American Water Polo

Peering Into Polo's Past with Andy Burke - Part X

2001 was the start of the new quadrennial, but also the start of holding the FINA World Championships every two years with their debut in Fukuoka, Japan.

US Water Polo made a big departure by hiring a new coach in Ratko Rudic from Yugoslavia, one of the most successful coaches in the World, who guided Italy to a Gold Medal in Barcelona in 1992. The men finished in 7th place, with Spain taking the Gold Medal followed by Yugoslavia and Russia. The women made the Medal Round, but finished in 4^th place behind Italy, Netherlands and Australia. In 2002 it was back to the familiar FINA Cups, with the men traveling to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where they finished in 7^th place with Russia winning the Gold Medal followed by Hungary and Yugoslavia; and the women traveling to Perth, Australia, with Hungary winning the Gold Medal, USA the Silver and Canada the Bronze.

Ratko established the Premier League in the United States which had the main Clubs (New York AC, The Olympic Club, Newport Water Polo and Los Angeles Water Polo) playing against Zone teams from throughout the US consisting of top college players. Each team, Club and Zone had to have at least 2 high school athletes on their team and they had a required number of minutes to play in each game in order to expose them to a higher level of play. I was selected to serve as Commissioner for the League and worked closely with Ratko to be sure that the League operated properly.

2003 was the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, where the men finished in 6^th place while Hungary was winning the Gold Medal, followed by Italy and the newly formed Serbia and Montenegro; while the women won the Gold Medal, followed by Italy and Russia. At the Pan American Games, held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the men continued on top with the Gold Medal, followed by Brazil and Canada, thus qualifying us for the Olympic Games. While the women also qualified by winning the Gold Medal, followed by Canada and Brazil.

2004 was another Olympic Year, with the Games being held in Athens, Greece. The men finished in 7^th place, with Hungary winning the Gold Medal, followed by Serbia and Montenegro, with Russia in third place. The women won the Bronze Medal, with Netherlands winning the Gold and Greece the Silver Medal.

In 2005, Ratko Rudic received an offer to return to his native Croatia to become their Head Coach. US Water Polo graciously released him from his contract and allowed him to return home. Guy Baker stepped up and took over the men’s team and led them to the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, where they dropped to 11^th place; meanwhile, the women took the Silver Medal, with Hungary in 1^st place and Canada in 3^rd place.

In 2006, due to their finish in Montreal, the men did not qualify for the FINA Cup, which was held in Budapest, Hungary, and was won by Serbia and Montenegro, followed by Hungary and Spain. The women traveled to Tiajing, China, where they made the Medal Round, but finished in 4^th place behind, Australia, Italy and Russia.

Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines:  Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well, not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he worked for 37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children, all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.

Peering Into Polo's Past with Andy Burke - Part IX

1996 was again an Olympic year, with the Games being held in Atlanta, Georgia, where the men finished a disappointing seventh. We had played Spain in the quarter-finals to advance to the Medal Round and lost a very close game to them. Spain went on to win the Gold Medal behind outstanding play from their goalie Jesus Rollan and their outstanding field player Manuel Estiarte.      

1997 started a new quadrennial with a new head coach, John Vargas. The team traveled to Athens, Greece for the FINA Cup, where they produced a strong performance, winning the Gold Medal, followed by Greece and Hungary; while the women traveled to Nancy, France and finished in 7^th place, with Netherlands winning followed by Russia and Australia. 1998 was highlighted by the World Championships, back in Perth, Australia. The men’s team struggled some and finished in 7^th place, with Spain winning the Gold Medal followed by Yugoslavia and Russia; while the women finished in 8^th place, with Italy winning the Gold Medal, followed by Netherlands and Australia. 1999 went back to the FINA Cups, with the men traveling to Sidney, Australia, where they finished in 6^th place with Hungary winning the Gold, followed by Italy and Spain and the women traveling to Winnipeg, Canada, where they finished in 6^th place with Netherlands taking the Gold Medal, followed by Australia and Italy. At the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, the men continued their domination taking the Gold Medal, followed by Brazil and Canada; the women made their debut at these Games and finished second to Canada while Brazil took the Bronze medal.

