2011 Junior Pan-America Games Information Released

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Information for the 2011 Pan America Games was released today for the championships on August 3-14 in Puerto Rico.

UNION AMERICANA DE NATACIÕN SUMMONS
XVI U.A.N.A. PAN AMERICAN JUNIOR MENS WATER POLO (17U) CHAMPIONSHIP
X U.A.N.A. PAN AMERICAN JUNIOR WOMENS WATER POLO (17U) CHAMPIONSHIP

I.  PARTICIPATING TEAMS

There can be a maximum of 12 teams in each category, men and women, representing the four zones of the Americas.  Teams will be composed of athletes born in 1994 or later.  The qualifying teams for Junior Pan American Championship will be: the first three teams on the standing from the previous Championships; the host team; one team from each zone; and teams selected by a rotation between Zone II and Zone I (in that order) until the maximum of 12 teams is achieved.  Teams from Canada, United States, and Brasil in women, and Canada, United States and Brasil in men have already qualified due to their standing in the last Junior Pan American Championships held in Florida, United States of America.

The teams qualifying for these Championships are as follows;

a.    ZONE I - CONSANAT

Men:            Brasil and four teams to be nominated by CONSANAT

Women:       Brasil and four teams to be nominated by CONSANAT

b.  ZONE II - CCCAN

Men:            Puerto Rico and four teams to be nominated by CCCAN

Women:       Puerto Rico and four teams to be nominated by CCCAN

c. ZONE III - UNITED STATES

Men:            UNITED STATES

Women:       UNITED STATES

d.  ZONE IV-CANADA

Men:            CANADA

Women:       CANADA

These Championships are classification tournaments for the Junior World Championships to be held in 2012 for both men and women.  Number of teams qualifying for the Junior World Championships will be determined by FINA rules:  the current number is four or five (4 or 5) men and four (4) women, but of course, this is subject to change by FINA.

II.  COMPETITION PROGRAM

The schedule of activities for these Championships from August 4 -August 13, 2011 is the following:

Thursday, August 4               Arrival of Teams Delegations

Friday, August 5            Scheduled team practices

• 2:00 pm    U.A.N.A. TWPC Meeting

• 6:00 pm    Technical Congress

• 8:00 pm    Referees Clinic                                

Saturday August 6        Qualification games in both categories

Sunday, August 7         Qualification games in both categories

Monday, August 8         Qualification games in both categories

Tuesday, August 9        Qualification games in both categories

Wednesday, August 10 Qualification games in both categories

Thursday, August 11     Semifinal games in both categories

Friday, August 12          Final games in both categories

                                     Awards & Closing Ceremonies

Saturday, August 13     Departures of Team Delegations

The final competition schedule for both categories, men and women, shall be determined by the number of participating teams and will be prepared at the Technical Congress to be held at 6:00 pm on August 5, 2011 on the facilities designated by the Organizing Committee.  All team’s delegates and referees must be present at the Technical Congress.

III. TEAM DELEGATION

The Organizing Committee will guarantee room and board to a maximum of 18 persons for each team delegation in categories, men and women.  Each delegation shall consist of 13 players and 5 supporting personnel, out of which one must be a referee. 

Each delegation must comply with the required room and board fees as specified in section VIII of this Summons.

All delegations must make all the necessary arrangements for the arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The Organizing Committee shall provide ground transportation from the Luis Muñoz Martin International Airport (SIU) to the hotel and returning. 

IV.  REGISTRATION

All teams must be properly registered before May 15, 2011, by sending the numerical entry for the categories (men and/or women) in which they will participate and the remaining number of the supporting personnel for the delegation (see Annex “A”).

The final submission of the following documents must occur before July 1, 2011:

(b) Arrival and departure information (see annex “C”)

(c) Individual information with two photographs of each delegation member (see Annex “D”).

(d) Team photograph for the program.

