Gellert returns to lead Spartans’ 2015 season | FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Published 4:36 pm Monday, September 28, 2015

The Bainbridge High varsity boys water polo team returned to the pool this season with traditional gusto, the same slippery Spartan savvy — and a new coach — to much initial success.

Actually, she’s not a truly new coach.

Kristin Gellert is no stranger to those island water polo fans in the know.

Gellert, who was at the team’s helm from 2008 to 2013, returned this season to replace Jacob Millican, previously the head coach for two years, after Millican took a teaching job in Seattle.

Along with some familiar shoes, Gellert re-inherited Drew Keller, long-time boys assistant coach, who worked with the program through both her own and Millican’s tenures.

With Keller to assist in the transition, Gellert said, the season began smoothly.

The team’s record stood at a perfect 3-0 following a decisive win against Stadium High during the Spartans’ first home match last week. The final score was 19-8.

Before that, they made short work of both Auburn Riverside (14-5) and Wilson High (15-7) on the road.

The squad then hit the road again over the weekend for a tournament before traveling to their next regular match against Peninsula High on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

The Spartans will return to the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center to host Gig Harbor High at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Though she has been away from the Bainbridge program, Gellert said, she never strayed far from the sport.

“I’ve been coaching down in Tacoma,” Gellert, an island resident, said. “And this is a much better commute.

“I took the couple of years that I wasn’t here and I went to coaching camps and coached at [the] Junior Olympics,” she added. “I feel like I learned a lot in those two years. I feel like I’m a different coach now, which is cool. It was nice to have that opportunity to expand my coaching philosophies.”

Gellert said that her coaching style varies, as necessary, between demanding and encouraging.

“I like precision,” she explained. “I try to be positive with the boys and I try to coach respect. I get there’s a time to be goofy, as long as it’s respectful.”

On the basics, however, she remains tough.

“I like good form and good technique,” Gellert said. “And then we’ve been working a lot on team tactics and counterattacks.”

Her one area of knowledge deficit, Gellert said, may be of the competition.

“When I left we were in a different league,” she explained. “It’s weird coming in after a couple of years because I’m not sure what level all the teams are; which is good — we never go into a team thinking that we’ve beat them already.”

On the whole, the coach said, this year’s squad was a group of overall quality athletes and, perhaps more importantly, attentive learners.

“They’re really good listeners,” Gellert said. “They take coaching and criticism really well and they all learn really quickly.

“They’re pretty cohesive as a team and they have great leadership,” she said of team captain Jem Bullock and co-captain Jack Kapel.

“[Bullock] is a phenomenal leader and a phenomenal athlete in general,” the coach said. “He sort of holds guys to a higher standard than you typically see from a high school captain.

“It’s pretty fun having him on the team.”

Rounding out the varsity roster is Sam Kapel, James Muir, Harrison Shinohara, Jared Hummel, Mason Ogden, Sam Liebling, Will Thompson, Sam Chapman, Zarye Wossene, Evan Lisinski and Miles Hogger.