Boys’ water polo: Team rallies behind injured senior

Water polo players from both Wilcox and Saratoga wearing their swimsuit and a cap leaped into the pool as they subbed in, but senior hole defender and hole set Nicolas Doyen jumped in with the addition of a menacingly large black shoulder brace.

Doyen played his first game on Sept. 22 against longtime rival Wilcox after suffering a severe shoulder injury last March in lacrosse. Despite his injury, Doyen lead the charge against Wilcox, but unfortunately the team lost 11-10 to achieve a 6-1 record.

The team, however, remains optimistic about future games under the rallying call of Doyen. Doyen strengthened the morale of the team to keep moving forward even in defeat and constantly motivated the team.

“[Doyen] really kept the team going especially when the outcome wasn’t looking too good,” senior goalie Will Edman said.

Doyen’s injury requires surgery, but he decided to postpone it to continue playing.

Doyen said he injured himself during a lacrosse game, resulting in a SLAP tear and an AC joint separation. A SLAP tear stands for a superior laberal tear from anterior to posterior. In simpler terms, the ligaments holding the ball of a shoulder have been torn, making the shoulder unstable.

“Occasionally my shoulder will roll out of the socket or there will be a piercing pain that shoots down my arm,” Doyen said.

He said the surgery was originally scheduled for Sept. 23 and would entail a six-week period of being unable to move his arm as well as a six to 12-month recovery time.

Both recovery periods would lead Doyen to miss crucial events, which factored into his decision to postpone his surgery.

“[The six-week period] would lead me to miss an ACT and the SAT subject tests I’m taking. If [the recovery time] lasts any longer than six months, I would miss all sports seasons of my senior year,” he said.

He also found that he would be able to play on despite the injury, which was a factor in the decision to postpone the surgery.

“I plan on playing lacrosse [in college]. I’m a senior. This means that this is my last season of water polo ever, so I didn’t want to miss it,” Doyen said.

Doyen also said that he needs to have a senior [sports] season] because they are a major part of his college applications.

Postponing the surgery has numerous drawbacks such as possible permanent muscle and ligament damage as well as chronic shoulder pain, according to Doyen.

He will also be forced to use his first year of college as recovery time, which could affect the decision of letting him on the team, he said.

So far, the team has welcomed him back on the team, Doyen said.

Junior Parth Shah also supported his decision to postpone the surgery.

“I think it was a smart decision [to postpone the surgery] on his part,” Shah said. “He just needs to take care of his shoulder and not overuse it. He knows his limits.”