2000 was the Olympic Year, with the Games being held in Sydney, Australia. Most of the water polo games were conducted at the Ryde Pool, with the finals being held at Homebush in the main swimming stadium. The men finished in 6^th place, while the women made their debut in the Olympic Games. The men’s side was won by Hungary, followed by Russia and Yugoslavia. The women played in the Homebush stadium pool against Australia in the Gold Medal Game in one of the best games ever played. The game was viewed by over 12,000 very noisy spectators, most of them Australian. It looked like the game was going to go to overtime when Australia scored in the final seconds with an outside shot. It was a devastating loss for the women, but again, there is nothing wrong with being the second best team in the World and I am sure that all the women prize their Silver Medal today. These Games served as the debut for Tony Azevedo for the United States. Tony has gone on to be a three time Olympian and one of the top players in the World. On the Women’s team was Maureen O’Toole, for many years considered as the top women’s player in the World. At age 39, she had come out of retirement to compete for a place on the team and won it. The ability to compete against women almost 15 years younger than her was a testament to the outstanding ability of this remarkable athlete and person.

Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines:  Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well, not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he worked for 37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children, all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.

Peering Into Polo's Past with Andy Burke - Part VIII

Andy Burke (second from left) at USA Embassy in Cuba

1990 was an empty year, as the World Championships were held in January 1991 in Perth, Australia. I felt honored to be chosen by USAS to serve as Chef-de-Mission for the entire US Aquatic Team at these Championships. This entailed visits to Perth in January 1989 and 1990, to select the hotels for the US Team and work on the logistics for handling the different teams involved.

I made the first trip with Penny Taylor, who was the Team Leader for US Swimming. The organizers were surprised to see us this early, but were excellent hosts. After reviewing all the available hotels, we decided on the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle for all the teams except men’s water polo who wanted separate accommodations, and we selected a hotel in downtown Perth for them. A funny story is that about a year later, the Australian Federation contacted the Organizing Committee and said that they wanted the Esplanade Hotel as their Headquarters hotel. They were told sorry, but that the Americans already had it. Penny and I considered this a feather in our cap. Our men’s team played well, but ended up in fourth place, losing to Hungary 13-12. Yugoslavia was first with Spain second. In the women’s competition, Netherlands won the gold, Canada second and USA third.

Something interesting that happened at the FINA Congress in Perth was a proposal had been made to increase the time element of the game to four quarters of 9 minutes each. All of the major water polo countries, including the US, were in favor of this change. However, at the FINA Congress the smaller nations stood up and said that all this did was to allow the major countries eight more minutes to beat up on them and the proposal was soundly defeated. Funny how things are looked at from the different sides of a proposal?

1991 was also the Pan American Games, held in Havana, Cuba. We lost a very difficult game to Cuba for the Gold Medal, with Brazil taking third. The game was played on Fidel Castro’s birthday and he was present, so the Cuban team was sky high. I was privileged to escort Castro out to present the medals. I asked the Cuban member of the ASUA water polo committee if it would be okay to present Fidel with an ASUA pin. He said yes, but keep it in your hand, don’t reach into your pocket for it. When Castro came down from the stands he was accompanied by six bodyguards and two of them stood on either side of me when I welcomed him and presented the pin. Needless to say, it was not a very comfortable feeling.

The way the pool was laid out, the victory stands were separated from the stands by a building, so the crowd could not really observe the medal Ceremony. Our team asked me if it would be okay to sing Happy Birthday to Fidel, so I said okay and they did. Castro really enjoyed it, and much to chagrin of his bodyguards he went over and got right in the middle of the US Team. Many pictures were made from this episode. I have a great photo of myself and Castro when I was escorting him out to the medal ceremony. I have it sitting next to my cigar humidor and everyone always asked is that him? My response is that it is “Me and my cigar supplier”.

