A History of Water Polo in South Florida

Introduction by Chuck Hines: In June of 2012, Janice Krauser received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southeastern Zone of USAWP for her many, many contributions to the sport, dating back to the 1960s.  Her long-time involvement at every level – local, national, international -- resulted in her induction into the USAWP Hall of Fame in 1998, about which you can read by going to www.usawaterpolo.org/InsideUSAWaterPolo/HallofFame/98JaniceKrauser.aspx. Professionally, Janice, with a Masters degree in Education, spent 35 years in Exceptional Student Education, working with those needing special attention.  Nowadays she’s serving as Director of Operations for Functioneer Travel.  She continues to assist with water polo activities from time to time.  Following is her report on the first two decades of water polo in South Florida, 1960-1979, when the sport was governed nationally by the Amateur Athletic Union. 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- In 1960 a young coach, Cav Cavanaugh, brought his family to South Florida and began coaching swimming at Coral Park High School in Miami.  As a part of the team’s training, they did water polo drills, thus beginning the introduction of Water Polo into the area.

Other swimming coaches in the Miami area – Al Sheeler, Sheeler-Winston Swim Club; Archie Chesneau, Coral Gables Swim Club; Larry Holley, North Miami Beach Swim Club; and Mike Burdges, Hialeah Swim Club – to name a few – saw the benefits of water polo as a component of their swimming club programs and began to incorporate it.  Games between these clubs started in the early ‘60s.

At about the same time another young man immigrated to the United States from Holland and settled in Ft. Lauderdale.  Rob de Vust was a Dutch National Team player and began a water polo club at the Swimming Hall of Fame pool.

At this time the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was the National governing body for ALL sports.  Each sport had their own committees, but they were all under the AAU’s umbrella.  One of the benefits of this was that once an athlete paid to participate in a sport, for just $1 more, you could add another sport and so on.  In this way, many boys and girls who were swimmers could, for $1.00, participate in water polo.  It was a very good deal.

My family has 8mm movies of the first South Florida Water Polo Clinic, held at Victory Pool in North Miami Beach, where my brother Larry Krauser and I were introduced to the sport of water polo.  There were at least 50 kids, and we were taught the egg beater kick, how to swim with a ball, how to pass, and how to shoot.  It was an all-day affair, and we LOVED it.  Playing water polo was a break from swimming laps, it was hard work, and it kept us in the pool.  My mother saw it as a win-win situation.

As the ‘60s continued, the pace of water polo in South Florida exploded.  There were high schools playing as well as club teams.  Many of the top swimmers in the area were enjoying water polo as a conditioner for swimming as well as the fun of playing a team sport.  As the sport started taking off, a number of the local swimming coaches saw it as a THREAT to their programs.  Led by Jack Nelson at Ft. Lauderdale Swim Association, these coaches started to bad mouth water polo and tried to keep their swimmers from playing.  With the initial group of athletes, this didn’t work, but with the younger swimmers and their parents, the local swim coaches ingrained in them that water polo was a detriment to swimming.  However, many of those swimmers did play water polo on the sly, and it never seemed to hurt their swimming.

In 1967, a couple of events put Florida Water Polo on the map.  The first State High School Water Polo Championships were held.  This competition featured teams from Dade County including Coral Park, coached by Cav Cavanaugh; Palmetto, Errol Seegars and later Vince Santostefano; North Miami, Terri Greene; Miami, George Duggan;  Carol City, Henry Adams;  Coral Gables, Cullen Bullock; and Miami Springs, Bill Diaz.   Broward County teams were Nova,  Glenn Kaye; and South Broward, Hal Boylan.  Palm Beach County had St. Andrews, Terry Carlisle.   The winners of this inaugural event were Ransom Everglades in the Girls and Palmetto for the Boys.  If I’m not mistaken, Florida was the first state to play girls’ high school water polo.

Also in 1967, the Women’s Senior National Championships were held in Miami at the Young Women’s Hebrew Association pool and were run by Cav Cavanaugh.  I happened to play in this championship and remember that our team came in 5th.  The winner was Northern Virginia Aquatic Club, with Cav Cavanaugh’s Coral Park team placing 2nd. 

In 1968, Terry Carlisle’s team from St. Andrews beat Coral Park in the Boys’ State Champion-ships held at Tamiami Park pool.  I’m not sure who won the Girls’ crown.

Our girls’ team at Ft. Lauderdale was an interesting group.  As I mentioned earlier, Rob de Vust was the coach of the team.  However, he refused to coach girls.  His only interest was in the boys.  We trained in the diving well of the Swimming Hall of Fame pool.  My female teammates and I would sit on the side and watch the boys do a drill, and then we would get in the other end of the pool and do it ourselves.  Basically, we learned to play the game by watching the boys and then trying to duplicate it.

All of us, girls and boys, were the top swimmers in Ft. Lauderdale.  Most of us were National age group swimming champions, both individually and on relays.  So we had the swimming part down.  I remember my best friend, Barb Law, was a terrific breaststroker who had legs “up to her armpits” and arms “down to her knees.”  She also had a mean egg-beater kick and was our goalie.  Some of the younger girls were pretty fast so they played offense.  Me, I defended “hole.”  At this time we, the girls, played a half-court game where there were forwards (3) and defenders (3).  I was able to steal the ball from most of the opposing girls playing “hole,” but then I had to throw it.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t throw a ball; it was that I wore glasses before they made soft contact lenses.  Thus I was never quite certain if I was throwing it to the right color cap!

Our boys group in Ft. Lauderdale fared much better than the girls did. Over the Christmas holidays in 1968, they went to a tournament in Puerto Rico, which started their International competition.  In 1969, Rob de Vust took them to The Netherlands for training and games, where they were very successful.  Also in 1969, the first National Junior Olympics were held in Des Moines, Iowa, organized by Bob Helmick.  Our 15U boys’ team, including my brother and some of the parents, my mom included, drove to the tournament.  Ft. Lauderdale became the first Boys Junior Olympic Champions, with Des Moines placing 2nd and Chicago 3rd.  Two of the boys from that FL team, Larry Krauser and Buddy Orland, continue to play and are currently on the 55+ KAOS team that placed 2nd at the recent World Masters Championships in Sweden.  They’ve been passing the ball to each other for over 40 years.

While the players and coaches were improving, we were also developing referees.  My father, who played football in high school, wasn’t a swimmer.  In fact, he walked on the bottom of the pool.  It didn’t matter how deep the pool was, he was walking on the bottom.  He never really got “into” our swimming careers, but when we started playing water polo, a team sport, he got involved with refereeing along with some of the other fathers.  The mothers would work the table, and it was quite a family affair for many of us.

The highlight of my father’s refereeing was at the Men’s Senior National Outdoor Championships in 1971.  This event was held at the Swimming Hall of Fame pool in Ft. Lauderdale right after the Pan-American Games in Cali, Columbia.  My family hosted the two neutral referees from those games, Abe Fuchs from Belgium and Mateo Mangeot from Spain.  They refereed our Nationals along with my dad and Mr. O’Laughlin, another parent from our team.  The most exciting team at the Nationals was Ft. Lauderdale.  With mostly high school age players, they placed 2nd to the New York Athletic Club.  NYAC was a team of older players who played “old style” with each player having a “spot” in the pool.  They passed the ball from one to the other with “a little bit of swimming.”  The Ft. Lauderdale team swam up and down the pool, all 6 players, and almost pulled out what would have been the biggest upset in water polo.

This group of players from Ft. Lauderdale continued playing together for many years, competing at local, national, and international events.  One in particular occurred in 1975 when they went down to Caracas, Venezuela, and placed 2nd to the local team in another International event.

The 1970s saw the emergence of Women’s Water Polo in South Florida as the best in the nation at that time.  Being able to use girls who were strong swimmers was a big help to the teams.

In 1971, Cullen Bullock took the Coral Gables girls’ and boys’ 15U teams to Albuquerque for the Junior Olympic Championships.  The girls placed 1st, beating Chuck Hines’ Asheville YMCA team from North Carolina 8-6 for the gold.  CG’s Kathy Horne was the tournament MVP.  The CG boys placed third.  At the Women’s Junior Nationals that year, the team from Hialeah, coached by Mike Burdges, upset Coral Gables 10-9 to win the championship.  The big event in ’71 was the Women’s Senior Nationals, held at the Univ. of Miami pool.  The Palmetto Barracudas, coached by Vince Santostefano, won over a 9-team field that included entries from Coral Gables, Coral Park, Hialeah, Sheridan Swim Club of Illinois, Northern Virginia, Cincinnati, and Asheville.  Lead-ing Palmetto were All-Americans Diane Irwin, Jackie Kayser, Robin Matley and Marcia Pope.      

By 1972, the team from Palmetto had disbanded, and at the Women’s Senior Outdoor National Championships hosted by Asheville, Coral Gables placed 1st with Hialeah taking 2nd.  At the Women’s Senior Indoor Nationals held at Cincinnati, Coral Gables again was the winner.

In 1973, the Junior Olympics were held at Ransom School in Coconut Grove with North Dade Y taking 3rd in the Girls’ division, behind Northern Virginia and Asheville.  Ken McGartlin, director at North Dade, had recruited Mike Burdges from Hialeah to coach the Y girls and build a potent program there, which he did.

The 1973 Women’s Senior Outdoors was again held in Asheville, and Coral Gables, now being coached by Billy Burrell, continued their winning streak.  Fresno from Calif. took the runner-up spot, followed in order by North Dade, Asheville, Northern Virginia, and Cincinnati.  At the Senior Indoors, again held in Cincinnati, Coral Gables won their fourth Women’s Senior National Championship in a row!  Cincinnati was 2nd, Asheville 3rd, and Anaheim, Calif., 4th, with other entries including Ann Arbor, Lexington from Kentucky, Northern Virginia, and the Cincinnati ‘B’ team.  Leading Coral Gables to their four straight national titles were All-Americans Kathy Horne, Karen Bruce, Jenny Thompson, and Sallie Thomas, aided by Shawn Doyle, Dorothy Swanko, and goalies Sue Thompson and Sue Winston.      

In 1974, at the Women’s Senior Outdoor Championships held in Fresno, Calif., the North Dade Y, coached by Mike Burdges, upset the field and won the championship.  Anaheim was 2nd, Coral Gables 3rd, Asheville 4th, Fresno 5th, and Modesto 6th.  Members of the victorious North Dade squad were Cathy Burch, goalie Heather Cairns, Connie Eakins, Nancy Jana, Judy Johnson, Debbie Meekins, and MVP Lynn Pringle.     

In 1975, the Coral Gables, North Dade, and North Miami women’s teams combined forces and competed together as a unit representing North Miami Beach.  Coached by Jeff Smith and with eight All-Americans on their roster, they were a powerhouse. The local newspaper reported that “the team, ranging in ages from 16 to 21, won five games in the Senior Nationals at Ashe-ville, scoring a total of 90 goals.  The only close game for North Miami Beach was against Ashe-ville in the finals, which NMB won 10-8.  Coach Smith said the score was running 1-1 at the end of the first quarter, 3-3 at halftime, then 6-5 at the conclusion of the third period before the NMB team took over. ‘We were a bit more experienced,’ he said, ‘and maybe in better shape.’”

There was also a separate Miami team that played in the Women’s Senior Nationals at Ashe-ville, coached by Larry Holley, with the top players being young Tina Holley, who was just 12, and Rose Castillo, Bunny Muscara, Robin Wingate, and Bonnie Hudson.

Also in 1975, the North Miami 15U girls’ water polo team, coached by Gary Besbris, took a trip to the Junior Olympics in Toledo, Ohio, where they placed 3rd behind Tucson, Arizona, and Asheville.  All-Americans from that team were Julie Singleton, Laura Park, and Cheryl Shippee.  The North Miami Beach 15U boys’ team also competed in the Junior Olympics at Toledo, with a young Mike Greenwald competing.  Coaches Larry Holley and Skip Hallquist were instrumental in the successes of NMB at that time.  In 1976, they qualified for and attended the Junior Olym-pics at Albuquerque.  Their boys’ and girls’ teams traveled in a chartered Greyhound bus from Miami to New Mexico.    

There was more traveling to compete in 1976.  The Ft. Lauderdale women’s water polo team, which now had a coach of their own, Larry Krauser, traveled to Quebec, where they stayed with the local team members and spent time sightseeing and playing water polo.  Some of the top players for Ft. Lauderdale were Lil Hermes, Beth Wotton, Nancy Wright, Kathi Karageorges, and Chris Bloese, who continues to compete at the Masters level.

Also in 1976, the NMB women’s team journeyed out to Honolulu for the Women’s Senior Out-door Championships.  This was their final appearance on the national scene.

In 1977, a team from GO Water Polo, started and coached by Lee Childs in Cooper City, played in the Junior Olympic Championships held at Victory Pool in North Miami Beach.  The girls placed 3rd.  The NMB boys’ teams competed in both the 15U and 17U age groups, with the 17U team placing 3rd.  In the 15U age group, GO Water Polo also had a boys’ team that placed high.

