There have been no home swim meets, no home water polo games, not even a practice session at home—the Los Gatos facility was simply substandard.

That's not a problem anymore.

A five-year project culminated on June 19 when pool committee members and financial donors, local dignitaries and high school students and coaches past and present gathered with community members on the deck of the new pool to celebrate the grand re-opening of the high school's aquatics facility—the Los Gatos Community Pool.

The completion of the project was made possible because of the collaboration of efforts by the high school district, the town of Los Gatos, the Los Gatos­Saratoga Community Education and Recreation Department and hard-working, generous members of the community, along with an influx of funds from the Valley Foundation.

But no one was more excited about the opening of the new pool than the high school athletes who will now have a pool they can call home, and that was obvious by the shrieks of joy from the girls water polo players who were the first in the water on Saturday.

"I'm so happy I can't even express it," says Breezy Conner, a senior polo star who has never played a home game in her high school years. "We really united last year, but this year it will be 10 times better. We're going to raise the bar for the teams that follow."

"It was really exciting," says Jessica Safir, a junior polo player, after being among the first girls to jump into the water. "It's going to be great to finally have home games.

"We've always had good team spirit, but this will help us bond even more."

Sarah Safir, an incoming freshman, adds, "I'm really looking forward to it." Sarah will never have to experience the frustration of always having to travel to play games, swim in meets and practice. But outgoing senior Austin Nichols knows the feeling all too well.

"I never had a home game or meet," says Nichols, who starred in both sports at Los Gatos over the past four years. "But I'm just really excited for my sister [Eloise] and the community, and especially for the high school, even though I'm leaving."

"I think I can speak for the water polo and swim teams to say that we're just proud and honored to have this at the school," he adds.

Still, while the student-athletes were thrilled to jump into the warm, friendly waters, they were well aware that this project involved more than just filling a hole in the ground with water from a garden hose. It took years of hard work and dedication on the part of many members of the community. No one knows that better than Michael McMurray, the pool committee chairman.

"It's been a journey and we're at the top—we've arrived," he says.

It was a journey that began in September of 1998 when four men—Charlie Bannon, Ron Eastman, David Cope and John Locke—established a group to raise funds for a new aquatics facility on the high school campus. They raised $1.1 million, then turned the program over the McMurray, Los Gatos Principal Trudy McCulloch and Ed LaVeque and Ervie Smith of the Valley Foundation in April of 2001.

"I was physically nauseated when I came down to look at this pool for the first time," says McMurray. "It was yucky and had a cyclone fence around it."

His daughter, Heather, was in the swimming and water polo program at the school at the time, so he signed on to help with the fundraising process.

"I found that raising money in $100 increments was fruitless," he adds, indicating that the group wasn't even halfway to its goal of $2.6 million for the renovation process.

Through generous donations from the Valley Foundation and community members, and with the guidance of Netzel Associates Inc., a professional fundraising organization, the group was able to take the project to completion.

"It's like the movie Field of Dreams —if we build it, they will come," adds McMurray.

Los Gatos water polo coach Ted Mathewson certainly believes that to be true.

"This is great, I'm just so excited," says Mathewson, in his fourth year as the Gatos girls coach. "Now we can finally realize the potential of the athletes here at Los Gatos High."

The facility has already made a difference. Mathewson has 38 girls signed up for the fall water polo season. In past years, he's never had more than 28.

"We've never had a home game, and now we're even going to host a tournament here this year," he adds. "The best part is that it's right in the middle of the campus."

Mathewson feels that the sport of water polo, and swimming, too, will get more exposure and that more students, parents and community members will turn out for games and meets. Water polo, while successful at the high school level, has never been an option for Los Gatos pre-high school youth.

"But now we're starting a water polo camp here for players ages 10 to 16," he says. "We want to start kids playing when they're young. Most kids who come in now don't even know the rules. They spend the first year just learning the basics."

The camp is just one of the many ways the Los Gatos rec department will use the new waters. Recreation supervisor Laurie Boswell indicates that the department will offer a full range of aquatic activities beginning this summer—a schedule that includes synchronized swimming, eight levels of swimming lessons, a junior lifeguard class, masters and lap swimming for adults, and a kids triathlon program, in addition to water polo and open recreational swimming.

"This truly is a community pool and will be used as a community pool," said McCulloch during the dedication ceremony on Saturday. "This is the realization of a dream for many of us."

"The young people, like those before me," she added, pointing to the swimmers lining the deck who had been among the first in the water, "deserve a facility like this."

Steve Rauwolf, the director of the Los Gatos recreation department, added, "Let's move forward and have a lot of fun in this pool."

And that's just what the members of the Los Gatos Angelfish did. The age group synchronized swimming team—that's bounced from pool to pool in town before finally finding a home at the high school—put on an impressive demonstration, giving onlookers a preview of things to come as young people grow up in the new waters.

The onlookers included past Los Gatos aquatic coaches Andy Hardin and Steve Bertizhoff, and a handful of local dignitaries—among them Cindy Ranii, superintendent of the Los Gatos­Saratoga Joint Union High School District; Monte Sereno City Councilwoman Barbara Nesbet, a graduate of the high school; and Los Gatos Town Council members Sandy Decker and Mike Wasserman.

"It was a tough five years—Los Gatos, I hope you're proud of yourselves because you should be," said Councilwoman Decker during the dedication ceremony. "This is a perfect example of what a great community can do when it sets a goal and doesn't give up."

LaVeque, a retired doctor who worked tirelessly on the project as a member of the Valley Foundation, knew right away that all of the hard work and effort was worthwhile when he heard "the yells of joy from the young ladies who jumped into the pool."

Pool committee member Christine Nichols couldn't hold back her tears of joy and accomplishment.

"When you leave today," she said, "please thank Ervie and Ed—this would not have happened without those two people."

"It's been a truly great experience working with Trudy, Sandy and the Valley Foundation," Nichols said later. "It's a great accomplishment."

But the construction of the pool comes too late for her son, Austin. He never will play a home game at Los Gatos High, or will he?

"Every Thanksgiving they play an alumni water polo game," says Austin's mom. "He's going to be in this pool ... I guarantee you!"

Austin is now headed to West Valley College to swim and play water polo in a pool that became very familiar to him over the last four years.

"I'm actually going to have home games," he adds.

And thanks to the efforts of many and the completion of the Los Gatos Community Pool, so will the Wildcats.