All mailings must be sent to the following address:

Original to:                       

SWIMMING FEDERATION OF PUERTO RICO
Jorge Torres – Director Water Polo Technical Committee
Email: jrpanamericano2011pr@gmail.com
Phone: 1-787-505-4153
FAX:  1-787-250-1901

Copy to:   

Eldon Godfrey - President of U.A.N.A.
Email: ecg@godfrey-godfrey.ca
Phone: 1-403-681-5693/288-5693
FAX:  1-403-270-3094

William J. Shaw – U.A.N.A. Executive Committee
Email: bshaw@mcdougallgauley.com
Phone: 1-306-665-5426
Fax: 1-306-652-1323

Those countries with final entries which later do not participate in the competition will be fined in the amount of $1,000 US dollars.  Each delegation is responsible for securing their required visas from the proper Government Institutions.

V.    REFEREES

VI.    FACILITIES
San Juan Natatorium, San Juan Central Park, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The hotel for the teams are:

• The Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
• Radisson Ambassador Plaza Hotel San Juan

The hotel for the referees & delegates will be:

• Sheraton Old San Juan

The Organizing Committee will provide ground transportation required for official delegations from the hotel to the venues from August 5 through August 13, 2011.

VII.   TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT

An electronic timing system will be utilized.  The official playing ball shall comply with all the requirements of FINA regulations.  All participating teams will be informed about the adopted system after the Organizing Committee receives the numerical entries.

Teams must bring their own playing caps for the games, in compliance with FINA regulations, and must also provide their own practice balls.  The Organizing Committee will provide official game balls.                                                                                                          

VIII.  COSTS

The official delegations from each visiting country participating in these Championships will pay the Organizing Committee an amount of $100.00 U.S. dollars per person per day.  Payment shall be made in United States dollars. 

Information as to the Bank Account to wire(bank transfer) your deposit is as follows:

Name of Bank: Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Name of Account: Federacion Puertorriqueña de Natación Polo

Jr. Panamericano

Routing/Transit Number: 021502011

Swift Code: BPPRPRSX

Referees that are not members of any official delegation participating in these Championships must make arrangements with the Organizing Committee.  Referees that are members of official delegation will be required to stay separate from their teams.  They will be notified as to the location/costs of this accommodation.

Delegations arriving earlier than August 4, 2011, or departing after August 13, 2011, must make their own arrangements with the Organizing Committee.

IX.  CLINICS

If possible, there will be referees’ clinics prior and during the Championships.

FINA will sponsor the clinic and will nominate the lecturer.

X.  COMPETITION FORMAT

For these Junior Pan American Championships one of the following formats will be used depending on the number of participating teams.

(a)  9 to 12 teams:

Two groups will be established (A and B).  The teams will be seeded according to the standing of the last Pan American Junior Championship.  Each group will play a single qualification round robin to establish a standing.  In the final round one semifinal game will be played between first place from group A and group B with the second place in group B and group A respectively.  The winners will play for the gold medal and losers for the bronze medal.

(b)  5 to 8 teams

A single qualification round robin will be played among all the teams.  In the final round, there will be semifinals games between teams in the first and fourth position and between teams in the second and third positions of the standing.  The winners will play for the gold and silver; the losers will play for the bronze.  The remaining final standings for position 5^th to 8^th will be decided in the same manner.

A double round robin will be played among all teams.

XI.  AWARDS

There will be trophies for the teams in first three positions of the final standing of the Championships in each category; men and women.

All registered players in the teams arriving in the first three positions of the final standing of the Championships for each category (men and women), will receive medals in gold, silver and bronze colors.

Friars Win HS Boys Red Division

2011 Main Line League Schedules and Results

This past weekend, eight of the eleven age group divisions competed at either Villanova University or Souderton Area High School. This was the thirteenth weekend of games part of the 2011 Main Line League. This year’s league is comprised of over ninety-five squads ranging from 12&under novice to senior men and women.   

The High School Boys Red Division completed their spring season and saw the Friars (Malvern Prep) claim this year’s championship. With the win, the Friars finished as the first undefeated squad of the league. The team went into the championship as the top seed and faced the fourth seed PV Valhalla and rolled to a 15-8 victory. In the other semi-final game, the second seed Spartan White (Springfield High School) went head-to-head with the third seed Colonials (Plymouth Whitemarsh High School) in a game that went right down to the wire. The first time these two teams met up this season saw Spartan White falling two goals short of a tie with the Colonials. In this meeting, the Spartans fell one goal short (6-7) as both teams relied heavily on good team defense to keep the match close. But it was the strong play of Alex Chialastri in cage for the Colonials that helped them move on to the championship game.