Right after this tournament, the Women’s Senior Nationals were contested at the Swimming Hall of Fame Pool and GO again competed as did Ft. Lauderdale.  In the same year, the Girls’ Junior Nationals were held in Asheville, with a team representing North Miami, coached by Shawn O’Rourke, placing 1st and GO 2nd.  There was an additional International division con-tested during this event which was won by Ste-Foy from Quebec, with Asheville 2nd, North Miami 3rd, GO 4th, and Houston 5th.

In 1978, the GO girls traveled to The Woodlands, Texas, for the Junior Nationals, where they placed 2nd to Commerce, Calif. The NMB boys’ 15U and 17U teams again qualified and attended the Junior Olympics held in Berkeley, Calif., where the 17U’s came in 4th.   An all-star women’s team from South Florida coached by Shawn O’Rourke and Larry Krauser competed in the Senior Nationals in 1978 at Pittsburgh and in 1979 at Long Beach. 

Also in 1979, Larry Krauser was the first player from Florida selected by Coach Monte Nitzkow-ski to our United States Men’s National Team.  Larry and his wife moved to the Irvine, Calif. area, and he played at the highest level until the Government decided not to field a team in the 1980 Olympics.

Meanwhile, at the 1979 Junior Olympics, held at the Commerce Aquatic Center in Calif., there was quite a bit of controversy.  The controversy was over National team members competing in the JOs without being properly registered.  Also, the team from Hawaii was disqualified by the tournament committee after the event.  The outcome of the tournament saw the North Miami girls, coached by Gary Besbris, placing 3rd in both the 15U and 18U divisions.  The North Miami boys’ 18U team qualified for this tournament and placed 2nd, beating teams from Commerce and Newport Beach, Calif., and Texas, and elsewhere. They were leading the title game with Concord, Calif., at the half, but lost in the end.

During the late 70s, Florida had a number of women players who were members of the Na-tional Teams.  Kathy Horne, Lil Hermes, and Nancy Wright were on the Senior Women’s Team and Barbara Meisenholder, Lee Ann Bounds, and Beth Wotton were on the Junior National team.  These players represented the United States in International competitions that turned out to be the beginning of women’s water polo worldwide. 

Many of our men who grew up and played during the ‘60s and ‘70s in Florida went on to play water polo in college – Bill Burrell Jr. at Foothill Community College; Randy Wilkins at Stanford; Larry Krauser at Purdue; Buddy Orland at Yale; Mike Greenwald, Tony Korvick, and Robert Sparks at Loyola University of Chicago; Lonnie Finkel and Jim Oppenborn at UCLA; Ed Hirsh at USC; Rick Solomon at Cal- Berkeley; Peter Kaufman at Brown; Mark Holley at Texas A&M; Ted Bresnahan and Bobby Arnold at Kentucky; Doug Malcolm at Ohio State; Dirk Jordan and Joe Wotton at Air Force; and Mark Shulman and Brian Saul at Slippery Rock.

Looking back on those days has been quite a journey.  My thanks to Cav Cavanaugh, Gary Besbris, Mike Greenwald, Jeff Smith, Larry Krauser, Chuck Hines, Ted Bresnahan and Nancy Horton for their help with names/dates/events.  I’m sure there are many more stories from this era, and I welcome any additions/changes to this article.  

Former AWP Director of Membership Tom Tracey Elected to Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Former American Water Polo (AWP) Director of Membership Tom Tracey is among nine honorees that will be inducted into the Villanova University Varsity Club Hall of Fame on Friday, February 8.

The induction class for 2012 to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame will be formally inducted at the 37th Annual Hall of Fame Awards Dinner at the Connelly Center.

The members of the 2012 Hall of Fame induction class include David Herr (baseball), Jason Lawson (men's basketball), Denise Dillon (women's basketball), Tyrone Frazier (football), Ken Delgatto (men's lacrosse), Amy Meisinger (softball), Tracey (men's swimming & diving), Jim Tuppeny (track & field) and Jen Rhines (women's track & field).

In addition, the honorees will also be recognized at halftime of the Villanova men's basketball game on Saturday, February 9, against the Univesity of Southern Florida at the Pavilion.

A past inductee to the Villanova University Swimming Hall of Fame, Tracey rewrote the record books and earned National recogniation during his time as a member of the Wildcats from 1994 to 1997. He was a five-time All-America recipient, including three times in the 100 Backstroke (1995, 1996, 1997) and once in both the 200 Backstroke (1997) and 400 Medley Relay (1996).

The 1997 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships are what put Tracey and Villanova swimming on the map as he earned two top five finishes.  In the 100 back, he finished with a time of 47.57 to earn third place in the event.  He followed it up with a fifth place finish in the 200 back with a time of 1:44.40.

In addition to his achievements at the NCAA Championship, he notched record breaking performances at the BIG EAST Championships.  In 1996, he shattered the BIG EAST meet record in the 100 back with a time of 47.81.  His other individual BIG EAST win came in the same event a year earlier, 1995, with a time of 48.03.

Along with his individual championships, he contributed to four different relay teams that won BIG EAST Championships.  In 1995, he swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay, which finished with a time of 1:31.64. The Wildcats also won the 400 medley relay from 1994 to 1996 as Tracey headed the team.

One of the most successful swimmers and athletes in the history of Wildcats' athletics, his name is all over the Villanova history books as he holds two individual records at the institution. 

In his final season of 1997, he set the 100 and 200 back times of 47.44 and 1:44.26.  In addition, he was also part of all five of the relay teams that have recorded the fastest times in school history.  He swam the first leg in both the 200 and 400 medley relays and was the final swimmer in the 200, 400 and 800 free events that hold Villanova records.

Along with his swimming success, Tracey also excelled in another sport by earning All-America honors as a member of the Villanova men's water polo team under current Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Commissioner Dan Sharadin.

Following his tenure at Villanova, Tracey made a name for himself with both American Water Polo and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) as the organizations' Director of Membership and Director of Officials, respectively.

He is currently the Aquatics Director and water polo coach for Wilson School District in West Lawn, Pa.

A History of Women's Water Polo's Pioneers Days

Introduction by Chuck Hines

Patti (Dix) Kuhlman was a national leader in water polo in the 1970s.  Like so many other young ladies, she grew up in a community that did not offer the sport to women and girls.  So she worked diligently to gather a group of girls together in the Philadelphia area to play under the direction of Coaches Paul Barren and Paul Bergen.  The Lower Moreland High School and Philadelphia Aquatic Club teams did well in Junior National competition, and Patti was selected as an All-America honoree.  She journeyed to California to play there, making the first U.S. National Team(s).  She is now married and living with her husband and four children in Maryland, where she runs a just-for-fun summertime Splashball program for neighborhood children.  Following is her story. 

by Patti (Dix) Kuhlman

Struggling to find my friends in the school cafeteria and balancing the chocolate milk on my tray, I looked up to see a very tall teacher standing in front of me with a magazine folded under his arm.   

It was the Math teacher, Mr. Paul Barren, whom I already knew as my swim coach from the Valley Club Summer Swim Team. When training, you always did what he said because he was towering over you.  During practice, you would never think to cut a wall or stay longer than the given interval for the set because his glare would snap you back to reality.  

He moved toward me in the cafeteria, stopped, and said, “I heard you were going out for basketball.”  I smiled and said, “Yes.”  He looked down and me and said in a quite informing way, “You know that your legs will get big and hairy if you play basketball.”  I looked at him in disbelief but was scared at the thought of every girl’s nightmare of having huge man-size thighs and hair.   “Really?” I said. “Really,” he replied.  “By the way, swim team tryouts are this week.  See you there.”

Paul Barren was our girls’ swim coach at Lower Moreland HS in suburban Philly during my freshman year, 1972-1973, and of course I went out for swimming to avoid the disaster of having tree trunks for thighs.  Instead, I traded the body type for man-size shoulders.  The hairy legs were always in question because during the season we could not and did not shave until the ultimate 10-day taper and shave day.  I loved swim practice and meets and working hard.  

It was typical to swim on the AAU club team and practice at night.  Remember that in the ‘70s the belief was the more yardage the better.  Some days we did double workouts, going as high as 15,000 yards.  

Lower Moreland had a boys’ water polo team. I always went to games and just wondered why the girls didn’t have a team. The boys won every game they played, and they played all over the East Coast.  Mr. Barren coached them, and they worked hard and had a lot of fun everywhere they went.  He suggested that we start a girls’ team to play during the pre-season of swimming.  So we did.  Donna Schumann stepped up as swimming and water polo coach and served as our “mom” chaperone for the trips to North Carolina and wherever we could find a group of girls willing to play us.

We went to Asheville in the summer of 1973 for the Women’s Senior Nationals.  There were 9 or 10 teams entered from coast to coast and Canada.   For our team of relative beginners, it was quite a learning experience.

During my sophomore year, it felt like opportunities for training opened up for girls.  Summer swimming was so much fun with night meets, eating raw strawberry jello for energy, snow cones and playing capture the flag.  

Mr. Barren and Mr. Allen coached us to some close victories that were only decided by the final relays.  During this summer I wanted to get faster and more serious about my swimming and water polo.  

My parents ended up taking me to the Philadelphia Aquatic club for serious training.  I was able to train at 5:15 a.m., eat breakfast and make it to the fun summer work-out at the Valley Club, lifeguard a few hours, and then return to the Philadelphia pool for the second work-out to complete the 15,000 yard LSD – better known as Long Slow Distance.  Oh yeah,  that was supposed to improve our sprinting.

This is when I met Paul Bergen who was our new PAC coach … he had intense eyes ...  and you just felt compelled to do whatever he said.  Eyes and a glare that would scare any “loafer” into full speed ahead.  

The Philadelphia pool was always a treat early in the morning with 50 meters staring at you.  It looked like an ocean and had gutters full of whatever rodents fell into the water the night before.  The chlorine was not well-controlled, but the pool had open air at the starting end so we could breathe between sets.  Many a swimmer got out early … poisoned and throwing up blood.  But it was the biggest and best facility in the area.  

The rule was to try and make the ‘A’ group.   You needed to do 10 x 100 freestyle in 1:10.  To do this, you would let Coach Bergen know when you were ready to try.  He would sit on the bench and watch the clock as candidates started out with plenty of rest and by 100 number “8,” we all struggled to complete the set.

Toward the autumn start of swim training, Coach Bergen evaluated his team of girls and made a determination as to each swimmer’s ability to make the Olympic trials. If you were not a candidate for that level of competition, there was to be a water polo team that would focus on the sport not just for pre-season training but for competing in the Junior or Senior Nationals.  I was evaluated and placed on the water polo team.  He told me I might not go to the Olympics in swimming but that I could do it in water polo.  Small problem, though – women’s water polo was not yet an Olympic sport.   

 I don’t remember the exact dates, but in 1974 we took two trips to play in Asheville, North Carolina.  One was against the Asheville Y girls, a game played in their small pool.  The other was for the Junior Nationals, played in a larger and deeper college pool.  I remember feeling welcomed by the Asheville Y team and always feeling like we could play hard, play physical, and win or lose, we could shake hands and share our sport with the Asheville girls.  This was unusual for the ‘70s when girls were just beginning to work hard on the fields and courts.  Before Title IX, which was passed by Congress in 1972 but not enforced nationally until 1977 or 1978, people were not sure if we (ladies) would all melt down or have heart attacks if we ran the full distance of a basketball court or drown if we played a rough game like water polo.       

For the 1974-1975 school year, there was a high school girls’ water polo team at Lower Moreland, and there was also a very serious club team at the Philadelphia Aquatic club.  It was believed by some coaches that water polo was good for pre-season conditioning, and then there were other coaches who believed that it hurt your stroke mechanics and bulked up your muscles too much for swimming.

At this point it was rumored that there might be a Women’s National Water Polo Team.  Mr. Barren believed it would happen.  He encouraged me to play as much as I could and keep training with the girls’ team at the high school and also with the Philadelphia Aquatic Club. 

“Play with boys’ teams when you need extra practice,” he told me, “and keep promoting the sport.”  Coach Bergen at the PAC took our team on the road to play in various tournaments and at the Junior Nationals.  At one point we went to Ste-Foy, Canada, to play.  They were one of the best in the world, and they showed us a thing or two about water polo conditioning.  They were also very welcoming hosts.

PAC went to Cincinnati’s Pepsi Marlins, as well.  The Keating family put us up in their house, and the team happily slept on the floor in a beautiful living room that looked out onto a 25-yard racing pool in Elaine Keating’s back yard!  There was also mention that a pet boa constrictor was on the loose but for us not to worry because they didn’t eat swimmers, just rats.  Hmmmm.  Still wonder about that.  I can tell you we had so much fun together. The girls played hard and PAC ended up in the top three that year in Junior Nationals.

We also hosted our own tournament in the Lower Moreland HS pool with four boys’ teams and four girls’ teams.  Asheville’s junior girls flew in, and they stayed in the homes of our girls.  We did a lot of sight-seeing together and had a great time.  Asheville beat Lower Moreland ‘B’ 15-2 and Lower Moreland ‘A’ 8-6 and Mercersburg Academy 13-9 to win the girls’ competition.

