoming swimming and diving season in the spring and by getting ready for another exciting season of water polo in the fall of 2024.