Before her freshman year, junior Kerry Goodspeed swore she would never play water polo.

“I wanted nothing to do with it, so I went out for track and kind of forgot that I don’t like running,” said Goodspeed. “Needless to say, it just wasn’t my thing, and I had promised my brother that if I didn’t like track I’d go out for water polo.”

During her freshman year, she traded running shoes for a swimsuit.

According to Goodspeed, she was in for a surprise her first practice.

“I remember being totally lost,” said Goodspeed. “I didn’t have a clue what was going on for the first few weeks of the season, but everyone on the team was really helpful and supportive. I was absolutely terrified before my first game, but it turned out to be a shut out. We worked really well together as a team.”

According to Goodspeed, the switch from track to water polo was the “best decision.” To her, the hard part was the challenge of being a goalie.

“Not many people volunteer to have girls with arms like cannons throw a ball at them,” said Goodspeed. “It goes completely against common sense to put yourself between the ball and the goal.”

Coming from a water polo family, becoming a goalie was natural.  Her dad currently coaches water polo at New Trier and one day told her about the Olympic Developmental Program for water polo.

“I went to the tryout and was one of four goalies there so they took us all, and I’ve been going to training ever since,” Goodspeed said.

According to Doug Eichstaedt, the Olympic Developmental Program girls water polo head coach, the program is great for aspiring young Olympians.

“The Olympic Developmental Program is exactly what it sounds like,” said Echstaedt. “It’s a program for skilled athletes to improve their skills and hopefully place in the Olympics.”

For Goodspeed, the experience has been “challenging.”

“It’s been a really good experience so far mostly because it’s a higher level of play,” said Goodspeed. “It’s really cool to see girls play that hard, and I love being in the goal for it. It teaches me a lot about my limits, and that includes how hard I can take a shot in the face.”

As the goalie, Goodspeed considers herself “the captain of the defense and the quarterback of the offense.” For her, the hardest part is breaking old habits.

“This is my third year playing and just the other day I ducked when someone shot at me,” said Goodspeed. “It may seem like a little thing, but that goal could be the difference between winning and losing the game.”

According to Eichstaedt and Goodspeed, the season has been good.

“We’ve been making great progress. I’m confident in the girls’ abilities,” said Eichstaedt. “Kerry has a natural goalie ability.”

“Our last training was an evaluation to split us into A and B teams,” said Goodspeed. “I haven’t gotten my evaluation back yet, but I feel confident about my performance.”

In March, Goodspeed hopes to compete in the regional Olympic Developmental Program tournament.

“At the regional tournament, there is high potential that recruiters will be there,” said Eichstaedt. “It’s a great opportunity for them.”

But for Goodspeed, her focus is not on the recruiters. She chooses to focus on getting better every practice.

“I’m just trying to do my best with each opportunity,”

said Goodspeed. “I’m continually practicing my skills.”

When she’s not practicing water polo, Goodspeed spends her time Irish dancing, playing volleyball and being a part of orchestra.

“To be honest, having all these activities helps me get my homework and studying done,” said Goodspeed. “It’s a really good motivator for me to say to myself, ‘read ‘Ceremony’ now’ because we all know you’re going to be too tired to do it when you get home.”

According to Goodspeed, though the water polo practice is tiring, she finds it rewarding.

“It’s way more fun than I thought it would be,” said Goodspeed. “I absolutely love it. It really has been the best decision I ever made.”