1992 was an Olympic year and with Bill Barnett still at the helm, we prepared to play in Barcelona, Spain.  The US again made the medal round, but lost to the Unified Team (the name they gave to the Russian Team after the breakup of the Soviet Union, so that they could participate) in the third place game, with Italy winning the Gold Medal and Spain the Silver Medal. With no Olympic competition, the women had the year off.

1993 brought both teams back to the FINA Cup, with the men traveling to Athens, Greece, to finish fourth behind Italy, Hungary and Australia. Bill Barnett had stepped down as National Team Coach and his place had been taken by Rich Corso, with Ricardo Azevedo and John Vargas serving as assistant coaches. The women traveled to Catania, Italy, where they finished sixth, with the Gold going to Netherlands, Silver to Italy and Bronze to Hungary.

1994 was the World Championships in Rome, Italy, with both teams participating. The men finished in sixth place, with the Gold going to Italy (home cooking is always best), Spain winning the Silver and Russia the bronze. The women finishing in fourth place behind Hungary, Netherlands and Italy

In 1995 the men’s FINA Cup was held in Atlanta as a test for the Olympic Games scheduled for Atlanta in 1996. The US again made the medal round, but again finished in fourth place, trailing Hungary, Italy and Russia. The women traveled to Sydney, Australia for their FINA Cup, finishing in sixth place, with Australia taking the Gold, Netherlands the Silver and Hungary the Bronze. 1995 was also the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The women were not yet included in these Championships, but the men won the Gold, with Brazil the Silver and Cuba the Bronze.

Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines:  Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well, not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he worked for 37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children, all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.

Peering Into Polo's Past with Andy Burke - Part VII

1985 opened up a new era in USA Water Polo with Bill Barnett, coach at Newport Harbor High School, stepping into the Head Coaching position vacated by Monte Nitzkowski. Stepping forward with Bill was Steve Heaston, assistant coach at UC, Berkeley. Bill and Steve had had a successful run as coaches of the National Junior Team and they would continue to coach the National Team for the next four years.

The first competition was the FINA Cup in Duisburg, Germany. The team had three holdovers from the 1984 Olympic Team, Peter Campbell, Kevin Robertson and Terry Schroeder, and a host of new names. They made a strong showing, finishing in second place.

The highlight for 1986 was the World Championships in Madrid, Spain. Doug Burke, Jody Campbell and Craig Wilson from the 1984 team had re-upped and we made it to the medal round, but finished fourth.  1987 included the FINA Cup in Thessaloniki, Greece, where we again made the medal round, but again finished fourth. These Championships marked the first time that women’s water polo was included as an official event.  Our women played well and finished in third place, behind Australia and Holland. The Pan Am Games were held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and it seemed the home cooking agreed with the group and we won the Gold Medal, defeating Cuba in the title game.

The 1988 Olympic Games were held in Seoul, Korea. I attended the games as one of the US Delegates to the FINA Congress. Our team again remained strong and ended up facing our 1984 opponent, Yugoslavia. To do this, we had to defeat Hungary, and Terry Schroeder accomplished this for us in the final minute of play, scoring to break a tie score and put us in the medal round with a 10-9 win. In the semifinals, we handled Russia 8-7, while Yugoslavia was defeating Germany 14-10. The title game was as hard fought as the one in Los Angeles. However, the rules had been changed and when the game ended in a tie at 6-6 through regulation, the teams went to overtime and Yugoslavia outscored us to win the Gold Medal 9-7. This was a disappointment to the team, but being second best in the world at the Olympic Games is something of which to be proud. The major event for the women in 1988 was the FINA Cup, held in Christchurch, New Zealand, where the finish was Netherlands, Hungary, Canada and USA.

