MICHAEL COONS/T.O. Acorn SOUTHPAW - David Grossman of Moorpark looks to shoot as Mikey Blanchard of Thousand Oaks defends during Monday's match at Thousand Oaks.

Playing any sport on a team in its inaugural season isn’t easy, as the Moorpark High School water polo team will attest.

However, the Musketeers (3-8), who play in the tough Marmonte League, are proving the future is brighter under the guidance of head coach Peter Daland, who coached six years at Thousand Oaks High School before joining the Moorpark aquatics staff.

"Among the three teams, 23 of 30 are freshmen," he said on Monday after his team had absorbed a 19-3 loss to the Thousand Oaks Lancers.

"We really have very little pool time," Daland said. "We only have an hour and a half at Westlake at night and only an hour with the goal. That’s hurting us a little." MHS doesn’t have its own swimming pool.

On Wednesday, the Musketeers were at Calabasas to play the Coyotes. Next Wednesday, the Musketeers are at Newbury Park for a 3:15 p.m. game, and a week from today, Moorpark travels to Westlake for another 3:15 p.m. match.

So far, the coach said, senior setter and team captain Brett Rehder (who scored one of the goals in the Thousand Oaks game) has played a prominent role for Moorpark this season.

"He’s our leader and doing quite well," Daland said. "He has a good, positive attitude, even though we take our losses. He seems to keep working hard to improve."

Another player who’s been exceptional, the coach said, is senior driver Jacob Schlosser, who scored his first two goals of the season in the Thousand Oaks game.

"He’s improving a lot," Daland said. Schlosser is a first-year player who’s getting experience and doing a good job, he said.

Another player who’s impressed the coach is junior goalie Shaun Kyffin. "He’s been real strong in there," the coach said. "He’s had a lot of time by himself back there (as goal tender). He’s doing well."

Overall, Daland said, "We’re doing well. We’re young and inexperienced. This is our first year. We’ll build on this and get better (and) take our lumps early."

Moorpark’s water polo effort is twofold: building a pool and a team. The coach said he’s excited about the possibilities.

"We’ll have our own pool next year in Moorpark and we should start building some numbers," he said. "We’ve got a good young team and we’ll take our lumps on varsity this year. We’re all right. We’ve got a very good league. The Marmonte League is very strong.

"I left the program at Thousand Oaks to start the program at Moorpark for swimming, and then the kids wanted to start water polo, so we started water polo. One thing led to another and now we’re getting a pool. I think it keeps going."

It takes four or five years to build a program in high school water polo, according to Daland. "I think we’ll be competitive," he said. "I’ve just got to keep staying positive and keep working with the kids I’ve got, and hopefully build this freshmen class up to a strong class in a couple of years."

At the younger level, the coach said, the junior varsity team players are all freshmen.

"The whole core of them is a solid group," Daland said. "Each one of them has different times when they shine. Next year they’re going to have to step up and be our varsity team.

"So next year is going to be tough for them. But they’re a tough group, so they’ll step up—all of them. I have nine freshmen on the JV. They’ll get there."

His young players will have two or three years of working out together, playing together, swimming and playing club water polo, Daland said. "They’ll be a strong group by their junior year."

Daland said he’s also pleased with his assistants, John Zimmerman, Rodney Nash and Trisha Commons. Parents support the team and that’s an advantage, too, he said. He also gave credit to Moorpark High School Principal Anna Merriman.

"She is the backbone of our whole program," the coach said.

"She keeps encouraging me to stick with it. I’ll keep going at it."