Mr. Spencer Vespole 09’ was an exuberant and inspiring water polo coach, an influential history teacher, and a dear friend. The beloved water polo coach tragically passed in 2019 but his legacy still lives on through the school and importantly through the water polo team.
Before the game started on Saturday, Saint Benedict’s students and parents all gathered on the bleachers cheering for their team members and getting ready for the game. The energy was very lively as the athletes came out and dived through the water warming up before the commencement.

From the bleachers, you could hear the determined yells of the team captain Nicholas Rojas ’24, and goalies Marcos Maldonado ’24, and Tyler Williams ’23 guiding the team to make an exceptional score of 18 points to 9, going against Blair High School.
“Our first games in the tournament went pretty well…but there are still things we need to work on…Our goalies were killing it out there but there’s still work to be done,” said Rojas.
After that game ended, the athletic director Mr. Tom Leahy ‘77, talked about the beloved coach Spencer. Mr. Leahy passionately stated

“I just wanted to remember Spencer now…I’m sure it means a lot to Spence that he’s remembered and his work is carrying on.” Mr. Kenya Moncur 15’, The Head coach who as well played water polo at his time at Benedict’s had this to say: ”He filled my head with a lot of structure…Spencer had a saying, he used to say ‘Let’s Do This!’…essentially he was always in the mindset of go, let’s go, let’s do it…let’s be great!.”

During each game, Benedict’s student spectators sang chants and patriotic cheers for their school after the high scoring of the Benedict games, helping to uplift the team even during their lows. For the last game, Saint Benedict’s team scored 1 to 13, going against Germantown High School.

“They did very well. Every time we play a game, it’s always a good game. Doesn’t matter the mistakes…it’s always a good game,” said the assistant coach for Saint Benedict’s Prep Water Polo, Daniel Cardona. Nicholas Rojas also stated, “We lost to Germantown but I just liked this because it shows us what we need to work on…We are going to work harder.”

Their optimism and determination after their tournament Saturday really shows their mature mindset and honors the life and legacy of Spencer Vespole. Overall, Saint Benedict’s encouragement, brotherhood, and sisterhood shows the amicable environment the students still abide by even out of school and their hard work, ownership, and companionship for their team members.