During my junior year in high school, Paul Barren was like a second father to me.  Actually, I remember him telling us in jest that he really was “Father Barren,” and he would go on to lead us in prayer... well … sort of.  His sense of humor was always creative, and you can only imagine when we had players on our team named “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”  He kept me on my toes.

Mercersburg Academy was a beautiful prep school in Pennsylvania, and they had a girls’ team under the coaching direction of Pat Barry.  We played them several times, and on one occasion I had Tennis Districts not too far away from the school with my dad waiting in the wing to run me over to Mercersburg for a water polo game afterwards.  We made it, and we beat them.  Mercersburg had a beautiful pool, and the grounds around the outside of the buildings were immaculate.  Mr. Barry was recruiting me for swimming and water polo.  So that summer I did consider transferring for my senior year of high school and maybe adding a post grad year.  I went to swimming camp at Mercersburg for two weeks.  It was fun, and I learned so much.  We also played a little water polo along with the swimming.   But I decided to stick with my high school for senior year.  I had another little personal issue keeping me home: my mom was pregnant and the baby was on its way.

Mr. Barren was also a referee.  Little did I know that he would encourage me to start on the ref track.  In 1976, he began teaching me to ref in practices and talking about how to look at the game so that no team was gaining an advantage. He also made me relax about making calls.  

“Let the play unfold, but be deliberate about blowing the whistle,” he said.   He “carried” me for many a high school game until I gained confidence, and later I continued to ref at the collegiate level.  I always enjoyed reffing at Lawrenceville Prep with Coach Hal Wilder.  He was polite to me.  The players were always respectful, and it helped me call the game better.  Continuing to travel to ref games after my senior year proved to be a good way to learn the game, and profitable, too.  The flagged stick was an interesting way to make calls.

I do remember the flagged stick working for Mr. Bergen.  As we were learning at the Philadelphia Aquatic club to be good poloists, Coach Bergen would get very upset if we tried to pick up the ball from the top.  Of course, we knew that a defensive player could just push your hand down (underwater) and gain possession of the ball.  One day in practice I did the wrong thing, lazy I guess, and on top of the ball my hand went.  Ugh!  He called me over to the side after yelling at me and asked me to place my hand on the deck.  He then proceeded to pick up the flagged refereeing stick and hit the back of my hand with the stick.  It made a loud noise as it hit the concrete, and even louder was the yelp I made.  Needless to say, I never ever picked the ball up from the top again!  We went on to have a winning year.  

I do not recall the exact results, but I remember the Lower Moreland boys and girls traveled to the Junior Nationals at Greenville, South Carolina, in the spring of ’76.  The boys won.  The girls didn’t, but we played well.  I know I just enjoyed scoring goals.  The more the better.  I somehow earned the name “cannon arm.” 

In 1976, I graduated from Lower Moreland, and it was time to make a decision on college.  Doc Hunkler had a great program for women at Slippery Rock University.  There was no question that if you wanted to continue to improve your water polo and play on the proposed national team, Slippery Rock was where you needed to be for college.  

I wanted to go there.  They had my major.  I was ready to go but then just couldn’t.  My heart strings were keeping me home.  I had a newborn sister, and that was the sole reason for not going to Slippery Rock.  Ugh – Coach Hunkler was so frustrated with me!  I loved him, but it was seven hours from my sister.  I just couldn’t go so far from that new-born baby and miss the first four years of her life.  Really, that was what sealed the deal.

West Chester University had a good Health and Physical Education major, and it was difficult to get into.  They also had a good swimming program – they were national champions in 1972.  I went there for an interview and spoke with the swimming coach, Susan Parkinson.  They did not have a water polo team, but they were willing to support one if I started it.  So I did.  In the fall of 1976, we started a team, and we hosted a tournament at West Chester for men and women. We managed to get four men’s and four women’s teams to participate.

The first year the U.S. fielded a bona fide women’s national team was 1977.   Lynn Comer and Sue Bow, both from Slippery Rock, and I were invited to attend the national team training camp that was scheduled for two weeks in California at Christmas time.  Then we would compete in international competition at Commerce, California.  Flip Hassett and Sandy Nitta were our coaches, and we trained at the Fullerton Aquatic Center … so foggy in the mornings you could barely see the ball.  We had at least doubles every day, meetings, and a little time to go to the beach.  Lynn, Sue, and I stayed with Dion Dickinson’s family, and they made us feel at home for the Christmas holiday.

In 1979, we had the first-ever Women’s World Cup at Merced, California.  Lynn Comer, Sue Bow, Leslie Entwistle and I drove cross-country to get to California. The car had no air conditioning and we were on a tight budget.  We used sheets for tents to camp outside and save money.  We stopped at the Grand Canyon along the way and hiked down with just sneakers.  It was a lot of fun.  For training on the way out, we swam in whatever pools we could find.  We used surgical tubing tied to our waist to swim in place because most of the time the pools were too small for training.  We had a few polo balls to pass around with each other and then found time to run, do sit-ups and push-ups, etc., just to get us across the country in some type of decent condition.  Once we got to Coaches Flip Hassett and Kelly Kemp, the real work began.  Two, sometimes three, practices per day. Swim training in the mornings followed by dry-land exercises.  Afternoons would be devoted to passing and shooting and legs.  We’d return at night for strategy sessions, man ups, man downs, picks, driving, on and on.  We worked hard in the Merced, California, pool and also ran on the golf course next door.

The World Cup competition was held over three days with teams from Australia, Canada, Holland, New Zealand, plus the USA’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams.  If you were to ask me the outcome of these games, I would have to refer you to Coach Chuck Hines – he is the Master of Water Polo History.  Note: USA won the gold.  I do remember the intensity of each contest and barely being able to catch your breath.  Even with good conditioning, it just never seemed enough to get ahead.  It was fast and physical, and if you hesitated one bit, you’d be behind in the play.

After these summers of training and eventually returning to the Philadelphia area for graduate school, I found that playing with the local Philly men’s teams would have to suffice.  Needless to say, it was so much fun, and they adopted me into their program.  I didn’t want, or need, any special treatment.  I just wanted to continue enjoying the sport.

I kept on playing off and on and refereed near Annapolis when we moved to that area until my kids’ sports – ice hockey, gymnastics, soccer, water skiing – took over my time as a mother.  But I love revisiting the pioneering days of women’s water polo and remembering the opportunity I had to play with our first National teams.  The echoes I hear and see from my former coaches all say ‘give back’ and I promise to do that … we play here in Ben Oaks on the Severn River every summer, with new youngsters learning the game.  Thanks to American Water Polo for allowing me to take a trip back in time.           

Top left: 1979 Water Polo World Club logo; Bottom left: Laura Cox is taped by team manager Jennie Jacobson, Head Coach Flip Hassett is quoted as "Our girls love all the hard work or they wouldn't do it" in Sun-Star; Top right: Leslie Entwistle shoots against Kathy Car and goalie Diane Stein; Bottom right: Lynn Comer, the Reid family dog, Mrs. Reid, Reid daughter and Patti Dix Kuhlman pose.  Dix Kuhlman and Lynn Comer taught swim lessons in the Reid's backyard pool.

Top left: 1979 Water Polo World Club championship flyer; Top right: Lynn Comer and Patti Davis Kuhlman drove cross-country to get to the West Coast.  Comer poses at one of the campsites; Middle right: Sue Bow and Patti Dix Kuhlman at the Grand Canyon; Bottom right: Leslie Entwistle and Lynn Comer watching TV at a friend's house

Olympian Brad Schumacher to Host Clinic at CWPA Eastern Championship

2012 Olympic Clinic Registration Form (PDF)

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Two-time Olympian and Gold Medalist Brad Schumacher, co-founder of Kap 7, will host a water polo clinic on Saturday, November 17 at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. as part of the 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Men's Eastern Championship. The clinic is open to all male and female athletes between the ages of 10-18, in addition to collegiate club athletes.

Sponsored by American Water Polo, the clinic will run from 9:00 to 11:15 a.m. at a walk-up cost of $75 per person. Individuals who attend the clinic will also receive four tickets for the CWPA Eastern Championship, a CWPA media guide and championship program, a league T-shirt and a photo with Schumacher.

Following the clinic, a high school All-Star game will take place as players selected to represent their states will square off from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before CWPA Eastern Championship second round competition resumes at 1:30 p.m.

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 CWPA Eastern 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.

Collegiate Water Polo Association to Stream 2012 CWPA Eastern Championship

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) will stream live all 12-games of the 2012 CWPA Eastern Championship on November 16-18 at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.

Featuring the top four finishing teams from both the Northern and Southern Division Championships on November 3-4 at Brown University and Bucknell University, respectively, the championship will feature 12 games over three days to decide which program earns the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship on December 1-2 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif.

Fans can access the games through the CWPA Multimedia page, by clicking on the streaming link on the CWPA Eastern Championship page or by clicking the Game Central tab at the bottom of this release. 

The Collegiate Water Polo Association, in partnership with Stretch Internet, is offering a live Internet broadcast for the league's fans at a cost of $10 per game or $25 for a weekend pass that allows viewers to watch every game from the comfort of their home or office.  In addition, each game will be archived so that fans can catch up on the action if they miss a game.

Unlike past seasons and collegiate events broadcast by other conferences and institutions, the Collegiate Water Polo Association continues to innovate in the field. The first water polo conference to provide live-streaming coverage of its championships, the CWPA has been recognized as the leader in live-streaming event coverage of water polo over the past several seasons.

The 2012 men's championship season of the Division III Collegiate Club, National Collegiate Club and varsity CWPA Eastern Championship brings a renewed dedication to innovation and excellence as the league's broadcasts now feature a three-camera shoot under the direction of CWPA Director of Multimedia Alex Lourido and Assistant Director of Multimedia Scott Hartkorn.

Additional information on the league's streaming program is available on the CWPA Multimedia site located by CLICKING HERE.

In addition to the championship coverage via the Internet, the Collegiate Water Polo Association is now offering DVD copies of every championship game on site for fan purchase.  Fans attending the championship can find out more information about the DVD packages offered by the league at the concessions table during the championship.

Fans can access the streaming page by clicking on the link below or cllicking on the rotating ads at the bottom of the CWPA website front page:

D-III Collegiate Club Championship at Middlebury Live this Weekend

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) will stream live all 15-games of the 2012 Division III National Collegiate Club Championship on November 3-4 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt.

Featuring the United States Coast Guard Academy and Tufts University of the North Atlantic Division, Hamilton College of the New York Division, defending Division III National Champion Washington University in Saint Louis of the Missouri Valley Division, Emory University of the Southeast Division, Carnegie Mellon University of the Mid-Atlantic Division, Wesleyan University of the New England Division, Heartland Division champion Monmouth College and and the host Panthers of the New England Division, the championship will pit squads from seven states around the nation for the penultimate prize among small college club water polo - the Division III Championship.

Fans can access the games through the CWPA Multimedia page, by clicking on the streaming link on the Division III Collegiate Club Championship page or by clicking the Game Central tab at the bottom of this release. 

The Collegiate Water Polo Association, in partnership with Stretch Internet, is offering the streaming to the league's fans at a cost of $10 per game or $25 for a weekend pass that allows viewers to watch every game from the comfort of their home or office.  In addition, each game will be archived so that fans can catch up on the action if they miss a game.

Unlike past seasons and collegiate events broadcast by other conferences and institutions, the Collegiate Water Polo Association continues to innovate in the field. The first water polo conference to provide live-streaming coverage of its championships, the CWPA has been recognized as the leader in live-streaming event coverage of water polo over the past several seasons.

The 2012 men's championship season of the Division III Collegiate Club, National Collegiate Club and varsity CWPA Eastern Championship brings a renewed dedication to innovation and excellence as the league's broadcasts now feature a three-camera shoot under the direction of CWPA Director of Multimedia Alex Lourido and Assistant Director of Multimedia Scott Hartkorn.

Additional information on the league's streaming program is available on the CWPA Multimedia site located by CLICKING HERE.

In addition to the championship coverage via the Internet, the Collegiate Water Polo Association is now offering DVD copies of every championship game on site for fan purchase.  Fans attending the championship can find out more information about the DVD packages offered by the league at the concessions table during the championship.

Fans can access the streaming page by clicking on the image below:

Olympian Brad Schumacher to Host Clinic at CWPA Eastern Championship

2012 Olympic Clinic Registration Form (PDF)

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Two-time Olympian and Gold Medalist Brad Schumacher, co-founder of Kap 7, will host a water polo clinic on Saturday, November 17 at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. as part of the 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Men'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 9:00 to 11:15 a.m. at a cost of $65 per person if registered prior to November 1. Individuals who attend the clinic will also receive four tickets for the CWPA Eastern Championship, a CWPA media guide and championship program, a league T-shirt and a photo with Schumacher.

Following the clinic, a high school All-Star game will take place as players selected to represent their states will square off from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before CWPA Eastern Championship second round competition resumes at 1:30 p.m.

For a clinic registration form or for additional information, contact Scott Hartkorn 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 CWPA Eastern 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.

