Bainbridge High School boys varsity water polo Head Coach Jacob Millican said he is not sure whether having had such a successful season last year puts more or less pressure on his team now.

But he’s not worried about it either way.

“I’m happy,” he said of the team’s preseason progress earlier this week. “They’re a young team. Not only did we lose seniors — we lost an exchange student, we lost a sophomore — we lost a lot of talent. So, in some ways I think that kind of lowers expectations, but it was kind of weird because during this last week and a half they’ve looked really good.”

“I’m kind of nervous,” he laughed. “You want them to start out looking bad and then get better.”

Millican, and JV team Head Coach Drew Keller, led the squad to eighth place in state last year with a resounding 14-5 overall season record. This year’s team, which consists of 18 players, though short several key playmakers from last year boasts some particularly dedicated returning players and some surprising fresh talent among the team’s five freshman, Millican explained.

Ranking first among the team’s key returners, Millican said, is BHS senior and team co-captain Cade Taylor.

“He’s our goalie,” Millican said. “He’s not very big, but he’s just really smart. He’s very quick,” the coach noted. “He plays so well that size is not an issue. He knows when to come out, he’s intimidating. He gets up high and stays up high. To some extent, this was true last year but especially this year because it’s a young team, he’s going to save us from the mistakes we’ve made.”

This year’s crop of upperclassmen, led primarily by Taylor, are also working hard to improve player relations and overall morale, Millican explained.

“The kids really respect him,” he said of Taylor. “Even stuff like that at the end of practice he helps clean up. One of our team captains last year would just yell at a couple of freshman, ‘Hey, come pick this up!’ and then walk off.”

Also sure to be a critical asset to the Spartans this season, according to Millican, is BHS junior Jem Bullock.

“He’s a swimmer that came over to play this year,” he explained.

Bullock began playing water polo through the island-based club in the spring so as to be ready for the competitive season, Millican said. “He’s super fast. He’s a quick learner to begin with, but he’s also played enough that he understands how the team dynamic works.”

“Like Cade, he’s just one of those kids who are like, ‘Why wouldn’t you try 100 percent?’” Millican added. “It doesn’t even register to them not to try 100 percent. If he played last year he would be a captain this year.”

The rest of the Spartans’ starting lineup includes senior utility Eric Nibarger, junior 2M Mathias Van Patten, sophomore utility Jack Kapel, driver Mason Ogden and freshman 2MD Will Thompson.

Heading the JV team and assisting Millican, who is entering his second year as Head Coach, is Keller.

“I’m very collaborative with Drew,” Millican said. “I respect Drew a lot. I think he’s a very knowledgable coach. At our banquet last year, I said in theory he’s our JV coach, but as far as I’m concerned he’s like a co-coach. It’s always nice to have somebody around who doesn’t think the exact same way as you do.”

Millican explained that he and Keller really try to teach the players more just water polo and sportsmanship throughout the season, including real life lessons like accountability and personal responsibility, which he said were not as heavily enforced in years past.

“My problem is there was kind of a different atmosphere here before in terms of attendance,” he said. “So I have some pretty strict policies. My bench is as deep as they choose to make it. On paper we have a pretty decent depth. I’m really confident in my starting core.”

In keeping with his policies, Millican said, if a player doesn’t show up to practice and does not call before hand to explain why then they are not eligible to play in the next game.

It was a seemingly basic rule that many on the team last year found fault with.

“They were like, ‘What?’” Millican laughed. “I tell them if you get a job, and you don’t call and you don’t show up, you actually get fired. In some ways that’s more what I’m concerned about. It upsets me when somebody doesn’t pass to the open person — not because we didn’t score a goal so we didn’t win the game — [but] because that’s what you do. He’s the open guy, you’re a team [and] you’re working together, that’s the easy shot. You pass to that guy, he shoots, you score.”

The team officially begins their season Saturday at the Emerald Ridge Jamboree, where they will play two quarters each against three opponents. The annual season kickoff event is designed to be a kind of measuring stick for players and coaches, as well as a chance to check out the competition in action.

Millican, however, said that it’s a more effective way for a team to judge themselves than their opponents as many teams are still finalizing rosters and may be lacking players yet.

Even among the increasingly popular non-traditional youth sports, Millican said, water polo remains a bit of a mystery to most young athletes. He credits the strength of the club and the swimming program as well with the BHS team’s success in recent years.

“When you start playing basketball, you’ve probably watched plenty of games — or football or whatever,” Millican said. “People don’t watch [water polo] on TV. The problem with water polo always is, if you play basketball everybody knows how to run. Everybody can run and jump, so now you’re just learning to play basketball. With water polo, you’re learning how to swim, how to eggbeater (tread water) and then on top of that you’re trying to learn a team sport.”

The team’s first home match is slated for Wednesday, Sept. 15 at the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center against Wilson High School.

To learn more about the Bainbridge Island Water Polo Club, and to see the team calendar, visit www.biwaterpolo.com.