The Pepperdine University men’s water polo team delayed its celebration of Saturday’s game against UCLA to host 14 inner-city boys for a game of inner tube water polo and a picnic lunch.
The group, A Chance for Children, came early for the UCLA match armed with homemade signs and biographies of each of their “big brothers.” Each child read his biography on his player and memorized all the statistics during a 20-minute delay before the start of the match.
Pepperdine finished the match with a victory at 9-5. The crowd went wild, but the most enthusiastic group in the stands was that of the eager little boys who couldn’t wait to meet their heroes in person. As each of the Pepperdine players came over to the group, they were introduced to their “little brothers” and gave each a game cap.
The fun continued as inner tubes were blown up for a pool party followed by a picnic lunch donated by The Hubbell family (Blake Hubbell). When it was time to leave there were handshakes, hugs and high fives. Fourteen happy and exhausted boys climbed back in their vans with Pepperdine water polo posters in hand and headed home.
“This was the best day of my life!” said one of the children to Collins as he got in the van.
Pepperdine sports news provided by Pepperdine Sports information.
-Olivia Damavandi