AWP Member No. 4 California to Face No. 1 USC on ESPNU this Sunday

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- American Water Polo member institution/No. 4-nationally ranked the University of California will get some national television exposure as the Golden Bears' game at the No. 1-ranked Trojans of the University of Southern California will be broadcast on ESPNU on Sunday, September 23 at 1:00 p.m. local (4:00 p.m. ET).

Broadcast live from the deck of McDonald's Swim Stadium to broadcast, the game will feature the ESPNU broadcasting crew of Trey Bender and KAP7 co-founer/University of California-Santa Barbara head coach Wolf Wigo.

California, which competes during the summer months in American Water Polo's Pacific Coast league, is currently ranked No. 4 in the country, while the defending national champion Trojans enter the game as the unanimous top selection in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) National Top 20.

Dalton High School's Taylor Dale Earns National Title

DALTON, Ga. -- Senior Taylor Dale of Dalton High School in Dalton, Ga. is no stranger to water as a swimmer and water polo player for Coach Charles Todd at Dalton High School in Dalton, Ga. Following his performance at the recent Junior National Championships in Indianapolis, the Peach State native has another title to add to his name: National Champion.

One of the best rising swimmers and water polo players in the Empire State of the South, Dale touched the wall in 55.98 to obliterate the field and claim the 100 backstroke national championship.  The time places him 19th in the world among all 18 and unders as the Dalton native is on course to contend for national and international championships well into the future.

In addition to his swimming prowess in a straight line, the potential two-sport collegiate athlete is excelling in water polo as the Dalton High School captain recently tallied 14 goals during the POWER BAR Tournament at Dynamo in Atlanta, Ga.

The 17-year-old Dale, who is entering his senior year at Dalton High, is continuing a trend of record-shattering performances as he turned in a time of 57.74 seconds while competing in the 100-meter backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska in the spring. That time, his third-best ever in the event at that time, was good enough to place 84th out of 127 swimmers from across the country and sixth out of 10 in his heat. During the trials, he was strong off the blocks during the trails and finished the first 50 meters in 27.37, making him first in his heat at the midpoint.

If his Junior Nationals time was applied to the trials, he would have finished among the Top 16 with a shot a reaching the Top Eight for a chance at earning one of two spots the USA awarded for the Olympics.

Dale's Olympic Trials performance came after the Georgia High School Association’s Class A-4A meet in February where he won individual state titles for the Cats in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly. He also won the 200-yard medley relay title.

One of American Water Polo's rising stars today, one of the United States' possible future Olympians in 2016.  The titles just keep on coming for Dale as he ascends the ranks of the nation's best.

Happy Labor Day

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- American Water Polo wishes everyone a happy and safe Labor Day.

The U.S. Department of Labor points out that Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states - Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York - created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

2013 NCAA Women's Championship Comes to Harvard

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women's Water Polo Committee has selected Cambridge, Mass., as the site for the 2013 championship. Hosted by Harvard University, the championship will take place at Blodgett Pool on May 10-12, 2013.

"Playing at Harvard will offer a tremendous experience for our student-athletes," said Matthew Anderson, chair of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee and head coach at the University of Michigan. "It will be great to give the northeast part of the country an opportunity to see the best women's water polo has to offer when the 2013 championship takes place at Harvard."

The 2013 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship will mark the first time in the 13-year history of the event that it will be hosted in the northeast region of the United States. Blodgett Pool has hosted several regional water polo championships, including the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern and Eastern Championships several times. It marks the second time in the past three seasons that a CWPA institution will host the NCAA Women's Championship as Michigan hosted the 2011 tournament in Ann Arbor.

Harvard will now have played hosted six NCAA championship events over the last eight years, including women's basketball (2006), men's lacrosse (2008, 2009, 2012), fencing (2010) and women's water polo (2013). The NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship is made up of eight teams which all compete at the finals site.

Currently, automatic bids are awarded to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) and Big West Conference champions with the final two positions selected from an At-Large pool.

Release courtesy the National Collegiate Athletic Association

George Gross Discusses Olympic Women's Water Polo Contenders

Meet the Contenders: Women's Water Polo (by George Gross)

TORONTO, Canada -- Yale University alum, two-time Olympian and Canadian water polo icon George Gross is authoring a blog during the 2012 Olympics for CTVOlympics.ca.  In this edition, he discusses the contenders for the women's gold medal.

His latest entry, posted on http://www.ctvolympics.ca/, is available below:

So often in sport, one hears that "anyone can win it all." Heck, the NHL's current Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings were the eighth seed in the West going into the playoffs. Yet, really, most people know who the favourites are and one of them usually comes through.

Not so at this year's London Olympics women's water polo competition.

Not only can seven of the eight participating nations win the gold (and thereby any) medal, but three countries that aren't even at the competition will be watching and knowing they could have won it all, too.

While the men's competition includes 12 teams, the women are limited to eight; as a result, the qualification process can be even harder than the Olympic competition itself. Greece is the reigning world champion having won at Shanghai less than a year ago. Holland is the reigning Olympic champion having won in Beijing in 2008. And Canada won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships. None of the three will be competing in London, yet any could have won there.

The teams competing at London 2012 will be China, Hungary, Spain, the United States (Group A), and Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Russia (Group B). Of those, only the host Brits are not considered medal contenders.

The eight-team format also means that the preliminary round is one of placement rather than elimination. All eight will make it to the sudden-death quarter final games with the winners of those games going on to vie for the medals.

Accordingly, one might think that Group A is the group of death as the teams could finish in any order. While that is correct, it means that the winner of Group A ultimately has the easiest route to the medal round due to a likely date with Great Britain in the quarter finals. It also means that the Group A teams will need to be on top of every time out to establish a nice rhythm into the tournament.

A Look at the Contenders -

The United States:
Since the women's inaugural Olympic tournament in 2000, the Americans have landed on the podium at every Olympic Games. At Sydney 2000 they captured silver, followed by bronze at Athens 2004 and silver again at Beijing 2008. No other nation has won three medals.

The U.S. is anchored by 6-foot veteran goaltender Betsy Armstrong of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Veterans Brenda Villa and Heather Petri will both be playing in their fourth Olympics. The team has a nice mixture of both experience and youth.

China:
The Beijing Games was the catalyst for the Chinese women's water polo to leap into the world's elite clubs. Under the tutelage of Spanish ex-pat Juan Jane Giralt (who coached the Spanish men's team to gold at Atlanta 1996), China has developed some international stars including centre forwards He Jin, Sun Yating and sharpshooter Ma Huanhuan. The team is young (the oldest player is 25), but has been together for almost eight years.

Hungary:
Water polo is the national sport in Hungary, and the men's Olympic water polo team is the most decorated of all-time. In 2005, the women made their own mark in the sport, winning the World Championships in Montreal. At Beijing 2008, they finished fourth. The Hungarian women play like their male counterparts: tough, physical, and in your face. In London, the Magyars will be led by 32-year-old veteran Rita Dravucz.

Spain:
The most intriguing team in the entire tournament is Spain. Following a period of disappointing results – including a quarter-final loss at the 2009 World Championships – a resurgence of youth in the organization gave Spain the gold medal at the recent Kirichi Cup in Russia and at the Olympic Qualification tournament in April in Italy. Mammoth centre forwards Mari Carmen Garcia and Andrea Blas are a big part of that success. But the Spaniards are the slickest passing team and the most mobile defensive squad in the tournament. Like their male counterparts, the women also possess a lethal power play.

These four teams will be going all out to win the group to get to Great Britain as the preferred quarter-final opponent.

The four teams in Group B may have one easier game in the preliminary round robin than those in Group A, but even the eventual group winner will have much to worry about in the cross-over quarter-final against the 4th place finisher from Group A.

Australia:
Australia won it all at home at Sydney 2000 and took bronze four years ago. The team is big, fast, experienced and deep in talent. When they get up by a goal, they institute a stifling hard press on opponents to preserve the lead. Rowena Webster and the sometimes inconsistent Bronwen Knox launch absolute cannons from long range. According to coach Greg McFadden, Nicola Zagame might be the best all-round player in the tournament.

Italy: 
The Italians had to come from behind at home to qualify for London, doing it on the back of returning 33-year old international star Tania di Mario, who will be joining goalie Elena Gigli playing in her third consecutive Olympics. Italy is also helped by the play of its centre forward, left-handed powerhouse Elisa Casanova.

Russia:
While the Russian men's program has taken a step backward over the past decade, the women have steadily scaled the international ladder. They won bronze at the world championships in '03, '07, '09 and 2011. Russia plays a constant, hard counter-attacking game and tempers that with the shut-down centre defence of 32-year old captain, Sofia Konukh. Olga Baliaeva is also a major threat at centre forward, as is the outside shooting of Evgeniya Ivanova.

Great Britain's first appearance in the Olympics will be a learning experience.

The best way to describe the expected outcome of the women's Olympic water polo competition is a lot of one goal games. It's anyone's guess as to who will be on the podium and on which levels.

CTVOlympics analyst George Gross Jr. is the water polo iron man, having played in 170 games, twice representing Canada at the Olympic Games (Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984.)

Greenwich Water Polo & Chelsea Piers Seeks Head Coach & Club Administrator

Greenwich Water Polo (GWP) and Chelsea Piers Connecticut (CPCT) are seeking a full time head coach, club administrator, and program coordinator.  Significant prior coaching experience at age group, scholastic or collegiate level is required.  The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who is well connected in the water polo community.   The job will require work on behalf of both GWP and CPCT.

Greenwich Water Polo is an established age group program founded in 1996 in Greenwich, CT. GWP runs House Leagues as well as boys and girls travel teams in all age groups.  After 16 successful seasons without a home pool, GWP is moving its entire program to the new Chelsea Piers in Stamford, CT (CPCT), opening July 2012.  The 400,000 Sq Ft Chelsea Piers complex includes a state-of-the-art 50 meter, all deep pool and extensive training facilities.

This new facility will allow for further growth and development of the existing program.  See the Chelsea Piers (http://www.chelseapiersct.com) and the GWP (http://www.greenwichwaterpolo.com/) websites for more information.

Responsibilities in addition to coaching will include:

• Directing all aspects of the GWP club programs including scheduling practices, coaches, and competition
• Developing CPCT camps,  clinics and CPCT entry level programming
• Hiring and supervising assistant coaches
• Developing strategic plan for continued growth and opportunities for competition
• Developing a consistent training regimen for beginning age group players through masters.
• Coordinating entry level programming with GWP Club programming.
• Coordinating adult pick-up games, determining interest in possible league play
• Managing internal and external communication with players, parents, board members and CPCT staff.
• Participating in the USAWP Northeast Zone organization and the Olympic Development Program (ODP).

The ideal candidate will have:

• Proven on-deck coaching ability
• Excellent communication skills
• Superior organizational skills

This position offers competitive compensation and an excellent benefits package.  

Interested candidates should submit resume to Terry Lowe, GWP Club President, at terrylowe@aol.com.

CWPA Streaming 2012 Women's Eastern Championship this Weekend

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) is once again offering video streaming of the league’s varsity championship women’s tournament, the CWPA Eastern Championship.  Unlike previous seasons, the league has invested in the purchase of a TriCaster, a professional video switcher that will allow the CWPA to use a three-camera feed under the directon of recently hired Director of Multimedia Alex Lourido. 

Fans can access the broadcasts on championship weekends by CLICKING HERE.  The cost of viewership is $9.99 per game, or $25 for the weekend championship package that includes all the contested games.

Looking for Water Polo Action Online?

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) will stream all 15 games at this weekend's CWPA Division III Championship at Grove City College via the league's partnership with Stretch Internet.

Unlike previous seasons, the league has invested in the purchase of a TriCaster, a professional video switcher that will allow the CWPA to use a three-camera feed under the directon of recently hired Director of Multimedia Alex Lourido. 

Fans can access the broadcasts on championship weekends by CLICKING HERE and registering.  The cost of viewership is $9.99 per game, or $25 for the weekend championship package that includes all the contested games.

Peering Into Polo's Past with Don Johnson

EDITOR's NOTE: One of the continuing purposes of the American Water Polo site is to highlight the success of today's players, help build the game for the athletes of tomorrow and recall the past athletes who have stories that remain untold.  Recently, we received a message from Don Johnson who noted, "I was reminiscing with family this morning about playing water polo in Butte Montana in 1962, and then ran across the article by Chuck Hines on the American Water Polo web site. I thought your readers might be interested in the team from Butte Montana that played in the AAU Championships at the Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1962.  Here is the story as I recollect:"
 
My older brother Mel and I played intramural water polo at Butte High School in the early 1960s. Our form of water polo was pretty rough and tumble, and the only rules as I recall were that we couldn't slug someone in the face and couldn't hold someone underwater too long.

A Dutch fellow, Jorres Hildering, was living in Butte at the time, loved water polo and had played in Holland. Jorres became interested in our intramural games and organized two teams in Butte to play under international rules. Mel's and my team played under the Butte Recreation Department at the Butte High 20 yard pool, and the other team played at the local YMCA, also a 20 yard pool. We played each other several times in probably the smallest sports league ever.