The Friars and Colonials only played against each other one time during the season and it was the Friars who were victorious in the 14-12 win. This time the Friars were able to give themselves a little more cushion as they did a better job of team defensive play compared to the first meeting. The Friars were only able to put eleven goals on the board but held the Colonials to scoring only seven of their own. This was the Friars second lowest scoring total but enough to give them the 2011 Red Division Championship and a perfect season.

The Light Blue Division was the other high school boys‘ group competing over the weekend. There were three teams who went undefeated in the two games. The first two squads were Greater Philly Orange and  Spartan Blue (LaSalle College High School) who both competed on Saturday at Villanova University. Each team earned their victories against the Warriors (Hazelton and Wyoming Valley West High Schools) and the Crimson AC (Pottsville High School). The third perfect team was the CV Eagles (Cumberland Valley High School) who played Sunday at Souderton High School and defeated Rebel Polo (Souderton High School) and the Kingfish Bulldogs (Wilson High School).

The 15&Under Boys Yellow Division also had three teams win each of their two games. The CV Eagles continue to dominate the division as they boast a perfect 4-0 record with two games remaining on their schedule. Greater Philly (3-1) and the Kingfish Bulldogs (2-2) also were strong and were the two additional perfect squads during the weekend. 

One of the more impressive weekends came from the YPro program out of Brooklyn, NY. This team is both young in its existence as a club program, third season competing in the Main Line League, and young in its average player’s age. Coached by Yevgeniy Prokhin, YPro competes in only two divisions: the 15&Under Boys Orange and the 12&Under Coed Experienced Divisions. On Sunday, the team started their day competing at Souderton High School on the 15&under boys side and walked away with two victories over Hudson Valley (9-8) and Perkasie Pirates (14-5). Immediately following their second match, the coach and several players made their way down to Villanova University to play in their 12&under games. The additional trip was worth the time, as YPro outscored both Kingfish (13-8) and Stingrays (14-8) to complete an undefeated day for the entire club program.

Main Line League action continues in two weekends since no games are scheduled during the Easter Holiday. Competition will take place at North Penn High School and Villanova University over the course of the April 30th and May 1st weekend. There will be seven of the remaining nine divisions competing since both the High School Boys Red and the 12&Under Coed Novice Divisions have completed their spring season.

For more information regarding competition available for athletes of all ages, contact Tom Tracey at 610-277-6787 or tracey@americanwaterpolo.org.

Two-Time Olympian Brad Schumacher to Host Co-Ed Clinic

2011 CWPA Women's Eastern Championship Clinic Flyer & Registration Form

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Two-time Olympian and Gold Medalist Brad Schumacher, co-founder of Kap 7, will host a water polo clinic on Saturday, April 30 at Indiana University as part of the 2011 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Women's Eastern Championship. The clinic is open to all male and female athletes between the ages of 10-18.

Sponsored by American Water Polo, the clinic will run from 8:45 to 11:00 a.m. at a cost of $30 per person.  Individuals who attend the clinic will also receive four tickets for the Eastern Championship, a CWPA media guide and championship program, a league T-shirt and a photo with Brad Schumacher.

For a registration form, contact Alex Bond at membership@collegiatewaterpolo.org or 610-277-6787.  

A former freestyle swimmer, Schumacher won two gold medals as a member of the United States Men's 4x100 meter and 4x200 meter Freestyle Relay Teams at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Four years later, he was a member of the US Men's Water Polo Team that placed in sixth place at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

The only aquatics athlete in the world to become a world champion in both swimming and water polo, he competed in the 1998 World Championships in both sports to become the first athlete to compete simultaneously at the World Class level since Bob Hughes at the 1956 Olympic Games.

He joined an elite group of athletes to compete in both sports at a world championship level as only Duke Khanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller, Bob Hughes and Matt Biondi also competed in water polo and swimming on the world level.

Schumacher has not strayed far from his roots as he co-founded with fellow Olympian Wolf Wigo Kap7, Inc., a commercial pool equipment and supply company, and serves as head coach of SET Water Polo Club in South Orange County, California.