1989 started a new Olympic Quadrennial with Bill Barnett remaining as Head Coach, but Steve Heaston retiring. Again, the new year became a changing of the guard with many new players appearing on the National Team. The FINA Cup was held in Berlin, Germany, and the US Finished in eighth place. The women’s FINA Cup was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with the finish being Netherlands, USA and Hungary.

Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines:  Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well, not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he worked for 37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children, all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.

Chuck Hines Details the Beginning of the JO Championship

Chuck Hines enjoyed a 40-year career with the YMCA, specializing in Aquatics and International Programming.  A midwest champion swimmer in his younger days, he started playing water polo at the age of 25 and became a 3-time YMCA and Honorable Mention AAU All-American player in the 1960s.  He then coached teams to 10 national YMCA and AAU championships in the 1970s, mostly in junior competition.  He wrote two instructional books on water polo and served as chairperson of national water polo committees for the YMCA, AAU, and American Swimming Coaches Association and as secretary for the U.S.A. Men's Olympic Team that brought home the bronze medal in '72.  His Asheville YMCA girls team represented the East Coast at the first Women's World Water Polo Club Championships in '77.  Buck Dawson, the executive of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, once stated in the 1970s that "Chuck Hines has single-handedly kept water polo going in all of the U.S. outside of California."  

As I write this in August, 2011, we’ve just concluded the 42nd annual Junior Olympic Water Polo Championships.  Held in Orange County, California, the event ran for nine days and attracted over 500 teams and 6,000 players, ranging from 9- and 10-year-olds to those who were 20 and 21.  While a vast majority of the teams – probably over 90% -- came from the host state, about 15 other states were represented.  The caliber of play was excellent at every level. 

It wasn’t always that way.  When the initial JO Championships were held, it wasn’t in the Golden State and, in fact, there was no one from California involved.  Back in the 1960s, and for many years before that, water polo and many other sports were governed by the AAU, i.e. the Amateur Athletic Union, with a helping hand, at least in water polo, from the YMCA.    

The AAU started conducting its annual Junior Olympic Games, and for a look at the history of this event, which still exists, check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UjS6t4AS4.  I was fortunate to coach a team in another sport at the 1997 JO Games in Charlotte, North Carolina.  It was an exciting experience.

As for water polo, the leaders of this sport decided from the start to conduct their JO Program separately from the AAU Games, although the sport remained under AAU jurisdiction.   A fellow named Dave Rivenes from the little town of Miles City, Montana, was elected as the AAU’s initial JO Water Polo Chair in 1965.  I was there at the time – at the AAU Convention – and we all realized that Dave had a tough sell to make.  The Californians, who were water polo’s leaders then, as now, weren’t interested in the Junior Olympics.  We have our own programs out here on the West Coast, they said, and the rest of you can do what you want.  Hmmm.  Sound familiar?

Dave spent several years trying to drum up interest nationally, and finally, in 1969, he and Bob Hel-mick and I organized the initial AAU-sanctioned JO Water Polo Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.  Bob Helmick was chair of the AAU men’s water polo committee, and I was chair of the AAU women’s water polo committee, and together the three of us managed to get the JOs off the ground.  The 1969 event was held in a large outdoor pool at Des Moines.  There was a single age group, 15-and-under, and the three-day tourney was open to any and all boys’ and girls’ teams that wanted to participate.   That we included a girls’ division was special indeed because this was still three years prior to the passage of Title IX by Congress, and interest in women’s and girls’ team sports was minimal, to put it mildly. 

Ten teams came to Des Moines in August of 1969, and the final results were as follows:  Boys – gold, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; silver, Des Moines YMCA; bronze, Chicago WPC.  Girls – gold, Portland, Oregon; silver, Des Moines YMCA; bronze, Coronado (Albuquerque), New Mexico.

Our evaluation of the event deemed it to have been a success, and we were off and running with the JO Water Polo Program, even though the Californians still showed no interest.