One day Jorres announced that Butte had been selected to play in the AAU National Championship tournament in San Francisco. Wow, what a shocker that was, so we combined the two teams and prepared to push off to California.

Somehow we raised some money and eight of us piled into two cars and off we went. One car was a Studebaker Hawk owned by Jorres, and the other was an old Mercury owned by our goalie. I don't remember the names of all of us on that historic team, but here are a few of them: Jorres Hildering  - Player/Coach, Mel Johnson, Allen Bjorkland, Don Johnson and Rob Rawlings.

Our goalie's main skill was that he didn't sink; he couldn't swim but could tread water and hopefully fend off a ball shot his way.

I was the fastest swimmer, and one time during the tournament actually got to the ball first at the mid-pool ball drop.

We played two games at the Olympic Club, one against the Stanford B team and the other against a Southern California team, I think it was from El Segundo. We scored no points in either game; 0, zero, zilch, nada, nothing and I'm not sure we even came close. But we had a blast!!

We stuck around to see the championship game between the Illinois Athletic Club (a rough and tumble bunch of old geezers in their twenties), and Long Beach/New Pike (a bunch of sleek race horses from Southern California). As I recall, the SC kids had it all over the old guys in terms of speed and ball handling, but the old guys were savvy, cunning and brutal in their underwater tactics with the toenails, forearms, knees etc. I don't recall who won, but it was quite a game.

For all of us Butte kids it was quite a trip. The big city, the glamour of the Olympic Club, palm trees, freeways and all, and of course everlasting fame in the annals of water polo and Butte history. 

So there you have it; history recalled.

As an aside, when reading through Mr. Hines article, the name Dave Rivenes rang a bell, and then I noticed that he was from Miles City Montana. I was on the Butte Rec. swim team my junior and senior years, and I believe Mr. Rivenes was involved in Montana swimming at that time as well. It surprised me to read that Montana was so well represented in water polo during those years; I thought Butte had all of that fame locked up with our quest for the national championship.
 
Don Johnson
February 2012

Maryland to Host "Save our Sports" Comedy Event

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland's Water Polo Team, will host the "Save Our Sports" Live Comedy Event and Fundraiser, which is designed to raise community awareness and funds to save university sports programs scheduled to be eliminated this year.

On November 22, 2011, University of Maryland President, Wallace D. Loh, announced that the university will cut eight of the university sports programs by June 30, 2012. The student outcry to the announcement has been tremendous. Popular Twitter and Facebook campaigns have been organized against the cancellation of these sports programs. These efforts have been led by student athletes, specifically the UMD Water Polo Team, whose athletic program (including student scholarships) is among those threatened.

In a recent interview, Water Polo Coach Carl Salyer said, "Our commitment to the program is unwavering. We are determined to alter the course that has been set for us by the University, but we cannot do it alone. With you help, we can save the program."

On the evening of March 1, 2012, the UMD Water Polo team, in association with Against Tha Grain Entertainment, will host "Save Our Sports," starring funny man, Nema Williams of Comedy Central's Comic Groove and HBO's Bad Boys of Comedy. Also slated to performing is Alex Scott, a rising star of standup, whose credits include HBO's Def Comedy Jam, Comic View, and The Kevin Nealon Show.

The events will be held at the University of Maryland Comcast Center Pavilion, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for all students with valid student ID and $20 for general admission and can be purchased at http://www.umterps.com.

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Pennridge High School (Pa.) Seeks Women's Head Coach

Pennridge High School in Pennsylvania seeks a head women's water polo coach with an anticipated start date of August 13, 2012.  Coach the girls' varsity and JV water polo team. Must possess current Act 34, 151 and Act 114 FBI clearances. EOE.

Compensation for this position is set by the EDR Contract as amended annually.  Last year, this position was paid approximately $2,070.

Letters of application and questions should be directed to:

Interested parties are also invited to contact Ken Vincent (Boys if they have questions about the Pennridge High School Water Polo Program at 484-223-7243 or kvincent@pennridge.org

2011 NCAA Championship to be Streamed Live

BERKELEY, Calif. -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will stream all four games of the 2011 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship live this weekend on NCAASports.com.

The championship features No. 1-ranked and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion the University of California-Los Angeles, No. 2/MPSF runner-up the University of Southern California, No. 10/Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) champion the University of California-San Diego and No. 13/Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Champion Princeton University battling over the course of two-days to decide which program returns home with the 2011 NCAA Championship.

Action begins at 4:00 p.m. Eastern/1:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, December 3 when top-seed USC meets No. 4 seed Princeton, before No. 2 seed UCLA faces No. 3 seed UC-San Diego at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/3:00 p.m. Pacific.

On Sunday, December 4, competition wraps-up with the third place game at 4:00 p.m. Eastern/1:00 p.m. Pacific and the championship contest at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/3:00 p.m. Pacific.

Fans can access the coverage by CLICKING HERE or by clicking on the video link on NCAASports.com and scrolling down to Men's Water Polo.

NCAA Announces Men's Water Polo Graduation Success Rates

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Student-athletes wishing to play men's varsity water polo should consider the information recently released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as the organization announced the latest Division I and II Graduation Success Rates.

The report shows that East Coast institutions have the best graduation rate as  Brown University, Bucknell University, Fordham University, Princeton University and St. Francis College (N.Y.) recorded perfect Graduation Success Rates to top the list.  Only the University of California-Davis and Stanford University proved the equal of the East Coast institutions.

Overall, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) has seven of the Top 10 success scores in the nation with the United States Naval Academy ranking ninth with a 95, while the University of California-Los Angeles completes the Top 10 with a 90.

“Success for student-athletes is ultimately measured by how well they do in the classroom,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “There is room for greater progress, and we continue to work hard to that end, but today we celebrate this important milestone.”

On a national level, water polo continues to rate among the best performing sports ranking fourth with a 85 Graduation Success Rate to trail only lacrosse (88), gymnastics (87) and tennis (86) and rank well in front of the NCAA average score for all sports of 80.

The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.

Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing.  The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution’s GSR cohort.

By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by 37 percent. 

The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2001-2002 through 2004-05. Nearly 105,000 student-athletes are included in the most recent four classes using the GSR methodology, as compared to about 76,500 in the federal rate. 

The NCAA also has released the latest Division II graduation rate data, including the division’s Academic Success Rate. This is the sixth year the NCAA has released the Division II ASR, which is similar to the Division I GSR and also includes student-athletes not receiving athletically related financial aid.

In the CWPA, Salem International University (86), former league member Queens College (N.Y.) (80), Mercyhurst College (62) and Gannon University (60) rate between the University of California-Davis (100), University of California-San Diego (95) and California Baptist University (60).

Division III student-athletes are not covered by the federal graduation rate methodology, because it only includes student-athletes who receive athletics financial aid.  Therefore, the data for Division III are used to analyze success rates within the student bodies.  In all, students who entered Division III institutions in the fall of 2004 showed a federal graduation rate of 65 percent, while the latest four-year average is 63 percent.

The Division III Presidents Council in 2009 approved exploring the possibility of calculating graduation rate and academic-success rates for Division III student-athletes. A pilot program using graduation-rate data collected from volunteering institutions began this past spring. Results are expected later this fall.

NCAA Releases Women's Water Polo Graduation Success Rates

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Looking to attend college and playe collegiate water polo on the varsity level?  The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently released the organization's Women's Graduation Success Rates in Division I, with some surprising results.

Overall, 20 teams recorded perfect success rates of 100 led by Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) institutions Brown University, Bucknell University, George Washington University, Hartwick College, Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Maryland as the CWPA recorded the most perfect scores of any conference. 

Joining the CWPA institutions at the top of the list are California State University-Bakersfield, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Davis, Colorado State University, Iona College, Marist College, University of the Pacific, St. Francis College (N.Y.), Santa Clara University, Siena College, Stanford University and Villanova University.

The University of Michigan (95) and Indiana University (88) complete the CWPA institutions on the 33 team list.

“Success for student-athletes is ultimately measured by how well they do in the classroom,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “There is room for greater progress, and we continue to work hard to that end, but today we celebrate this important milestone.”

On a national level, water polo continues to rate among the best performing sports ranking sixth with a 91 Graduation Success Rate to trail lacrosse (94), field hockey (94), skiing (94), fencing (93), gymnastics (92) and crew (91), while ranking well in front of the NCAA average score for all sports of 80.

The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.

Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing.  The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution’s GSR cohort.

By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by 37 percent. 

The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2001-2002 through 2004-05. Nearly 105,000 student-athletes are included in the most recent four classes using the GSR methodology, as compared to about 76,500 in the federal rate. 

The NCAA also has released the latest Division II graduation rate data, including the division’s Academic Success Rate. This is the sixth year the NCAA has released the Division II ASR, which is similar to the Division I GSR and also includes student-athletes not receiving athletically related financial aid.

Among CWPA institutions, Salem International University (100) leads the way to rank as one of three institutions to record a perfect Academic Success Rate. Mercyhurst College (86) and Gannon University (80) round out the league's representatives among the 10 listed programs.

Division III student-athletes are not covered by the federal graduation rate methodology, because it only includes student-athletes who receive athletics financial aid.  Therefore, the data for Division III are used to analyze success rates within the student bodies.  In all, students who entered Division III institutions in the fall of 2004 showed a federal graduation rate of 65 percent, while the latest four-year average is 63 percent.

The Division III Presidents Council in 2009 approved exploring the possibility of calculating graduation rate and academic-success rates for Division III student-athletes. A pilot program using graduation-rate data collected from volunteering institutions began this past spring. Results are expected later this fall.

American Water Polo Remembers Dave Perry

Dave Perry pictured with his son Kyle in 2000

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Fenwick High School (Ill.) water polo coach Dave Perry, who brought the Oak Park school's program to statewide prominence, died Sunday, September 11, at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Perry, who began coaching swimming and water polo at Fenwick in 1987, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008.

"Dave was a remarkable coach and a better person," said Mike Curtin, currently Fenwick's associate athletic director. "It's the end of a coaching era; it truly is. He was one of the key guys to work with the IHSA to get them to sanction water polo. Everyone knew him. He was one of a kind."

Curtin, Fenwick's former athletic director of 21 years, said students came to Fenwick to play water polo because of Perry's reputation, and called him "the guy in Illinois water polo."

Under Perry, the Fenwick boys water polo team won a total of 17 state titles, including eight-straight IHSA sanctioned state tournaments. The team won 51 straight games between the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The Friars also won 35 games in both 2004 and 2006. They went 36-0 and took home their eighth-straight state title last season with Dave's son, Kyle Perry, as interim head coach. Perry helped coach the team from a wheelchair during last year's 16-9 win over St. Ignatius in the title game at Stevenson High School.

He finished his career with a win-loss record of 711-70-1 in 24 seasons at Fenwick. In May, the team won its eighth consecutive state title and ninth in the 10-year history of the IHSA-sanctioned tournament.

"I can only say there is another angel in heaven," said Fenwick football coach Joe DiCanio of his colleague. "He was a terrific guy, and he put up a valiant fight. We can all learn about courage and discipline from him. He was a terrific leader and it's quite a loss for Fenwick."

With his success at the high school level and his popular Windy City Water Polo Club, Perry seemed to draw skilled athletes to his program.

"He was so successful and so many quality players just came to play for him," said Curtin. "It wasn't really fair, we got used to them winning every year.

"One thing about coaches: it's one thing to have talent, it's a whole other thing to know what to do with that talent. Perry was a master of how to use the talent he had."

Current Fenwick boys swim coach Luke McGuire said Perry was known for his patience.

"At Mass this morning one response to Dave's passing was 'slow to anger and rich in compassion,' and that really sums him up, as well as his coaching methods," said McGuire, who swam and coached under Perry. "He was a very mellow guy and a listener, which made him a great leader."

Jack Wagner, the Fenwick girls water polo coach who worked with Perry for 17 years, said his best friend was more than just a coach. "I have never met a man who was so calm and cool in pressure situations. He was a diplomat, a statesman, so much more than just a coach."

"I know it sounds trite and you hear it all the time, but he left an impact on, literally, thousands of kids," Curtin said. "That's quite a legacy."

Mr. Perry is survived by his wife, Marianne, a son, Kyle, and a daughter, Liz.

Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Fenwick High School's Lawless Gym, 505 W. Washington Blvd., Oak Park. The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 1530 Jackson Ave., River Forest.

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

Andy Burke's Review of the Latest FINA Championship Results

Until the next time ........

Andy Burke

 

Andy Burke's Latest Update from the FINA Championships

Andy Burke

More Reflections on the FINA World Championship

From Shanghai,

Andy Burke 

Reflections on the FINA World Championship

From Shanghai,

Andy Burke 

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

1984 USA Men Olympic Team

This brings us up to 1984 and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, under the guidance of Peter Ueberroth as Chairman (Peter had played water polo at San Jose State and had also practiced with our Olympic Club teams; Jay Flood as Aquatics Commissioner and Bob Gaughran as Venue Manager at Pepperdine, both members of our 1957 and 1959 Olympic Club AAU Championship teams.)

The United States looked strong going into the games as the 1983 Pan Am team, with the switch of Chris Dorst for Steve Hamann as one of the goalies, was a definite medal threat.