Tickets for the Eastern Water Polo Championship are available by contacting the Collegiate Water Polo Association at 610-277-6787, via e-mail at office@collegiatewaterpolo.org or at the door for $13 per day or $25 for a weekend pass.

Peering into Polo’s Past with Chuck Hines

Remembrances of Bob Helmick
By Chuck Hines

It was 1962, and I’d been given the worst possible time slot for promoting water polo in the small four-lane, 25-yard basement pool at the Des Moines, Iowa, YMCA. It was on Saturday evenings during the autumn months … in the midst of the football season … and also, of course, a prime dating night. I had recently moved to Iowa from Minnesota, where I’d been playing and coaching Y water polo since 1958, and I was hoping to start the sport in Des Moines.  But on Saturday nights?

Four teenage boys and one college student showed up for the first practice, and we tossed our only ball around the pool and shot at benches placed on the deck. A few more boys started attending in the weeks that followed. In November, a lanky young man in his mid 20s walked into the pool and said, “Hi.  I’m Bob Helmick and I’d like to give water polo a try.” Although no one knew it at the time, this was a defining moment in American sports.

Bob had grown up in Des Moines, graduating from Roosevelt High School and then from local Drake University, where his dad was a physics professor. He’d attended the Drake Law School, graduating with honors at the age of 22, after which he went to work for one of the city’s most prestigious law firms. At 25, Bob was married and a young father himself.

Due to having severe asthma, Bob had never been an outstanding athlete. His best sport was swimming, which he’d done to improve his breath control, and he had a strong crawl stroke. Like everything he did, Bob pursued water polo with a passion, using his daily lunch breaks to come to the YMCA, where he diligently lifted weights and swam sprints. Gradually he filled out his 6-3, 185-pound physique. He never missed our Saturday night practices as our attendance grew to 12, 15, 20, and when our Y team played its initial games against the nearby Iowa State University Y team, Bob was in our starting lineup as a defensive stalwart. The local newspaper ran an article about the games, identifying me as the team’s player-coach and including a photo of Bob in his water polo cap and holding a ball in the Y pool. 

When the summer of 1963 rolled around, I, as a full-time, professional youth program director at the Des Moines YMCA, arranged for us to use a large, deep outdoor pool on Saturday mornings, and our regular indoor practices were moved to Monday and Thursday nights at the YMCA pool, where we now had good homemade goals, official caps and a dozen balls. Bob, myself and two or three other adult polo enthusiasts were successful at recruiting more high school boys and the list of participants grew to 40. We also brought in a group of teenage girls, 15 in number, many of them from Bob’s Sunday School class, and this became one of the first girls’ teams in the entire U.S. in the modern era. They practiced in the Y pool on Tuesday nights and joined the rest of us in the larger, deeper outdoor pool in the summertime.

We conducted clinics at other Iowa communities including Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Tipton and Storm Lake. We held the first Iowa State Championships in 1964, with eight teams taking part. Des Moines defeated the University of Iowa for the men’s title, while Davenport, led by player-coach Ruth Johnson, dunked our Des Moines girls for the women’s crown. Our out-reach also produced new water polo programs at Austin and Worthington, Minnesota; Omaha and Fremont, Nebraska; and NW Missouri State College. We played against top AAU, YMCA and college teams from Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Winnipeg and elsewhere, winning several tournament titles. Bob became an excellent defensive player, a “hole guard” as we called ‘em in those days, and he was selected as an AAU All-Midwest player and as a three-time YMCA All-America.

While this was occurring, Bob and I also became more involved nationally through the auspices of the AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, which was the governing body for water polo and many other athletic activities. We attended AAU meetings from coast to coast, and in 1965, I was appointed by Andy Burke of California as chairman of the first-ever AAU Women’s Water Polo Committee. Bob became involved with the AAU Men’s Water Polo Committee, and we both worked with Dave Rivenes of Miles City, Montana, to conduct the initial AAU-sponsored Junior Olympic Championships at Des Moines in the summer of 1969. By that time, I’d departed from Des Moines for another YMCA assignment, and Bob had taken command. At the JOs, with a single division for 15-and-unders, his teams placed second to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the boys’ competition and second to Portland, Oregon, in the girls’ category.