The 1970 Championships were hosted by St. Louis and held in the large Clayton-Shaw Park outdoor pool.  Clayton’s famed coach, Wally Lundt, now a member of the USAWP Hall of Fame, was the director.  His local team won the boys’ competition over several other entries.  On a personal level, I had moved from the Midwest to my present location in Asheville, North Carolina, and I rounded up seven girl swim-mers from the Y where I was working, plus one non-swimmer (her dad was willing to drive), and headed to St. Louis, where we got bombed, losing to the gold medal team from the Sheridan Swim Club of Quincy, Illinois, and also to Portland and Des Moines, while tying Albuquerque.  We placed last with a record of 0-3-1.  Well, when you’re at the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up, right?

In 1971, our national Junior Olympic committee decided to conduct regional tournaments as the AAU was divided into a dozen regions nationally, along with having 50 state associations.  The winning teams – both the boys and the girls – from each region would qualify to attend the JO Championships.  We divided California into two regions, the north and the south, with each qualifying two teams for the Championships.  The hope was that by conducting regional tourneys, we could develop interest in water polo in various corners of the country, and it worked, to a point.

The 1971 Championships were conducted at Albuquerque, with Dr. Roy Goddard and Dick Simmons being the directors.  They were two outstanding leaders of the sport at that time.  I don’t recall who won the boys’ bracket, but our much-improved Asheville Y girls brought home the silver medal, losing the title tilt to Coral Gables, Florida, by 8-to-6, with the hometown girls from Albuquerque taking third. 

The next year it was the Asheville YMCA team that won the girls’ gold.  The 1972 Championships were hosted by the small town of Fremont, Nebraska, a short drive from Omaha, with Gerry Saunders serving as director.  This marked the first time that the Californians participated.  Not surprisingly, their two teams in the boys’ competition placed first and second, defeating entries from the East, South, and Mid-west.  There was also a very strong boys’ squad entered from Puerto Rico.  In the girls’ category, Asheville, with the normal seven starters plus a single substitute, age 12, swam past runner-up Fremont and third-place Albuquerque to grab the gold.   Let me use the coach’s prerogative here and state that one of our Asheville players scored nine goals in the championship contest.  Don’t know if that’s still a record or not.  She’s now a practicing anesthesiologist here in Asheville, a medium-sized city situated in the lovely mountains of western North Carolina. 

In 1973, the JO Program started showing real growth nationally. As an example, in our region of the AAU, which encompassed the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, we now had 10 communities fielding youth teams, and we (Asheville) had to beat ‘em all in regional action in order to advance to the Championships, which were held in the nice outdoor pool at Ransom School in Miami, Florida.  I believe ‘Cav’ Cavanaugh was the tournament director.  There were a dozen boys’ teams entered, and the Cali-fornians continued their dominance in the boys’ bracket.  It was the perennially-powerful Northern Virginia Aquatic club that emerged victorious in the girls’ category, with Asheville second and the North Dade YMCA team from Miami taking third.  If I remember correctly, Dayton, Ohio, was the Midwest rep-resentative, and Cerritos, California, came from the West Coast, with the hosting ladies from Ransom School rounding out the field in the girls’ competition.

We didn’t attend the 1974 JO Championships as I had taken our Asheville Y girls on a 15-day trip to play in northern California and Hawaii, so we missed the JOs which were held at Cerritos, in southern California.  It was a combined Cali team from Newport and Irvine that won the boys’ gold medal, with West Valley, another California entry, securing the silver and Montclair, New Jersey, the bronze.  Albuquerque and Ann Arbor, Michigan and North Miami were the other boys’ teams entered.  As for the girls, well, as hard as it might be to believe nowadays, there were only a couple of teams competing, with Albuquer-que conquering Cerritos in the gold medal finale.  That was it – a total of just 10 teams altogether for the boys and the girls combined when California hosted its first-ever JO Championships.

