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It’s that time of the year again, and the athletes on the Greenwich High School boys water polo team couldn’t be more excited for this year’s Cardinal Tournament.
After traveling all over and playing talented programs from across the country and from Canada, Greenwich High School has the opportunity to return home and host its annual tournament and showcase its talent to its home fans.
“It’s one of the highlights of the season, I think,” GHS water polo co-captain Brad Paradise said. “We’ve won 15 times and I think it’s a really big honor to try and keep it going. It’s going to be hard this year. It’s definitely going to be a test and it won’t come easy, but I think our guys are willing to put in the effort.”
On Saturday, nine teams will travel to Greenwich High School and compete in the 41st annual Cardinal Tournament.
This year for the Cardinal Tournament, Big Red will split its varsity line up and form two teams. From around the area, Brunswick School, Chelsea Piers Stamford, Staples High School and Greenwich Aquatics will be represented. Throw into the mix teams from Brooklyn, N.Y., Suffield Academy, Exeter Academy, and Gonzaga High School from Maryland, and it’s another high-caliber water polo event.
“In this community, everybody looks forward to it every year,” Greenwich High School head coach Chris Vidale said. “It’s intense. It’s one of those things that’s where it happens every year. Coach (Terry) Lowe was doing it every year for 39 years until I took over last year.”
Although there’s a new coach for Big Red, the Cardinal Tournament is a tradition that Vidale continues under his coaching tenure. Vidale, who admits that he’s a bit sarcastic every now and then, likes to have a little fun with the tourney.
“I like to pull people a little bit, and I was telling people that we weren’t doing it,” Vidale said. “And they were like ‘What do you mean?’ Seriously, though, it’s a super exciting event, the kids really get into it and it’s always good to play in your pool, represent your school and have the fans come out. It’s cool.”
And for Vidale and the Cardinals, there’s no place like home, especially when traveling to the United State Naval Academy, Dartmouth University and the United States Military Academy seems like just another day at the office.
“I’ve been playing at Greenwich for a while now, and it’s every year that we come down here and want to win our home tournament,” said GHS co-captain Nick Hyden. “We have the same mentality this year. We are looking to do the same thing.”
And a big difference that Greenwich High is noticing is that there are local water polo teams that are looking to take that top spot away from Big Red. Between Chelsea Piers Stamford, Greenwich Aquatics and Brunswick School, the Cardinals are feeling the pressure.
“We’ve always been the top dog, so we know they are all coming after us,” Vidale said. “These guys are learning that. We played Brunswick to a one-point game in double overtime. We lost to Aquatics by one. Any time they get a win against us, they are fired up. But the one thing that any of these guys from around the area have done is win this tournament. It’s great because it’s always nice for the kids to be so competitive in the area.”
One of the key strengths for Big Red in the Cardinal Tournament will be its ability to move around the pool.
“I like to make sure everybody is involved,” Vidale said. “We get the opportunities with the man ups because we move so much. I think that’s something that we continuously do.”
Leading the Cardinals on offense will be Nick Hyden, who has been dominant all season.
“There’s a lot of good teams here,” Hyden said. “Our team this year, we have some older guys putting in, but we did lose some key players last year. This year it’s time for some of the younger guys to step up and fill in their shoes. We need to communicate and move the ball right. We need to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Vidale said that Hyden’s like a monster in the pool and mentioned that it’s a very good day for the competition when Hyden’s not playing.
“He couldn’t make it to Suffield Academy because he had some family stuff going on and they were like, ‘He’s not here,’” said Vidale. “They were fired up to play. Once he walks into the building, you know you have a hard day ahead of you. He can play outside, inside and it’s great.
“He makes it easy for his teammates as well because you have to double-team him,” Vidale said. “If you do that, someone else is wide open. It makes life easy for all of us when he’s moving and being active and putting his shots away, but then it’s great when he’s dishing out passes to wide open guys as well.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Matt Ambrose has been stellar in net for Greenwich.
“He’s been holding it down between the pipes for us,” Vidale said. “He has good vision, takes his time, knows how to read a play and knows how to read shots. He gets comfortable and recognizes when shooters get comfortable taking the same shot, so he waits for those. If we are having a bad day, Matt can usually hold it together.”
In order for Greenwich High to be successful in its home tournament, Vidale knows his squad needs to take advantage of some opportunities.
“I would like to see us put away some man ups,” Vidale said. “That’s been killing us this year. We put everybody in the right place, but when it’s time to shoot we choke. Against Aquatics we lost by one but we went 1-for-8 when we were man up. It’s like a field goal kicker missing all of them. It comes back to bite you in the butt, so hopefully we can alleviate those problems.”
The goals for Greenwich High this year at its tournament is simple, just like every year.
“We want to win,” Paradise said. “That’s really it. Win every game by as much as we can.”
However, first things first. Later today, Greenwich has to travel across town to the King Street Campus at Brunswick School for a match against a highly talented Bruins’ team.
“We play Brunswick on their Homecoming and it should be exciting,” Vidale said. “Nobody wants to lose on their Homecoming. Hopefully we can make that happen, but Brunswick is good right now. It’s going to be tough. They are playing good games and they’re strong. It’s going to be fun.”