The reverse boycott by the Communist Bloc nations Russia and Hungary definitely reduced the quality of the field. Yugoslavia, Silver Medalist at Moscow, was installed as the favorite.

The US defeated Germany, Spain, Australia and Holland, while Yugoslavia defeated Germany, Spain Australia and Holland on the way to the Gold Medal match. The final game was a hard fought match, with the US leading 5-3 at the end of three quarters, but Yugoslavia scored twice in the fourth period to knot the score at 5-5. A last minute drive by the US, which scored, was nullified by the referee with an offensive foul called against the US player.

The rules called for goal difference to decide placing, so while the US had outscored its opponents by 9 goals, the Yugoslavians had done the same by 14 goals and were declared winners, with the US finishing with a Silver medal. This was our highest placing other than the 1904 Olympics when no foreign teams entered and we won the Gold Medal.

With the terrorist attack in Munich, the financial problems of Montreal and the boycott of Moscow the Olympics had been on a down slide. Los Angeles was the only bidder for 1984 and the future of the Games was not secure.

Under the leadership of Peter Ueberroth, the Los Angeles Olympics were a financial and cultural success, as the Olympic Games returned to a preeminent spot in the pantheon of sport.

The venue for the Olympic Games at Pepperdine was outstanding and since water polo was the only sport, it was like we were in our own little World. The water polo volunteers from outside the Southern California area were housed in the dorms at Pepperdine and you just walked down to the pool to work.

The referees for the matches were also housed there; so many evenings were spent in Malibu, rehashing the events of the day over a few “adult beverages”. Not being in the Olympics, the women again competed in the FINA Cup, held in Irvine, California, where the finish was Australia, USA and the Netherlands.                

Our failure to qualify for the Olympic Games in 1976 led to water polo revising our policy in 1977 and establishing a National Coaching staff and National team.

Monte Nitzkowski was chosen as National Coach, Ken Lindgren as Assistant Coach and Terry Sayring as Manager. Over the next eight years these men would guide our team to the top level of water polo in the World. They are to be commended for their dedication.

The athletes that comprised the National Team over these same years also deserve a special commendation. Training was done primarily on weekends, with the site alternating between Northern and Southern California. Money was scarce, so when traveling, the athletes often stayed with each other. Stipends only came into effect when the team went into full time training for the Olympic Games.

Yet, they were all dedicated to bringing the United States to the forefront of World Water Polo. 

To be continued

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 IV

AAU Convention (unknown year)

In the 1970s, we were able to start inviting foreign teams to come here to compete and train against our National Team.  Most of these exchanges were in California with games being played both in northern and southern California, a situation that has continued to the present day. Teams that visited during those years were Yugoslavia, Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Cuba. These exchanges were invaluable to our team’s development.

In 1975, we participated in the second World Championships at Cali, Columbia, where we finished a disappointing eighth. In order to qualify for the 1976 Olympic Games, we now had to win the gold medal at the Pan-Am Games, which had been moved to Mexico City (originally awarded to Santiago, Chile; then moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil; and finally held in Mexico City).  

At that time, I was serving as Chairman of the ASUA (now known as UANA) Water Polo Committee, and at the ASUA Congress, I was elected to the Executive Committee, along with John Bogert from U.S. Swimming.  We had a good team, made up of 3 members of the 1972 Olympic Team and 8 up-and-coming young players, performing under coaches Pete Cutino and Monte Nitzkowski and Manager Bill Barnett.

In the first game of the tournament, we faced a young Mexican team that was on a mission and defeated our team 6-3.  From there on, it was an uphill battle, and we had to depend on the Cubans to defeat the Mexican Team if we were to have a chance to qualify. Unfortunately, they lost 5-7, and Mexico won the gold medal and qualified for the 1976 Olympic Games. We finished 3-1 to take the silver medal, but this did not qualify us, and we did not go to the 1976 Olympic Games.

Our victory over Cuba was marred by several fights and exclusions during the game. Eric Lindroth was punched by a Cuban player and needed stitches under his eye following the game. At one point we thought a general melee would happen as one of the Cubans hit one of our players on the back of the head as they were ducking under the lane line to go to their respective ejection areas. As he walked by the Cuban bench the player “saluted” each of the Cubans with a double flip of his hands. After the game, I was standing in an open area watching the doctor stitching Eric while the teams were dressing in the same locker room. All of a sudden a fight broke out between the teams. I grabbed several Mexican policemen and went into the locker room. I had the police separate the teams, and I told our players to dress and leave.  The Cubans remained behind until the U.S. had left. It was an ugly incident, but fortunately there was no further confrontation.

The 1976 Olympic Games were held in Montreal, Canada. As stated earlier, our team did not qualify, but I was able to attend the games, working as a desk official for the Canadian Federation.

The security, after the casualness of Munich, was very different. There were armed guards on the deck and you were not able to stop to visit while moving around the deck area. This was the first time that you were unable to interact with the teams between games, and the Olympics became what I refer to as “three circles of admittance.” The athletes were kept as secure as possible while entering and exiting the venue through separate entrances, and they were isolated before, during, and after the matches. Those officiating at the games also came through a separate entrance, and unless you were working at a match, you were not allowed on the deck. The third circle was for the spectators, who had their own separate entrance and were relegated to only the stands.

It was a totally different experience from the past three Olympics at which I had been present. Most of the games were played in a separate pool, and then everyone switched for one game in the main pool following swimming. The Hungarians had a very strong team with many of the storied names of water polo (such as Svivos, Capo, Horkai, Molnar and Farago), and they won the gold medal convincingly.

One memory that sticks with me is very similar to what I had written about at the 1972 Olympics. It seems that it was very close between the Russians and the Netherlands as to which team would make the medal round.

The Netherlands team was coached by Ivo Trumbic, a great player from Yugoslavia, and played some of the best tactical water polo of any team at that time. When the Hungarians played the Russians, the score somehow turned out so that it favored the Russian team to advance. In a later game, the Italian team played the Netherlands, and the Italians, who had their spot for the final clinched, made the score such that the Netherlands advanced over the Russians. To all of us watching, it was very apparent as to what was happening. The final results were Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands.  

In 1978, the Amateur Sports Act was passed, making the USOC the chief sports governing body in the U.S. The act stated that a governing body could only hold the Olympic franchise for a single sport. Thus the AAU, which held the franchise for 8 Olympic sports, had to relinquish its overwhelming control.  Editor’s Note: prior to the passage of the Amateur Sports Act in 1978, the AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, was the governing body for most of the prominent sports in the U.S. This included water polo, in which the AAU was assisted by the YMCA, which at that time had its own water polo program that had produced Bob Helmick and other leaders.  With the new legislation, water polo created its own separate governing body, U.S. Water Polo, which re-mains in control nowadays. 

I was on the restructuring committee for this breakup and also represented water polo on the group that formed USAS (United States Aquatic Sports) in order to be the governing body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo, and Masters Swimming. This was required by FINA, which would only recognize one Federation within a country that governed all the FINA, or aquatic, disciplines. They later recognized each sports body individually, but when we deal in FINA matters, USAS is still the official Federation for the U.S.  In 1979, I was elected as Secretary of USAS and served in this capacity for ten years.  

The next step for the U.S. was the World Championships in 1978 at Berlin. This took us behind the “Iron Curtain,” and security was very strong. When traveling to games, we had military escorts with our bus at all times.

The swimming and water polo were held in the 1936 Olympic Pool that had been refurbished. It was interesting to drive past the 1936 Olympic Stadium to the pool and pass by the area where many of the Nazi rallies were held. It was a huge field with the reviewing stand and the spectator stands rising up on the far side. I was working at this Championship as a special assistant in the FINA Secretariat to Bob Helmick, who was the Secretary of FINA. The competition was very high and we had a very strong team, which finished in fifth place, narrowly missing the medal round due to a tie game against Italy.

Many of the team members went on to form the nucleus of our Pan-American and Olympic Games teams for the next two years. Another major event in Berlin was that for the first time, women’s water polo was included as an exhibition event, with the U.S. national team competing.

The 1979 Pan-Am Games were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I filled in as the Secretary of the ASUA Executive Committee due to the unexpected illness of the official Secretary.

We sent a very strong squad that with just one personnel change would be our 1980 Olympic Team. We were out to avenge our loss of the gold medal in 1975 and went through the round-robin competition undefeated, beating Cuba in the Champion-ship game 8-6.

One thing that is memorable to me was that not only the team but the parents of the team members who came to Puerto Rico bonded together and did things together rather than being separated by their club loyalties. I felt this was a big step in establishing a true “National Team.”  

In the 1979 FINA World Cup, held in Rijeka, Yugoslavia, we finished in second place behind Hungary and ahead of Yugoslavia, showing the World that we were ready for 1980.  Also in 1979, the first FINA Women’s World Cup was held in Merced, California, with the U.S. Team earning gold.  The Netherlands was second and Australia third.

To be continued

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 III

1967 AAU Meeting

In the period of 1969 to 1971, many of our leaders from the 1968 Olympic Games stepped back, and we struggled to maintain our involvement on the international scene.

Two coaches who stepped up to help fill the void were Pete Cutino of the Concord Swim and Water Polo Club and Ted Newland of Newport Water Polo.  They served as our Pan-American Games coaches in 1971. The Games were played in Cali, Columbia, and the United States was not the most popular team present. There was considerable unrest at the time, and Cali was under Martial Law. You never saw them, but government troops circled the city.  We had a good team, with 4 members of the 1968 Olympic Team still playing. The Manager for this trip was John Felix, who was one of our top referees (1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympic Games).

In the final game against Cuba, the crowd favored the Cuban team, but fortunately we had a large contingent from the U.S. Swimming Team to support us. John’s antics in retrieving balls from the players by catching them in the ball bag on the fly and using soccer techniques from his youth days in Holland to kick balls back to the team in the water, while also leading cheers, soon had the Columbian spectators coming over to our side, and by the end of the game they were rooting for the U.S. team as they defeated Cuba.  

An interesting thing following the game was that there had been several defections from the Cuban delegation, and they took the Cuban water polo team directly from the match to the airport so there would not be any further defections.

Also in 1971, I was selected by the AAU Water Polo Committee, along with John Felix, to attend the second FINA Referees Congress in Budapest, Hungary.  Our task while there was to clarify the rules of water polo. This experience really opened my eyes to the differences between the Europeans’ view and our American view of the sport.

While the Europeans viewed the rules from the aspect of soccer, we viewed the rules from the aspect of basketball. Over a 7-day period, we dissected every rule in the book. One rule that really brought the difference home was when we discussed the rule for taking a penalty throw. The rule read that “the player taking the penalty throw, on the referee’s whistle, shall immediately throw it with an uninterrupted movement directly at the goal.” I tried to explain that in the English language, the manner in which the Europeans allowed the player to pick up the ball from the water and shoot at the goal was not shooting DIRECTLY at the goal, but actually was two directions, one from the water to the upright position and then throwing at the goal. To conform to the rule as written, we in the U.S. used the command “ball up,” and we had the player raise the ball to a shooting position, and then on the whistle shoot directly at the goal.

After considerable discussion, it became clear that their interpretation came from soccer, where there is a “direct” penalty kick and an “indirect” penalty kick. By shooting at the goal, with an uninterrupted movement, this conformed to the word directly. I said that the same thing could be accomplished by removing the word “directly” from the rule and have it say “shoot at the goal with an uninterrupted movement,” but they refused to take the word “directly” out of the rule.  When we returned home and I explained this to our water poloists, we removed the command “ball up” from our procedure and administered the penalty shot as the Europeans did it; even though we knew it was not correct.

Another incident happened on this trip which further illustrated to me the problem of having consistent refereeing.  

As part of the Congress, referees were selected from the Congress to referee games in the Hungarian Water Polo League.  One day we traveled about 30 miles up the Danube River where a match was to be played.  John Felix was to officiate the match, which was played in a pool that lay adjacent to the Danube River. At that time, the evaluation of the referees was done by a panel of 3-5 persons, grading on a 5-point scale.  John called the game exactly as we had discussed the rules over the last several days and received a mediocre rating of 3.0 for his efforts. We returned to Budapest, although we were surprised to observe that as we left the area, they were draining the pool. That evening, Josef Dirnweber from Austria, one of the top-rated FINA officials, refereed the second match in the refilled pool. He paid no attention to what we had discussed in our sessions, and after calling the game as he always had, he received a high 4.5 rating.  I turned to Ante Lambasa who was standing behind me and said, “How do you ever expect to get uniform refereeing when something like this happens?”  Needless to say, it was very disappointing to John and me. 

In 1972, we sent a very experienced team to Munich for the Olympic Games that included 7 members of our squad from the 1968 Olympics, along with coaches Monte Nitzkowski and Art Lambert. The team played very strong games in the preliminary round, defeating Romania, Mexico, Yugoslavia (1968 champions), Canada, and Cuba.  In the final round, the U.S. opened with a 4-4 tie against Germany, followed by a 5-3 loss to Hungary, a 6-6 tie with Russia, and then defeated Italy 6-5 to garner the bronze medal. 

