A new era in Boerne High sports began in 2024 when the Greyhounds entered the school year as a 5A.
As part of that new era, Boerne High has introduced water polo to the school.
Former Greyhound Brandon Cheves was brought in as the new coach to build the program from the ground up. (He’s also the swim coach at BHS.)
Water polo is new to Texas and is only in its third year, which means most of the other schools in the area have had a two-year head start on the Greyhounds.
Cheves said it puts them behind those programs that have been playing, but added that the Greyhounds are making strides.
“We have to catch up to a lot of these guys who have been playing for a few years now and we’re only a few weeks in, but to see the progress they’ve made is phenomenal,” he said. “We know that these teams have the advantage, so we focus on a single aspect of the game, whether it’s positioning or working on a drive. We’re working on a single aspect and play that and learn and grow.
“The more we do that the more we learn,” he said.
Cheves said the water polo community has been helpful.
“The other coaches know we’re new so they might sub in some people to help us out a little bit, but I appreciate it because it’s a learning experience for the newer kids and it helps keep them excited about it,” he said.
Champion has fielded a program for the last two years and played for the state title in both seasons to earn silver medals so they are several steps ahead.
Chargers coach Scott Slay helped to get the Boerne High program started last school year once they knew BHS was adding water polo. He was the swim coach for both BISD schools and worked with the Boerne swimmers that were going to play water polo this year.
“They are great kids and I know the program is only going to grow from here. Coach Cheves has a passion for learning the game,” he said. “My biggest advice is to keep learning, stay passionate and keep promoting the sport to the community. We both want success for water polo in the Boerne community, not just our individual schools.”
Slay said he had mixed emotions while coaching against the Greyhounds Tuesday in a district match.
“It was great to see them in a game situation,” he said. “I was rooting for them on the inside.”
BHS won its first match recently against Marshall on the boys side. It was historic because it marked the first win in program history.
“It was super cool,” Cheves said. “Marshall is also a newer team and we got to see that if everyone was at the same place as we are, how we could do and we came out on top.”
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