The number of entries was somewhat higher in 1975 when Toledo, Ohio, conducted the event.  Steve Siford was in charge.  We had 10 boys’ teams and 5 girls’ teams entered.  For the boys, it was California’s Mira Costa and Fremont copping the top two places, with Lexington, Kentucky, a powerhouse from our region, taking third; and for the girls, a big, tough team from Tucson, Arizona, having beaten the Califor-nia clubs and defending champion Albuquerque in regional action, came to Toledo and stole the show.  Asheville was second and North Miami third.

In 1976 and 1977, Albuquerque and Miami, respectively, each hosted the JO Championships for the second time.  Teams came to compete from across the country.  At the Asheville YMCA, we were con-tinuing to use the JOs as a means of promoting water polo in our city, state, and region, and we joined the throngs traveling to Albuquerque (again) in ’76 and Miami (again) in ‘77. 

By now the Californians were participating more positively in the JO Program, and for the first time, a Cali club, Long Beach, took home the gold in the girls’ category.  

In 1978, two important things happened.  First, the courts finally started enforcing Title IX, which had been passed by Congress six years previously.  This was a bill stating that all high schools and colleges that received federal funding – which was almost all of them nationwide – had to provide equal oppor-tunities for women and girls.  Second, the Amateur Sports Act was passed by Congress in ’78.  This was a bill that enabled each sport, if it wished, to withdraw from the AAU and create its own governing body.   Water polo quickly established U.S. Water Polo, known nowadays, I guess, as USA Water Polo.

This was a period of turmoil in the sport, which need not be revisited here, except to say that many of the best AAU and YMCA teams that existed outside of California dropped out of water polo for various reasons.  It was a new era, with U.S. Water Polo assuming control of the Junior Olympics.  Personally, I’d been involved with the JOs from 1969 to 1977 while serving as chair of the AAU women’s water polo committee and coaching the Asheville Y girls’ team.  Good memories.  

Thus the pioneering years of Junior Olympic water polo ended, and for further historical information on the JOs, from 1978 to the present, I refer you to USA Water Polo and its archives.    

Dave Rivenes of Miles City, Montana, a Pioneer in USA Sports

It was my privilege to work with Dave Rivenes through the auspices of the AAU for a dozen years, 1964 through 1976.  In the early ‘60s, Dave and I and a (very) few other coaches in Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, and California were pushing hard to promote women’s and girls’ water polo.  Dave, in Miles City, and I, at the YMCA in Des Moines, Iowa, organized teams of teen girls in 1963-64.  Using a water polo ‘pitch,’ or playing area built into his local lake, Dave started conducting summer tournaments for both men/boys and women/girls.  In August, 1966, he hosted the AAU’s Junior National Outdoors Champion-ships.  We entered two teams from the Des Moines Y that consisted mostly of teenaged boys, led by my-self and co-coach Bob Helmick.  Our ‘A’ unit copped the competition for men/boys.  A strong squad from San Leandro, California, coached by Dave Beaver, came and conquered in the category for women/girls.

After working together for the next few years, Dave and Bob and I conducted the first-ever AAU-sanctioned Junior Olympic Water Polo Championships at Des Moines in August, 1969.  Dave came from Miles City with his girls’ team.    

There’s more, but my intent in this addendum is to introduce you to Dave Rivenes and his wife Ella.  They were so prolific at promoting sports that a 1980 article about them appeared in Sports Illustrated.  I urge you to take time to read this article by looking up ‘Dave Rivenes in Sports Illustrated’ on Google or any other appropriate search site.  There’s also an article about Bob Helmick in AWP’s Education section. 

Greater Philly Tops Vets for Championship

2011 EWPL Champion - Greater Philadelphia

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Max Kelly proved to be the difference in a hard fought battle between Greater Philadelphia and the Kingfish Veterans for the 2011 EWPL Championship. Kelly, who made several keys saves during the Vets' final two possessions, was solid between the pipes from start to finish as he lead Greater Philly to their second title in five months (2011 Main Line League Senior Men's A Division Championships being the first).