The atmosphere at the Dantebad pool was really fun. There was a special section in the stands that had been set aside for the “water polo family,” and we all gathered there to watch the games. In the time period between games, we would be able to go down on the deck area and mingle with the teams just coming off the game and other water polo persons. When the game was ready to start, we would go back to our section in the stands and watch the next game. You sat with friends from throughout the water polo world.  After the final game, we would all walk over to the main swimming pool and watch swimming before the final water polo game of the day started in the main pool.

On the night that the U.S. won the bronze medal, the security of the Olympic Village was breached, terrorists occupied the building next to the U.S. building and held the Israeli team captive. I’d been working as a desk official for the German Federation, and afterwards, my wife and I caught a plane for London, and we did not know of the terrorist attack until we landed in London.

One other incident that occurred has always stayed in my memory. 

Galli Muscatiovic, the goalie for Yugoslavia at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, later came over to teach Chemical Engineering at Stanford University for about four years. While here, he played for us at The Olympic Club. He was great to play in front of and one of the best goalies I have seen. At the 1972 Olympics, he was President of the Yugoslavian Water Polo Federation. We had dinner together one night at the Lowenbrau Hof Brau, and Galli was visibly upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he’d been approached by another major country in the competition to “arrange” the score of their game to assist another country in advancement. Needless to say, Galli did not agree to the arrangement. e said he had always heard of saosucjh things, but did not believe that they actually haopened./   

The next major step was the first FINA World Championships held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Many of our 1972 Olympic team members had retired, so the team that traveled under coaches Monte Nitzkowski and Pete Cutino was a mixture of new and old talent. The team journeyed to Hungary to train prior to the Championships. I was to serve as Manager of the team but could not make the Hungarian part of the trip, so I joined the team when they arrived in Belgrade.

One other side point on this trip had to do with finances for the team. Things were done on a shoe-string then, and the team was going to Hungary to train and then on to Yugoslavia with no money other than what the individuals had on their persons. I felt this was not a good situation, so I withdrew $1,000 from my own savings account and gave it to Monte Nitzkowski to have in case of any problems that might occur, but with the admonition to NOT spend it unless absolutely necessary, as there was no guarantee that I’d be reimbursed if the money was spent. Fortunately, he did not need to spend it, and I was able to return it to my account intact. 

The highlight of the trip, which Monte, Pete, and I did not talk about for many years, was when we were playing one of the lesser European teams that had a chance to advance to the round of 9-12 if they lost to us by one goal. If they lost by two, they would be relegated to the round of 13-16.  

Prior to the game, their coaches approached Monte and Pete and explained the situation to them and asked if we would be willing to win by one goal so they could advance. This not being a thing that we do, Monte and Pete backed off from it and sent the coaches over to talk with me. I was as shocked as Monte and Pete and told them that this was something we do not normally do, but that we understood their situation and that would talk it over and see what we could do.

Needless to say, we did not tell the team about it and vowed to keep it to ourselves. Well, to make a long story short, our team played unbelievably poorly and must have barred about 12 shots off their goal frame. We struggled throughout the game, but in the end, we won by one goal. Following the game, the other team’s coaches came over to us and were hugging and kissing us for understanding their predicament and accommodating them. As I said earlier, it was probably about 20 years before any of us discussed this other than amongst ourselves and was another lesson in international water polo.

To be continued

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 II

Andy Fuchs, Andy Burke & John Felix at 1966 Nationals

In concluding my last article, I discussed the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where I served as Manager of the U.S. men’s team.  One of the important things that came from that event actually was started in early 1964. As Chairman of the AAU Water Polo Committee, I wrote to several of the major European Water Polo Federations (Hungary, Germany, Italy, and Yugoslavia), asking if they would be interested in coming to the United States after the Olympics to play in exhibitions against our top club teams here.

I received a letter from Ante Lambasa, President of the Yugoslavia Federation, ex-pressing an interest.  Ante later became a member of the FINA Bureau and served as President of FINA from 1981 to 1984.

In 1964, after many, many exchanges of letters, it was agreed that they would come here to play in northern and southern California and New York City. One of the reasons we were able to accomplish this was that by working with them, we were able to change their air line tickets from Belgrade to Tokyo and return (to Belgrade) to a complete round-the-world ticket for just an additional $100.00 per person. So for $1,500.00 (11 players plus their coaching staff), we were able to bring them here.  Yugoslavia was the silver medalist from Tokyo and had several of the major players in water polo (Mirko Sandic, Ozren Bonacic, Ivo Trumbic, and an outstanding Goalie in Galli Muscatiovic), so exposing our players and the public to this team was a big step forward for us.

Another story I should tell from 1964 had to do with the water polo balls.  As I said previously, the heavy leather ball was still the official ball of FINA.  In the U.S., we were using the new Voit ball, which was manufactured by the 3M Company. Voit shipped 24 balls to me in Tokyo, and I took them around and gave them to the coaches of each team, asking them to try the Voit balls in hopes we could get FINA to switch to the synthetic balls rather than the leather balls.  I remember the Dutch coach telling me, “I played with a leather ball, my father played with a leather ball, and my son will play with a leather ball.”  I marveled at his forward (backward) thinking, but told him to please try the Voit balls.  We did finally get the synthetic-type ball approved, and it was used in the 1968 Olympic Games, but the ironic thing is that the official FINA ball today, Mikasa, is manufactured in Japan.    

The years 1965 and 1966 began a change in the power in U.S. water polo. The older clubs – New York AC, Illinois AC, and San Francisco Olympic Club – were still present, but several new California clubs began to emerge.  These included the Foothill Aquatic Club, coached by Art Lambert; Inland-Nu Pike, coached by Monte Nitzkowski and Bob Horn; Newport Water Polo Club, coached by Ted Newland; and later the Concord Swim and Water Polo Club, coached by Pete Cutino.   These teams would dominate play as we approached the 1968 Olympics. Money was still scarce, so instead of trying to get more European teams here, we concentrated on inviting the top European international referees to our National Championships so they would be exposed to our players, just as they saw the top European players when they refereed at LEN (League of European Nations) tournaments. Some who came at various times were Abe Fuchs from Belgium, Josef Dirnweber from Austria, Mateo Manguillot from Spain, Alfonse Angella from France and Cornel Marculescu from Romania.  Cornel is currently Executive Director of FINA. In 1967, at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, we still had two members of our team from the 1964 Olympics (Goalie Tony Van Dorp and Dave Ashleigh). The other players were primarily from Foothill AC and Inland-Nu Pike, and the coaches were Art Lambert, Monte Nitzkowski, and Bob Horn. The team recorded 5 wins in the round-robin schedule and brought home the gold medal.

Another interesting story is that in the mid 1970s, we were able to get FINA to accept the ear guards that are standard now on all caps. Ear guards had been designated as “something likely to cause injury” by FINA and were not allowed, although we’d used them extensively in the U.S. The funny part is that ear guards were originally invented because of an injury.  About 1966-67, Greg Hind, who played for Foothill AC and was a member of the 1967 Pan-Am Team, had suffered a ruptured ear drum, a very common water polo injury at that time. His father, President of Barnes-Hind Pharmaceuticals, developed the ear guard to protect Greg’s ear so he could continue playing.  Realizing that it not only helped prevent further injury to Greg but could also possibly prevent in-juries to other players, Mr. Hind began manufacturing the ear guards that now are standard for all water polo caps, and Greg went on to start Hind-Wells, a company selling aquatic equipment, including the ear guards 

In 1968, our Pan-Am team from 1967 formed the nucleus of the Olympic Team (8 of the 11 players), to which were added Olympians Ron Crawford and Stan Cole, along with coaches Art Lambert and Monte Nitzkowski. The team prepared for the high-altitude competition in Mexico City by holding its final training camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. 

At Mexico City, most of the games were played at the university pool, adjacent to the main stadium where track and field was held, with one match being held in the main pool following swimming. The team finished in fifth place in one of the strongest fields of teams in Olympic history. Yugoslavia won the gold medal, defeating Russia 13-11 in overtime.  The U.S. defeated East Germany 6-4 to take fifth.  Following these Games, the East Germans abandoned all team sports (at that time) and opted to put their athletes into individual competitions in an effort to win more medals. Of course, we know now how they “developed” these individual athletes.  Editor’s Note: the East Germans were suspected of giving steroids and other illegal drugs to their athletes, which was later proven to be true).

I was working as a desk official for the Mexican Federation at the 1968 Games, and John Felix, who was one of our two U.S. referees, told me how the refs working the Games had met and had started the AIA (Association of International Referees for Water Polo). On my return home, I joined the AIA and remained a member for many years thereafter.   

One other thing I remember about this time period was that the rules stated that when a team had committed six major fouls, then the other team was awarded a penalty throw. In one game when we were playing Russia, it was very close. We had 5 major fouls against us.  A foul was called on the perimeter of the pool.  There were 3 Russians in the vicinity.  None went for the ball.  They all drove toward the hole and left the ball floating there. The referee (there was only one at this time) called another foul on the U.S. and the Russians were awarded a penalty throw. The ball was still floating in the area where the first foul occurred, and I am still puzzled as to how you can have a foul when no one had attempted to put the ball in to play….?

In the late 1960s, a new face appeared on the national water polo scene.  He was Robert (Bob) Helmick from Des Moines, Iowa.  Editor’s Note: see separate AWP article about Mr. Helmick.  Bob had been on the scene for the last couple of years, but at this time he rose into a leadership position, becoming Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Committee.  At 6-3, with broad shoulders and a winning smile, Bob was a commanding figure and was one of the most intelligent persons I have ever met. He became not only Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Committee but also Team Leader and Manager of our team for the 1972 Olympic Games.

On the domestic end, Bob went on to become President of the AAU and President of the U.S. Olympic Committee. On the international scene, he was selected to the FINA Water Polo Committee in 1972, the FINA Bureau in 1976, and became FINA President in 1984. He was also selected to serve on the International Olympic Committee. Bob’s contributions to ALL sports are without parallel. He was a tremendous help to water polo in its growth during his tenure as President of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which he turned into a profitable organization while assisting ALL sports in attaining a higher level of proficiency. It was a pleasure to know and work with Bob over the years.

To be continued

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.

Happy Fourth of July from American Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- As the nation settles into a four-day weekend in celebration of the nation's birth on July 4th, we take a moment to remember all those who left home to defend freedom in the United States and across the seas.

“Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” - Andrew Jackson

Although this weekend maybe marked with shore trips, hamburgers, sun and fun, do not forget the people who stand watch to gurantee that the light of freedom which we hold dear is not dimmed in the shadow of oppression.

“You can protect your liberties in this world only by protecting the other man's freedom. You can be free only if I am free.” - Clarence Darrow

In this spirt, the staff of American Water Polo wishes you a happy holiday weekend.

Lehigh Valley Water Polo League Featured in Allentown Morning Call

July 3 Allentown Morning Call

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The Lehigh Valley Water Polo league earned notice in the July 3 edition of the Allentown Morning Call as the league was featured in a story by Devon Lash.

The brainchild of Justin Houck and Ken Vincent, in conjunction with the City of Allentown's Recreation Department, American Water Polo and the Kingfish Water Polo Foundation, the league offers introductory competition for all levels of water polo athletes entering the ninth grade and older.

The text of the story follows from Lash's article:

A note to the uninitiated: There are no thoroughbreds in water polo.

"People ask, 'What do you do with the horses?'" said Ryan Griffiths, Allentown's assistant aquatics director.

Despite its many successful swim programs — a prerequisite to water polo — the Lehigh Valley is a stranger to the rough-and-tumble sport, which has spurred leagues in Reading, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Enthusiasts are hoping a few rounds of chlorine-filled mayhem might just change that. Thursday night, signs-ups were held at Cedar Beach Pool in Allentown for the city's first summer water polo league.

Griffiths and organizers Ken Vincent and Justin Houck assumed the role of ambassadors as they tried to determine if the league would sink or swim.

To drum up interest, Griffiths led a catch with a few kids in the shallow end, explaining the rules of the sport and encouraging them to give it a shot.

He got one taker — Roland Galindo, 13, who will be a freshman at Allen High School in the fall.

Galindo put on a numbered swim cap for the red team and made his way to the pool's deep end to join nine other experienced players who had come to scrimmage.

He didn't really get into the thick of it — "I can't swim in the deep end," he explained — but he did make a few successful passes to his teammates.

"It's an OK sport," he shrugged. "I like trying new things."

But will he be back next week?

"Maybe," he said.

The game is sort of a rough, wet version of basketball, where players have to swim and tread water and score by throwing a waterproof volleyball into a goal. The team with the most points at the end of four quarters wins.

It sounds simple enough, but players can only use one hand and they are not supposed to touch the bottom of the pool. They also can't dunk or pull at another player, said Vincent, who coaches at Pennridge High School. Some pushing and holding is allowed in the game, but fouls are common.

Vincent and Houck took their cue from a wildly popular Kingfish Water Polo Foundation summer league in Berks County that drew 350 participants this year.

For the new Allentown league, Kingfish donated the equipment, the Allentown Parks and Recreation Department provided Cedar Beach Pool and nonprofit sport advocate American Water Polo paid for the insurance.