Also in 1969, Bob was elected as chairman of the AAU Men’s Water Polo Committee, and at the same time, thanks to some astute maneuvering by our friend John Spannuth, president of the American Swimming Coaches Association, Bob was elected chair of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Committee for the 1969-1972 Olympiad. He immediately appointed me as secretary of the committee and of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, a position I occupied while continuing to serve as chair of the AAU Women’s Water Polo Committee.

It’s hard to comprehend ALL that Bob was doing in those days. He was practicing law. He was a husband and the father of four growing children.  He was a leader of water polo nationally. He was coaching the Des Moines YMCA boys’ water polo team which won the Y Nationals at Macomb, Illinois, in 1970, and at Lima, Ohio, in 1971, and at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1972. He and his adult assistants organized a Hi-Y polo program that served all six of the Des Moines high schools. Wait, there’s more. Bob took the Des Moines Y men’s team to play nationally from California to Houston to New York City, with international trips taken to Canada and Puerto Rico. Whew!

In 1972, the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, with Bob serving as both Team Leader and Manager, earned the bronze medal at the Summer Games in Munich, Germany, and this propelled Bob into international stardom. He found others to direct the Des Moines YMCA program, and from the mid 1970s into the early 1990s, Bob served as (1) Secretary of FINA’s Technical Water Polo Committee, (2) Secretary and then President of FINA, (3) Vice-President and then President of the Amateur Athletic Union, (4) Vice-President and then President of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and (5) a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

Eventually Bob dropped out of the international scene – frankly, he was exhausted – and after serving on the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee for the Summer Games of 1996, he “retired” from sports and concentrated on his law practice and other activities in Des Moines. You can read more about Bob on the web-site of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2007. Go to www.ishof.org/honorees/2007/bob_helmick.htm for a full bio including additional photos.

Sadly, Bob passed away unexpectedly from a stroke in April of 2003, at the age of 66. He was a special person, one of the smartest men I’ve known, a very successful attorney, an accomplished pianist, a lover of art, who did much behind the scenes to make Des Moines a better place to live. If you visit Drake University, you’ll find a place called “Helmick Commons,” named in his honor.

Yet many of us remember Bob for all that he gave to sports in general and to our sport in particular. He occupies a unique niche in the annals of water polo history.

About Chuck Hines: Chuck started out in water polo in 1958 and has been involved for over 53 years. An All-America player in 1960s, Chuck coached ten national championship teams in AAU and YMCA competition in the 1970s. He was the first chairman of the National Women’s Water Polo Committee, from 1965-1976 and an officer of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Committee for the 1972 games where the team brought home a bronze medal. Chuck also coached the Asheville YMCA team that represented the East Coast in the first women’s international tournament in Montreal and Quebec City in 1977. During the 1980s, Chuck served as a national official and director of an Olympic Development Clinic. In the 1990s, he used his skills in directing a nationally-publicized program for inner-city youngsters. More recently, Chuck has been involved in serving as the supervisor for the local YMCA’s recreational water polo program each autumn and serves as a historian for the sport. He recently authored “Water Polo the Y’s Way,” a 240-page chronicle of his experiences in the sport that is available through Amazon and Authorhouse.    

Michigan to Host 2011 NCAA Women's Championship

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Tickets for the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women's Water Polo Championship on Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium are now available.

The eight-team NCAA field and tournament seedings will be announced on Monday, May 2. Automatic qualifiers will be provided by the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and Western Water Polo Association. The conference representatives from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will participate in a play-in game, with the winner gaining the fifth and last automatic berth. The three remaining teams will be selected at-large without geographical restrictions.

Tickets are available in two forms: All Session or Single-Day.

• All-Session Tickets: Tickets good for all three sessions are priced at $50 for adults and $25 for youth/senior citizens. All-session tickets must be purchased before Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m.

• Single-Day Tickets: Single-day tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $10 for youth/senior citizens.

Tickets are available for sale online at MGoBlue.com/tickets, in person at the U-M Athletic Ticket Office, or by calling (734) 764-0247 or toll-free (866) 296-MTIX (6849). Single-session adult and youth/senior citizen tickets will also be available at the door (cash sales only). Doors open one hour prior to the start of the first game.