On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Arroyo Grande High School girls water polo team reached a milestone 200th straight league win. It's a streak that dates back to 2003 when head coach Steven Allen took over the program.
Even with 20 straight league titles and 199 straight league wins coming into their match-up with Righetti, the message from Allen to the girls was don’t overlook your opponent.
“I kind of let them know that, no matter who we beat the last time very well could happen again to us.”
But in the pool as the final buzzer sounded there was no upset, but instead a commanding 16-5 win over Righetti as it started to set in what had just occurred for the program.
“We all kind of came together and we kind of knew like what an accomplishment we all achieved," junior captain Berkley Sinner described. "I think it all kind of hit for us that this was such a big deal for our team and what we did as a group.“
“I never intended for us to have sort of some sort of consecutive win," Allen added. "It's really humbling.”
The journey to 200 straight league wins, 20 straight league titles, four CIF section titles and a regional title doesn’t happen when the girls enter high school, it happens early on in the Arroyo Grande youth programs, developing the culture and skills needed to dominate for when they eventually get to high school.
“The kids just kind of insert the next group and we get going," Allen explained. "We've also created a great youth program that feeds into the high school, and that's been a really big part of our success, especially these last ten years.”
According to senior captain Kayla Cecena, there’s no signs of slowing down as the future of Eagles water polo looks strong.
“Because of our feeder program and everything, I believe this program and Arroyo Grande are water polo. As long as Allen's a coach and then whoever comes and brings it out, I see a very bright future.”
