After efforts by Carlmont High School water polo players, the installation of the pool lights is moving forward, bringing significant performance improvements for future water polo seasons.
Carlmont has been the only school in the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) without proper, permanent, stadium-quality lights to support nighttime aquatic events. This has impacted the performance of water polo teams, especially with the early sunset and late sunrise in the fall.
“For early morning practices that started at 6 in the morning, it was pretty dark and hard to see. For home games, it was hard to play at full potential and score without proper lighting,” said Evan Ho, a JV water polo player and sophomore at Carlmont.
After taking the safety and performance issues into account, Carlmont junior water polo players Chloe Ken and Asteris Ling brought the problem to athletic director Patrick Smith and administrative vice principal Grant Steunenberg.
“After noticing the problems during my first year, I realized that I really wanted to see if I could fix the problem and if I could find a solution. I also did some of my own research and noticed that most of the other pools have pool lights, so I ended up reaching out to Mr. Smith and Mr. Steunenberg about it,” Ken said.
The new lights will be 50 to 60 feet tall and will be installed around the pool to make it easier for both players and spectators to focus on the game. This will be a significant upgrade to the existing lights, which are primarily designed for swimming and deck visibility rather than for water polo.
“We didn’t actually have pool lights; we just had deck lights, so they are just designed to light up the pool deck and not necessarily the pool. We do have actual lights in the pool, but they are designed for swimming at night, not for playing water polo at night,” Smith said.
The pool without proper lighting is seen as an equity and safety issue, a concern raised by parents and students in previous years. Both opposing teams and referees have complained about this issue.
Additionally, the school administrators have advocated for upgrades to the pool for almost 10 years, with the upgrades just now being put into action and added to a larger SUHSD plan, the Facilities Master Plan.
After the issue was brought to their attention, Smith and Steunenberg brought it to the district level and had the installation approved.
Ken and Ling then attended a district meeting to meet with the architects and district representatives to discuss installing the pool lights.
“We were there to provide the perspectives from the teams, players, and students. I think our message was heard pretty clearly, and they understood where we were coming from and the true need for this project,” Ling said.
While the students were able to bring the topic to a larger attention, administrators Smith and Steunenberg had the installation finalized.
“Our main role was working with the water polo coaches and getting an understanding of what’s going on in all the other schools in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL). We brought it to our district and administration and got them to understand the impacts the pool lights could have, and moved the ball in the direction of where we are right now with getting the lights up soon,” Smith said.
After approval, the pool lights were initially scheduled to be installed in the summer before the 2025-26 school year to improve performance for the upcoming water polo season.
However, they are still being installed and are expected to be completed by the start of the next season.
Despite the late installation, the progress made and anticipation of the new lights have left the water polo players excited for the improvements.
“The lights will let the players perform better as a team, and there won’t be a worry for missing a shot or a pass because someone wasn’t able to see,” Ho said.
