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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland water polo team is in the midst of its off-season program. A member of the squad will be writing a blog each week as the team gears up for the 2012 season.

The team completed its third week of off-season workouts Thursday.

By All-American Allison Campbell

This was a busy week for Maryland Water Polo, both in and out of the water. To begin the week, a few teammates attended the "Backpack to Briefcase" event put on by Student Welfare and Career Development at Heritage Hall. They had various stations that gave information on things like resume building and networking that will help us once were ready to take the step from student to employee.

As a team tradition, conveniently located outside the pool, we go to the Outdoor Recreation Center for a team challenge course. The challenges are structured in a "challenge by choice" format. In addition to team building games, we conquered various team challenges. We even attacked the ropes course, which is a very tall catwalk and tightrope! The University of Maryland's 55 foot tall climbing wall is one of the tallest in the east coast. This was a great experience; not only did we enjoy ourselves, but I think we all learned some valuable lessons about working together, communicating, and facing our fears.

The Maryland football half-time show included the Student Athlete Recognition Game, where student-athletes are acknowledged for all their hard work in the classroom. It's always nice to know that there are people supporting us in our studies, as well as for our achievements in the pool. After the football game, some of us headed over to our home away from home at the Eppley Recreation Center to support Maryland Club Water Polo in their tournament. They are always really good about supporting us during our season, so it's important to us that we return the favor.

As for our work in the pool this week, everyone is doing a great job with circuits and fitness checks and I think we're all on the right track to getting back into shape for season. Although we have a long way to go until our first game, I'm getting a really good feeling about this group and everything we can accomplish this year. Go Terps!!