On the offensive end, Greater Philly relied heavily on the experience of players like Patrick Kain, Brad Barron, Gary Murphy and Mike Gartner as the home team squad outlasted their opponent to a 13-12 victory. The game deciding goal was scored by Alex Bond on a pass to the inside post after drawing an exclusion to give Greater Philly the final man-advantage of the match with only 18 seconds remaining. 

The game was well played and another classic competition between two longtime rivals. The Vets who came out of the gates strong, jumped to an early 6-3 lead due mainly to the offensive strength of Chad Arnold, Oliver Horrigan and Aaron Chapple. Defensively, goalie Ryan Keiser was stellar in cage shutting down several on-slaughters by Greater Philly. The Vets' Ryan Holt proved to be one of the best well-rounded players in the league working hard on the defensive and offensive ends throughout the game.     

By halftime, Greater Philadelphia was able to work their way back into the match by controlling their offense and taking advantage of good passing and strong two-meter play. When the teams switched ends, the scoreboard had the squads knotted at six goals each.

The remainder of the game saw the teams trading goals where neither squad was able to score enough to pull away. Both teams did an incredible job to keep their emotions in check and play smart offensively and defensively. In the end, one team needed to be victorious but both teams played like champions.   

In the consolation game, the top seeded team going into the weekend, an experienced Northern Virginia, faced off against the younger squad of Kingfish Water Polo Foundation. The game proved to be competitive, as well as entertaining, as each team played a different style of water polo. The masters of Northern Virginia relied on their ball control, outside shooting and slower pace to take advantage of the clock. Meanwhile, the Kingfish Water Polo Foundation took advantage of their speed and endurance to push their opponent into exhaustion. Thanks in a large part to the almost unstoppable two-meter play of Pablo Nichols, Northern Virginia was able to pull away with a 16-13 win and clinch a third place finish      

For complete results of the 2011 Eastern Water Polo League, visit the Eastern Region Schedules located on the main header of the American Water Polo website. 

Andy Burke Concludes FINA Championship Series

Shanghai

Editor's Note from AWP: The history of water polo is made everyday with the passing of second, minutes and hours.  No more is this true than during international competition.  Currently, the United States men's and women's National Teams are in Shanghai for the FINA World Championships.  Andy Burke, who has been sharing his reflections as an administrator on the international stage is in Shanghai and filed a report.

Well, I just coudn't leave without a final report, although I said that the last one was to be the last.

Two great final games, showing how great the players can be, even if the rules are not strictly followed. The skill and the power of the top teams is phenominal. I do not like the way the "hole" posiiton is played, allowing the constant wrestling by the players. The thing that is the most amazing is the passing of the oplayers. The ball is put into the hand of the player, allowing them to execute the shot, or next pass efficiently.

For third place Croatia and Hungary. It was a high scoring game, with a number of swings in the scoring. There were a large number of exclusions and the referees even missed a crucial call that affected the game, but it was a pleasing game for the spectators, with Croatia coming out on top 12-11. The missed call was on an exclusion call against Croatia, when the subsequent pass, or possibly shot, was blocked by ther excluded player. The referees did not seem to recogize this and there was some confusion on the part of the Hungarian players. Croatia continued to play and went down to score a goal. The Hungarian coach complained, but nothing was done.

For the final game between Italy and Serbia, it was standing room only with both teams have loud and enthusiastic support from many fans. This was not as high scoring and was intense with really outstanding play on both sides. The game ended at 6-6. In overtime, Serbia scored once in the first period while Italy scored twice. You kept waiting for Serbia to score to even the game, but they were never able to do it, and Italy came out as World Champions. A great ending to an outstanding tournament of water polo.

