A Tribute to a Great Coach

I just found out today that my High School Water Polo coach, Grafton Weiss, passed away Friday night just a few days after his team won CIF. I just wanted to share some of my feelings about a man who made a big impression on me at a critical time in my life.

I started playing water polo the summer after my freshman year because I didn't make the cheerleading squad again with all my friends. I was devastated and terrified to be doing something I'd never done before without my usual support group. My older sister had played water polo for a few years and I remembered going to some of her games. Mostly I just remembered all the hot guys and figured that being surrounded by that was justice for not getting to be with my cheerleading friends anymore. As I approached the coaching office with a friend I was giggling out of nervousness and heard, without ever seeing him before, the coach say "I hear a Gilroy." It turns out that Grafton loved my sister and was more than happy to add me to the team. I felt like I had some big shoes to fill and didn't exactly make the best impression that afternoon as I clung to the ball in the deep end just trying to keep my head above the water.

I spent the next few weeks fighting cramps in my legs and doing pushups for every time I held on to the ball (which was a lot). Just because Grafton had girls play on his team, (which was incredibly rare back then) didn't mean he was going to treat us any different than the rest of the boys. I remember having arms so sore I couldn't lift them high enough to shampoo my hair. We were in the pool by 6 am every day during the summer and then again at 2 in the afternoon, and then went to games at the local community college at night. It was intense. I had never worked so hard my whole life. But you could always tell that Grafton was proud of his players. He pushed everyone hard and his team played better because of it. I know I always wanted to do my best to make him proud and to prove that I was worthy to be a part of the team.

I felt like Grafton acknowledged my efforts by letting me play Varsity my junior year and by letting me be on the starting line. During a time when there were many things going wrong in my life water polo was a refuge and a place where I felt important and successful. The boys on the team were such good people and many of them were an inspiration to me as I made decisions about where to go to college and what to major in. They didn't treat me any differently because I was a girl but still had respect for me as a girl. I know their friendship was a reflection of expectations and standards set by a good coach.

To this day I believe that a good coach can make all the difference in the life of a teenager. I believe that being able to play for Grafton was a blessing from God and that had I not been in a good place surrounded by good people my life may have turned out dramatically different. I was surprised to learn that Grafton went to Katella High School the year after I graduated but I'm sure he affected as many lives for good there as he did at Magnolia.

I'm so sad to hear that Grafton passed away and I mourn along with his family for the loss of a great coach, and a great man.