Water Polo Club hires Zimmerman

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Water Polo Club is proud to bring Brooke Zimmerman on board as their head coach and program coordinator for their inaugural season.
Hailing from Regina, Sask., she brings a vast amount of knowledge to the club, having played competitively at NCAA level at Indiana University.
She obtained a water polo scholarship, where she played for the university team for three seasons and was captain in her senior year.
Over the years, she has gathered a few medals as head coach for the Calgary Renegade team, most notably coaching the 16U girls at the National Championships to three consecutive silver medals from 2011-2013.
One of her greatest moments as a player was in 2003, when she played for the Women’s National Junior team and they won gold in their home pool at the Talisman Centre in Calgary.
Zimmerman is hoping to bring that experience in and expand the young players knowledge of the sport.
“It’s super exciting for me because it’s a bunch new kids,” said Zimmerman. “The exciting part for me is to get to know new athletes, new personalities and new characters.
“There’s the other side, where the most rewarding thing for a coach is to recognize the potential of the kids and especially when they’re a young age and develop and grow them.”
The former Calgary Renegade coach feels that compared to when she first started coaching that she has more to offer to the kids.
“I’m so used to in the past couple of years more focused on the U18 group and U20 Canadian National Team in the summer,” she said. “I’m so used to those athletes already coming in having the basic training. Something that is going to be new for me and I can bring to the club that is brand-new, is a lot of experience. It’s going back to the basics, going back to the grass roots and I think I have a lot more to give than when I first started coaching.”
Zimmerman said that a lot of people do not realize the potential that is out there for young athletes in the sport. They need to push themselves, as there could be an opportunity waiting in the future in the form of scholarships and national programs.
She would ultimately like to help the players achieve their goals, if it’s a sport they would like to pursue.
“Really what I want to bring to the club is just to experience water polo for what it is and recognize new potentials,” said Zimmerman. “If they want to make different goals for themselves and different development plans, so that if it’s eventually something they want to do, we can do that for them.”
She added that with the season right around the corner, the expectations will not be high and for the players to take the knowledge from practices and put them into game situations.
“It’s going to be so new to them that the first day we have a game, the only expectation is to have them apply those basic techniques that we’ve learned in practice,” said Zimmerman.
“Even just getting to know the game itself, basic rules of the sport. A goal for me is at the beginning to help them learn and help them gain access to just being able to apply things that they’ve learned.”
The Strathmore Water Polo Club founders, Krista Hill and her husband Kevin, are thrilled to have a coach of Zimmerman’s caliber to come in, with her history in the water polo community to promote the game to and for the kids
“Brooke is very connected in the worldwide water polo community,” said Krista. “Which is already opening so many doors for our club and presenting so many opportunities I wasn’t even aware existed. She is going to make this an incredible and fun first year.”
Krista thinks that with her experience it’s only going to expand opportunities with youth in the community.
“The water polo experience that Brooke brings to our club, both as a world champion player, and as a world champion coach, and the opportunities that this will provide our local youth are astounding. We are so fortunate,” said Krista.
Kevin is confident that as the kids warm up to Zimmerman that she will only help the players excel.
“As a new club, I am confident, that with Brooke as our head coach, we will excel,” he said. “Our kids are so lucky to have the opportunity to learn from the best of the best in the sport of water polo.”
The registration deadline has already passed, but players can still register. You have to be between the ages of eight and 16.
For more information and for the registration package, you can contact Krista Hill at: strathmorewaterpoloclub@gmail.com. The season will begin on Sept. 22 and end in April.