Greenies Run

Samo’s water polo team has an alter ego–the Greenies. Every year, at the Homecoming rally and game, the players strip down to their speedos and swimsuits, paint themselves green and run through a crowd of fellow Samo students. Amidst laughs and cheers, one can’t help but wonder: what’s the real reason behind the Greenie Run?This annual tradition is something that all students have become accustomed to throughout the years, and is something for water polo players to look forward to. There are multiple versions of the story as to why this tradition is practiced.According to varsity water polo player Josh Valencia (’16), one of the many rumors going around is that the tradition is all due to the influence of Samo’s former coach.“Our old coach told us that he and his friends used to paint themselves black and streak for fun. When someone asked him what we should do for our pep rally around 30 years ago, it resulted in the idea of the Greenie Run,” Valencia said.This crazy idea then took shape, and is now a way to show school pride. Only the seniors of both the boys’ and girls’ water polo teams get to be a part of the Greenie Run during the pep rallies, but all varsity players get to sprint across the field during the Homecoming football game.When coming to Samo as a freshman, Nico Antonio (’17) was immediately captivated by the tradition.“I thought it looked awesome and I couldn’t wait to do it when I got onto varsity,” Antonio said.According to Antonio, the tradition came about when their former Irish coach came up with a story to tell his buddies in a bar.“We had an old coach named Niall Skehan and he’s Irish. One day in a pub someone asked him, ‘What do water players do for fun in their speedos?’ and he replied, ‘We paint ourselves green and run around.’ I guess after that we actually started doing it,” Antonio said. “That’s the story I first heard.”However, according to girls’ varsity water polo captain Olivia Allen (’16), there are countless interpretations of the story of how the Greenies originated.“When I first came to Samo, I heard we were called the Greenies because when you mix our school colors together, blue and gold, you get green,” Allen said. “I don’t really know how we started painting ourselves, but it’s super fun.”According to Isabelle LoMonaco (’16), the word was spread around to incoming freshmen because of how famous the run is.“My sister was in water polo the year before I was and I heard about it from her,” LoMonaco said. “She described all of the seniors running around like crazy at the pep rally and it seemed like so much fun.”If there’s one thing a Greenie looks forward to in her high school career, it’s being able to take part in the Greenie Run at the pep rallies as a senior and varsity player. Everyone embraces the run without shame, even if the reason for it is a little blurry.“No one really knows the actual story – some say that there was a coach whose name was ‘Green’, and that’s how the name came to be,” Allen said. “Others say that the first team consisted of all blondes, so the entire team’s hair turned green in the water.”All the odd stories only add to the fun. While there seems to be little agreement as to which story is the real reason why the Greenie Run exists, it is a tradition that brings these athletes together.However, on Nov. 6 at a tribute water polo game to the creator of the Greenie Run Niall Skehan, The Samohi discovered the real reason behind this famous tradition.Now unable to see indoor water polo due to Glaucoma, Skehan is still a strong supporter of the Samo water polo team, which he coached up until this past year.“I came from Ireland with a very thick accent. While coaching at Samo in 1983, one of the guys on the team asked me, ‘What’d you do for fun in Ireland?’ Jokingly, I responded with ‘We paint our arses green and run around,’ and that same year at the Homecoming game, they did just that, only with their speedos. But I never thought they would actually do it,” Skehan said.With all the confusion about the cause of the Greenie Run, one thing’s for sure: the name “Greenies” has been a label for these athletes for quite a while.According to varsity player Mikey LaBorde (’16), there’s a lot of different interpretations of the team nickname.“The name ‘Greenies’ has been with the water polo team for a long time. Long before any of us were at Samo,” LaBorde said. “The chlorine makes the very blonde kids’ hair turn green if it isn’t taken care of. That may be the reason we are called the Greenies.”While this unique Samo ritual is strange and confusing to many, this form of displaying school pride is one that gives these water-lovers something to be known for, and the tradition will continue to be preserved for years to come.