Andy Burke

Bruin Water Polo Captures 2011 Pacific Coast League Title

PEPPERDINE, Calif. -- Bruin Water Polo made history capturing the first-ever Pacific Coast League title with a 12-11 victory over Lamorinda at Pepperdine University on Sunday, July 31.

Bruin WP, the club program for the University of California-Los Angeles, used timely scoring and strong defense in the closing minutes to hold off Lamorinda, the University of California-Berkeley club program, for the one goal victory in the wake of a 2-1 mark in bracket play.

Following a narrow 9-8 victory over No. 6 seed Long Beach State in the squad's opening game of the championship weekend on Saturday, July 30, No. 3 seed Bruin WP suffered a 13-11 set-back to No. 7 seed Lions Water Polo, Loyola Marymount's club program, before upending No. 2 seed Olympic Club 14-12 to claim Bracket B and a date with Lamorinda and destiny in the title game.

The top-seed entering the chamionship tournament, Lamorinda made it to the championship contest by claiming Bracket A following victories over No. 8 seed Santa Barbara (17-10 W), No. 5 seed Pepperdine (13-9 W) and No. 4 seed Stanford (9-8 W) before falling to the Bruin in the league's penultimate game.

In the other placement games, Stanford knocked off the Olympic Club 14-3, while Long Beach stopped Pepperdine 11-10 in the fifth place contest and Santa Barbara managed Lions WP 14-11 for seventh place.

The complete results of the Pacific Coast League season are available by clicking here, while the regular season and championship standings are available at this link.

Coronado Tops Greater Philly 11-8 for Boys' NSC Title

2011 National State Challenge Champion - Coronado

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Joe Rodgers made nine saves in the first three quarters of play before being relieved for three saves by Elijah Belmontez in the fourth period, while Van Burgess contributed four goals to help Coronado down Greater Philadelphia 11-8 and claim the 2011 American Water Polo (AWP) National State Challenge Boys' 18-and-Under Bracket Championship at Cathedral High School in San Diego, Calif.

The victory gives Coronado the title of "champion" for a year in addition to the tournament championship prize: a check for $1,000 for the winning club.

Coronado never trailed and built an early lead to keep Greater Philly at a distance for the majority of the contest.

Tommy Grall opened the scoring 1:13 into the game as he buried a feed to make it 1-0. Burgess added to the margin 30 seconds later with a blast to push the lead out to 2-0 before Greater Philly responded with a man-up marker by Tyler Sauder at 2:24 to cut the margin in half.

However, Coronado added to the deficit with strikes by John Hill and Nick Wiley with 1:50 and 28 seconds left in the opening frame to jump out to a 4-1 lead through six minutes of action.

Aaron Polk tacked on Coronado's fifth goal of the afternoon 37 seconds into the second period, but the Keystone State contingent fought back netting a score by Nicholas DiLeo with 4:21 glowing from the scoreboard clock to trim the margin back to three at 5-2.

Again, Coronado responded to a Philly goal with two of their own before the end of the quarter as Eltan Peled (2:34) and Burgess (1:43) dinged Greater Philly goalie Nelson Glendinning with scoring shots to put the Golden State group in front 7-2 at halftime.

Greater Philly was unable to rally from the deficit as Coronado pushed the margin out to 11-6 with 3:24 left in the fourth period before the game closed to the 11-8 final.

For Coronado, Wiley and Grall both finished with pairs of goals to combine for Burgess' total, while Polk, Peled and Hill each netted solo markers in the victorious effort.

Glendinning led the way for Greater Philly on defense with six saves guarding the iron.  On offense, Carl Dowzicky took command in the second half of the game with five goals, including four in the fourth period, after being held in check for the first 12 minutes of the championship tilt.

DiLeo, Timothy Decker and Sauder comprised the remainder of the Greater Philly offensive output as the eight-man roster held their own against some of the nation's best 18-and-Under players from California (Coronado, Greater San Diego, Mustang) and Illinois (Windy City).