Carrying the torch for the newest chapter in Westwood Boys’ water polo, Seniors Ben Meijers and Cole Osborn have taken on their roles as captains, leading the team to yet another postseason appearance. With its rising popularity among athletes, Meijers and Osborn aim to gain more members in the next few years and to have a strong, competitive season.

Having just quit playing soccer his freshman year, Osborn joined the water polo team after he and his parents wanted him to take up a new sport. Despite joining the team without knowing what to expect, Osborn developed a newfound love for the sport that would lead him to stay on the team. In his first season, he took the position of Goalkeeper. 

“[My parents] had gotten an email about the Westwood water Polo Club and then my mom had told me 2 weeks before the first practice that I was doing it,” Osborn said. “I love it now though and I’m really glad that she made me do it.”

Meijers joined the team his sophomore year after seeing Osborn’s love for the sport. While Meijers did have a background in competitive swimming, the teamwork of water polo was a refreshing change that gave him a new start in aquatic sports. 

“I joined my sophomore year because [Cole] was doing it and he really loved it and I love swimming but swimming is not a very team-oriented sport,” Meijers said. “So water polo let me have the team and community aspect that I was looking for.”

With its newfound relevancy at Westwood in their sophomore year, more students have been interested in joining and supporting the water polo teams. Previously only operating as a club, the organization has now expanded to have designated class time, longer practice times, and an overall more rigorous schedule. The Captains have gotten to see this growth over the last few years as part of the team and are grateful for its newfound relevancy.

“At one point I don’t think many people even knew water polo existed before it became a [UIL] sport but now we have posters, announcements, and representation at pep rallies,” Meijers said. “The publicity that we now have at school has been really helpful with getting more people to join and be aware of the sport.”

Osborn had become interested in pursuing leadership after being under the guidance of former water polo captain Freddy Browarski ‘24 who saw potential in Osborn after playing alongside him during Osborn’s first year. Browarski started to train Osborn to bring out different leadership qualities ranging from analyzing different plays and being direct and loud with other members.

“[Freddy] was probably the most influential water polo player to me and I got to play with him for his last 3 years of high school,” Osborn said. “I think he realized that as a goalie I had a lot of unique perspectives and potential and so he helped me work on being a better leader and being better at the overall game.”

Meijers started to get very serious about playing water polo and wanted to see a change in the sport so that the team could be more competitive and continue to dominate. His love for the sport and love for helping led Meijers to try out for leadership so he could hold the team and himself to a standard of excellence.

“I genuinely love the game, know a lot about it, and spend hours watching tapes to see how we can get better,” Meijers said. “I love to help people and whenever we’re in the pool I’m always thinking about how I can get better and the team can get better which is why I decided to try out for captain.”

Having played soccer together for seven years, Meijers and Osborn share a deep understanding of each other’s perspectives when working together. This instant comprehension has allowed them to easily coordinate responsibilities and maximize the time that they have in practice. Their leadership styles complement each other allowing them to cover more ground.

For example, Osborn brings his unique perspective as a goalkeeper to the rest of the team to point out things other players may not normally notice. This style pairs well with  Meijer’s lead as a role model rather than with direct instruction. Both captains aim to keep the team motivated during practices while also recognizing where the team needs to improve.

“Cole’s role is more of being an overseer because he’s at the goal and can see a lot of what’s going on,” Meijers said. ”He can shout out where the ball is which helps a lot with directing the team on where to go. For me, it’s less direct instruction and more being a role model and helping people with how to conduct themselves.”

Outside of competitions and practice, the captains act as a link between the team, the booster club and their coaches. This ranges from communicating about resources needed from the booster club to details on practice and competition times.

“A lot of the work we do is administrative work where we work with the booster club about the team’s needs,” Osborn said. “We’ve helped with fundraisers, approving T-shirt designs and just making sure the team’s needs are met.”

During Westwood’s offseason, both captains play on the Zilla Water Polo Club where they compete in a longer season against other clubs in the region. Since the competitive water polo season at Westwood is relatively short many athletes, like the captains, join clubs in order to continue playing and improving throughout the year.

“The high school season is so short so the only real way to competitively play water polo is through clubs,” Meijers said. “The club we play at is mainly comprised of Westwood and Mcneil students that want to play water polo throughout the year.”

The water polo captains head into their last season with the boys’ water polo team and are excited to see where the roller coaster that is the post-season takes them.