Great Oak High School Under Fire: Pool, Equity For Girl's Aquatics

TEMECULA, CA — A broken pool and coaching uncertainty have led some Great Oak High School aquatics athletes — especially girls — to feel second-rate compared to their Wolfpack peers who compete on fields and in gyms.

Now the girl's water polo team is questioning whether its 2022-23 season is sunk.

Frustration was aired Tuesday night during the regularly scheduled Temecula Valley Unified School District Governing Board meeting.

"The slow decay of the Great Oak pool has been very much anticipated and expected. Things fall apart year after year," said GOHS senior Sarah Harris, who has competed in water polo and swim throughout her high school career.

"First it was the heater, now its the pumps — in fact, I can't even remember the last time the pool had a thorough cleaning," said GOHS senior and aquatics athlete Amber Morgan.

GOHS Aquatics Coach Al Pepito also weighed in. He has served at the campus since 2018.

"Maintenance of the pool has always been a problem since I have been there," Pepito told the board after citing many examples of pool equipment failure.

The GOHS girl's water polo season typically starts in November. The boy's season is currently underway. On-campus practices are canceled in the school's large pool. Two pumps are being built for it, but it will take approximately 12 weeks before students can expect the pool to reopen, according to TVUSD administration.

To compensate, the GOHS boy's water polo team gets an evening slot at the Temecula Valley High School pool to maintain the Wolfpack practice schedule.

"We have great community partners and relationships with the leadership at other high schools in Temecula and we have often worked with other schools when work is being done on a facility and we need to 'share' a space," according to TVUSD administration.

Wolfpack athletes can also use GOHS's small pool, which is in service, for conditioning purposes.

But the GOHS main pool closure has left the girl's water polo teammates in flux about who will lead their 2022-23 season. The girls argue they don't have a coach because they don't have a pool.

Pepito told the governing board that coaches are not compensated for their time and travel to other practice sites.

Despite the challenges, the GOHS boy's water polo 2022-23 season continues as the girls seek answers.

One of the girl's GOHS water polo team members referred to the California Department of Education's Athletes' Bill of Rights, which requires that student-athletes receive equitable treatment and benefits in the provision of, among other things, equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practices, coaching, and practice and competitive facilities.

"This calls to mind Title IX," she told the TVUSD board. "How could it be that the boys get to finish the season playing the sport we all devoted time to while we are left to pick up the broken pieces of our program?"

"What really disappoints us ... is the lack of care we've experienced from the athletic department and district as a whole," another GOHS girl's water polo team member said. "We've grown used to disappointment."

Because neither the GOHS pool nor the school's aquatics program were on the Tuesday night meeting agenda, the school board trustees were prohibited from directly commenting on the concerns.