It was seconds before halftime of the boy’s varsity water polo senior night game, and San Rafael goalie, Jack McCall, was about to take his first shot of the season. It’s not often that a goalie is chosen to take a penalty shot, but on this night, McCall was the obvious choice. With San Rafael leading by only one point in what had been a back and forth game, McCall’s goal was crucial in giving the Dawgs their 10th win of the season.
Growing up, Jack was involved in many sports. He played soccer, basketball, and baseball, but never water polo. In fact, it wasn’t until his freshman year that a Link Crew leader suggested he join the team. That year, Jack joined the team as a goalie because he “thought it would be fun to try,” and he has been playing that position ever since.
The Bulldog’s boy’s water polo team is experiencing a season like no other. This season, the team finished with 10 wins, a record McCall tells me is “better than past years.” With the team continuing to see improvement in progress every year, McCall’s stats also continue to see growth. By ending the season with 166 saves, Jack is impressively ranked 80th in the nation, 60th in California, and 10th in the North Coast Section (NCS). He had the second most saves of any goalie in Marin County this past season.
For Jack, the joy of being on the water polo team doesn’t strictly revolve around success. Of course, some of his favorite moments include a 12 block game against Rodriguez High School and a 12-0 shutout victory against El Dorado High School, but other memories come from shared experiences. McCall tells me that his favorite water polo memory is not one most would expect: running. He explains that running up the hill behind the baseball field, or “running Big Dawgs” as they call it, has been a prime bonding experience. Running with bricks over their heads and “suffering with the boys” has been something that has brought the water polo team closer together.
McCall often lives a busy life outside of the pool. This past summer, Jack did a mechanical engineering internship at Myers+Engineers, where he worked on a new heat pump soon to be installed at SFO. Throughout the summer, Jack helped to create field reports, generate mechanical air and hydronic riser diagrams, and create a mechanical system schematic diagram which will be the first of its kind in the United States.
McCall stays occupied throughout the school year by enrolling in challenging classes. This year, Jack takes some of the toughest classes available: AP Calc AB and AP Physics 2. One of the most difficult parts of being a student-athlete is finding what is never a perfect balance between your sport, your schoolwork, and your friends. Jack says that in order to maintain his straight A’s, he often finds himself with “homework being done between 10 pm and 1 am.” Although busy with work of his own, Jack tells me he has also previously helped other students in school peer tutoring sessions.
Jack’s leadership expands beyond the classroom. Jack is described by his team as being well-liked and a strong teammate, captain, and friend to all. As co-captain, he takes part in leading the team in pre-practice and game stretches to get everyone warmed up. Most, if not every practice, McCall also takes teammates to and from practice. Recently, he has been mentoring the boys’ and girls’ JV goalies by running drills, in hopes to “develop their skills and confidence by the time they join varsity.” The leadership and friendliness that Jack offers are a big part of making the team, the team.
If you have ever attended a boy’s water polo game, chances are you have witnessed even more examples of the leadership qualities Jack displays. As a goalie, Jack arguably plays not only the toughest but also the most important position in the pool. Throughout the games I went to this season, I would almost always hear McCall being vocal from the goal. He often informs his teammates of the time on the shot clock, location of the ball, as well as calling out ejections and penalties. When on defense, McCall also directs his teammates left or right so that they are helping him cover as much of the goal as possible. As varsity coach Alex Brown explains it, Jack is “the rock of (the) defense.”
As for his future with water polo, Jack hopes and plans to “continue at whatever college I end up at, at any level they offer.” He wants the future players of San Rafael water polo to keep in mind that hard work and dedication will only make you better. These past four years, Jack McCall has been a valuable asset to the Bulldogs’ water polo program, and as coach Brown puts it, “he is going to be missed immensely.”
