The first practice of the men’s club water polo season began with a gnarly moustache and a burly goatee.
After a summer-long offseason, Doug Merkel strode into Spieker Aquatics Center, ready to dive into another season, the facial emblem indicating just that.
“We hadn’t seen him in a while; he had been off for the summer, doing his own thing, preparing for law school,” said Caleb Greig, fourth-year political science student and co-captain. “He showed up to the first practice with this giant moustache-goatee combination, which we had never seen before.”
“Last year, Doug grew one for a few weeks at the end of the season, but it was a little light. But this year, he showed up with an animal on his face, and we were just like, “˜Who is this guy?’ I mean, he was starting law school, and he looked like he had aged five years.”
Indeed, it figures to be an interesting year for Merkel, to say the least. Not only is he returning as volunteer coach for the defending national champions of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, but Merkel is already a month into his first year as a UCLA law student.
For now, Merkel has sustained a nice balance between hitting the books and keeping in tune with the coaching half of his identity. In fact, the hours and hours spent pouring through countless court cases puts him in the right mindset for his rightful place beside the pool.
“It’s a great break from law school,” he said of his water polo duties. “I’m on campus all day, I go to class, go to the library, read for a while and when it’s time for practice, I just come up (to Spieker). It’s a great study break because it allows me to focus on law school for X hours in a day and then come here and let my mind relax for two hours.”
As for the law school routine, Merkel has found that it’s quite the deviation from his undergraduate days.
“In undergrad, it was more of a lecture situation, whereas in law school, it’s more of a discussion where the professors very much want to engage the students,” he said. “And there’s a lot of close reading involved. When you’re reading court cases, you have to pick up on what the court says and why it makes the decisions. I’m finding that it requires a lot more focus.”
That the third-year coach ultimately chose to take on both responsibilities is a testament to his fondness for his players. Had Merkel decided to commit solely to his graduate studies, it was no sure thing that the team would have found a replacement coach.
“The way that our league works is that it’s not necessarily the most talented players that win, it’s the best team, the guys that are the most well organized,” Merkel said. “And I wanted these guys to have somebody, whether it be me or somebody else. To be successful in this league, you have to have a coach, somebody who’s willing to run practices.”
And when that decision was made, there were none happier than the players themselves.
Third-year religious studies and history student Cameron Virjee, the other co-captain this season, knows all too well the intangibles Merkel brings to the team. Last year, Virjee nominated his coach for the 2010 Club Sports Volunteer Coach of the Year award by submitting a letter to UCLA Club Sports.
“Doug’s zeal for UCLA is only rivaled by his love for the individuals on the team,” Virjee wrote at the time. “Doug is not just a coach during the hours of practice, but he honestly is a friend whenever you need one.”
But make no mistake, Merkel doesn’t get caught up in the accolades or the prestige of attending law school. Truth be told, he prefers to be known as just another member of a loose, fun-loving team.
“It’s not my team; it’s the players’ team. I just try to be as supportive as I can,” Merkel said.
And that mutual respect also applies away from the pool.
“We have a lot of fun with Doug,” Virjee said. “He’s just a super funny, super quirky guy. He keeps us in line sometimes, but at the same time, joins in and knows how to have fun.”
Fun, indeed. The quirky ‘stache says it all.