The hope is that interest spreads and the league grows next summer, said Tom Tracey, development director of the Montgomery County-based American Water Polo, which provides water polo opportunities across the country.

"Water polo has always been a predominantly West Coast sport, and slowly but surely, we're trying to grow across the country," Tracey said.

Only about 22 public school districts out of the state's 501 have water polo programs, Griffiths said, and those schools are mostly clustered around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie and Reading.

The sport, which began in 19^th century England, is seeing more success on a college level, with 14 Pennsylvania colleges and universities, including Lehigh University, participating in the mid-Atlantic conference.

Mei Parnes, a sophomore at Lehigh University and a member of the water polo team, said when she heard about the city league, she knew it would be a great way to keep up with the sport before play resumes in the fall.

She tried out three years ago for her high school team without any knowledge of water polo and has been playing ever since.

"The biggest challenge is going to be getting people to try it," she said, quickly adding, "but they should. Show up with a friend and just try."

Next Thursday, the organizers will be at Cedar Beach again.

"I think it'll grow quickly," Houck said.

As for its future as a District 11 high school sport, he's less sure.

"Would I love that? Yeah," Houck said. "But not too many high schools are adding sports right now. We just want to get kids to have fun and get people aware that there is a summer sport."

Want to give it a try:
The Allentown league, which runs until Aug. 6, is open to anyone in ninth grade or older, including adults. The fee is $45. Games will be played on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. The league will hold a second information session from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday. Players will be divided into teams based on age and ability.

Wyoming Valley West WP Tries to Raise Funds

Wilkes Barre Times Leader (July 2, 2011)

WILKES BARRE, Pa. -- Facing elimination in the wake of school district cuts, the Wyoming Valley West water polo team is working to find ways to raise money and prove its worth to the district board.

Featured in a July 2 article in the Wilkes Barre Times Leader (text follows), the team is facing an up-hill fight to retain the program:

The path to the pool for the Wyoming Valley West water polo team this year winds through Rita’s Italian Ice, McDonald’s and the Four Seasons golf course in Exeter – arriving by classic car July 24 is also an option.

Hearing rumors that state budget cuts would prompt the school board to deep-six the sport, the district’s Aquatic Parents Club dove in headfirst, launching ambitious fundraising events (four planned so far with more in the works). The club hopes to show the board that enough money can be raised to justify keeping the sport alive.

“All of this is new,” aquatics club board Secretary Linda Greenwald said. “We’ve never really done major fundraising beyond selling candy bars and traditional stuff booster clubs do.”

The club has scheduled a “celebrity scoop” Aug. 3 at Rita’s Italian Ice in Kingston, with service from local TV personality Jane Adonizio, among others.

Part of the proceeds will go to the sport.

McDonald’s in Edwardsville will donate part of the proceeds from its sales in the evening of July 12. And aquatics club President Dawn Holena said there are 140 cars registered so far to participate in a car show at the high school in Plymouth July 24.

“We’re all doing it on our own time,” Holena said, “for the kids, and to show the board we understand the cuts; we’re not upset, we’ll take care of business.”

The club hopes to be able to offset a large percentage of the money the district spends each year on water polo, though Holena said solid figures haven’t been determined. In turn, they believe the board will keep the program when it votes on a final budget this Wednesday.

Coach Frank Tribendis said about 40 students participate, enough to field boys and girls squads who schedule their competitions together to save on transportation – a huge part of the overhead, considering there are only two other teams in the region: Hazleton Area and Pottsville. Other events can be as much as two hours away.

When rumors of cuts started, “We became very proactive, and our parents’ club is running a couple fundraisers so they can pay for travel,” Tribendis said. “We did what we did to help ease the burden on the taxpayers.”

Tribendis said he has coached the water polo team for “15 or 16 years,” including six since he retired as a teacher in the district.

He also coaches the swim team, and as part of the effort to offset costs, he agreed to serve as district aquatics director without extra pay.

The move allowed the district to open the high school pool to the public for swimming lessons and recreational use at modest fees. The money is used for chemicals and maintenance of the pool during the summer, prime training season for water polo players, who start their season in the middle of August.

The club intends to sustain this effort indefinitely.

On Aug. 21, the Four Seasons Golf Club will play host to “our inaugural golf tournament,” parent Mary Lee Klemish said. “We’re looking for sponsors and players to participate and help us with our funding.” Individual players will be set up with a foursome, and businesses are encouraged to donate anything from money to raffle prizes.

Upcoming fundraising activities include:

July 12: 5 to 8 p.m., McDonald’s, 80 South Wyoming Ave., Edwardsville. Part of proceeds will go to team.

July 24 (rain date July 31): 9 a.m. start, car show at Wyoming Valley West High School, 150 Wadham St., Plymouth. Car registration is $10; trophies awarded at 3 p.m.

August 3: 5 to 10 p.m., Rita’s Italian Ice “Celebrity Scoop,” 355 Market St., Kingston. Part of proceeds will go to team.

August 21: 1 p.m. shotgun start, Golf tournament at Four Seasons in Exeter. To enter, sponsor or donate, contact Mary Lee Klemish, 288-9265; or email mlklem57@epix.net

Peering Into Polo's Past with Andy Burke

Photographed on June 5, 2010 at The Olympic Club where the 1957 and 1959 National Championship Teams were honored. Photo Courtesy of Andy Burke. 

From Player to Leader in the Sport
Perspective by Andy Burke 

I was introduced to the sport of water polo in 1945, when I was asked to join the San Francisco Olympic Club as a junior member and a swimmer. I was also swimming at Commerce High School. The coach of the Olympic Club was George Schroth, who was a long-time swimmer and water polo player, having represented the U.S. on the 1924 (Bronze Medal) and 1928 Olympic Teams. He was (is) one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known. In 1948, George moved to the University of California-Berkeley, where he had a successful career as the Golden Bears coach.

The Olympic Club had a very active water polo program in the fall of each year, fielding a senior team that played the local colleges and a junior team that played against the high school teams on the San Francisco Peninsula. Thus began my lifelong love affair with water polo.

As I remember it, the pools were usually 25-yards long, with the restriction that you could not be within the four-yard line from the goal unless the ball was already inside the area. In many cases, the pool had a shallow end, but you were not allowed to use the bottom for assistance. Otherwise, a technical foul was called and the ball turned over. 

The attacking was done primarily by the Center Forward, who would struggle with his defender to get off a shot. When fouled, the CF would pass out to one of the other two forwards who were swimming into the attack area, and they would either shoot or pass back to the CF. The defensive backs or guards seldom went into the attack area as it caused too many people to be in the area and the congestion made it difficult to shoot. We worked out in the afternoons, and loved the game as a respite from the grind of swimming laps. Being able to travel to games on the Peninsula against the various high schools was a real adventure. 

At that time, whenever you graduated from high school, you went on to play in college and then returned to the Olympic Club. While in college, you could not play for the Club during the school year but only in the summer. The Club’s senior team was made up mainly of athletes who had played in college and wanted to remain involved. In the fall of 1946, I was invited to come down one evening and workout with the senior squad. What a thrill for a young high school athlete.

We didn’t know a lot about what was happening in water polo other than what the senior team was doing whenever they played, plus what was taking place at Berkeley, Stanford and San Jose State. At the 1948 Olympic Games in London, the U.S. Olympic Team was made up primarily of players from the Los Angeles Athletic Club. One of these players, Rutledge “Bob” Bray, moved to our area and joined the Olympic Club’s senior squad. We were all amazed at his ability and skill level. He played the Center Forward position and was truly ambidextrous, able to shoot forehands and backhands with either hand.

At some time during the late 1940’s and/or early 1950’s, a new type of game was introduced. When the whistle blew for a foul, all players had to come to a complete stop and could not move until the ball was again put into play. You tried to get an advantage over your opponent by “drifting” a very short distance. If the referee noticed what you were doing, he would eject you from the game until a goal was scored. It was a short-lived experiment, but an interesting one, and then we returned to the old rules.

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, the U.S. was represented by a group of young athletes from the El Segundo Swim Club of Southern California. Coached by Urho Saari, they won the Olympic Trials and were augmented by players from the New York Athletic Club, Illinois Athletic Club and Whittier Swim Club. At Helsinki, they finished fourth. The AAU Nationals were held in the fall of that year at the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, which in the early 2000’s became the USA Water Polo National Training Center. Several of the players from our U.S. Olympic Team participated in these championships, and the Olympic Club sent a squad on which I was privileged to play and help finish in second place.

The next few years passed with few changes until the Olympic Trials of 1956, held at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium, site of the 1932 Olympic Games’ swimming competition. Nine teams were entered but the major difference to us (and most others) was that you went from the normal 25-yard pool to the international standard of 30 meters by 20 meters. You also used a leather ball. The ball was similar to a soccer ball, and after two hours of practice, it was waterlogged and very heavy. Each of us on our team had to take care of one ball, and after practice we would bring it home, dry it out and then rub it with Neetsfoot Oil. 

The game itself was played in two halves of ten minutes each, with five minutes of halftime. Substitution was allowed only at halftime, and if you were excluded for a major foul, you had to stay out until a score was made by either team. An interesting side note to the time element of the game was that there was no visual clock for the players to see. The time was kept by an official at the desk, and you did not know how much time was left in each half until the gun went off to end the half, or the game. You tried to keep an idea of the amount of time having been played – and how much remained – to assist with your strategy, but it was always a guessing game.

In 1956, the Olympic Trials final game ended as a tie between the Southern California Water Polo Club and the Illinois Athletic Club. The former was declared the winner by comparing goal averages, a method used for breaking ties in the past. Southern Cal placed seven players on the U.S. Olympic Team, with the four alternates, or subs, being selected from the Illinois AC. The team finished fifth at Melbourne, Australia. One of the bright stars of that squad was Bob Hughes, who was entered in both water polo and swimming, where he competed in the 100-meter breaststroke. He would swim the first 50 meters underwater, make the turn, and then resurface. He was 6’-6” and probably about 240 pounds, very strong and extremely hard to guard. 

These Olympics also marked the famous “blood bath game” between Hungary and the Soviet Union. Following the Games, most of the members of the Hungarian and Romanian teams defected and came to the United States. They toured around the country raising funds to assist the players. While in Northern California, they rode around in a Greyhound bus and played our Olympic Club in a series of matches. One game was held at the saltwater Fleishhacker Pool, which at that time was the largest pool in the world, being 1,000-feet long and 33-yards wide. A course was set up across the pool at the deep-end, and we played there.

One of the memorable things that amazed all of us was when we lost the ball in our offensive end to Hungarian Ervin Zador, the player who had been cut in the “blood bath.” He took off with the ball, being chased by our fastest player and actually opened up water between them while dribbling with the ball. Most of the Hungarian players returned to Hungary, while many of the Romanian players remained in the U.S. Several of them joined us at the Olympic Club, and two of them were on our 1957 National AAU Championship Team. 

The next four years proceeded with the U.S. playing the “American game” in 25-yard pools, but each summer, usually in August, we went to the international course of 20-meters by 30-meters for the AAU Nationals. These were dubbed the “Outdoor Nationals.” The major clubs playing in this event were the New York AC, the Illinois AC, the Olympic Club, El Segundo (located near Los Angeles) and Southern California Water Polo. At that time, the AAU also conducted an “Indoor Nationals,” held primarily in the East in the early spring and attended mostly by local teams. The true championship was considered to be the “Outdoor Nationals.”

From 1957 through 1959, our Olympic Club senior team compiled a record of 63 wins and just six losses, with the losses all coming in national competition. In 1957, and again in 1959, we won the AAU Outdoor Championships, going through the tournament undefeated in 1959. Note: this fall, this group will be inducted into the Olympic Club Hall of Fame.

Although there was great rivalry during the late 1950’s, the players were still part of the “water polo family.” We wanted the top Southern California teams to play against, so if they traveled north, or we south, we would host each other in our homes. The rivalries were intense, but outside the pool we were all friendly. 

The “Outdoor Nationals” usually had 16 teams entered and were played over four days. Teams were seeded into four groups of four each for round-robin play. At the conclusion of the first round (two games on Thursday and one on Friday), the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated, and the top two moved forward to a new group with the top two teams from another group – A-with-D and B-with-C. The results of the games between the teams moving forward went with them so you only needed to play the two teams from the new group. These games were played on Saturday, with the bottom two teams from each group eliminated and the top two advancing to the semifinals. 

The winner of each group played the runner-up from the other group in the semifinals on Sunday morning. Then in the afternoon, the winners played for the National Championship and the losers for third place. These games were usually over early in the afternoon, and there was a big party afterwards hosted by the tournament committee for all the participants. Those of us who were playing at that time in U.S. water polo history still have many good stories to tell from those “social activities.”

The 1960 Olympic Trials were again played at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium, with 12 teams entered. The major change in the rules was that in the event of a tie in points between teams, it would be decided by goal differential (the numerical difference between goals scored and goals given up) rather than goal average (goals scored divided by goals given up). Editor’s note: yeah, confusing, which is why we have either overtime or a shootout nowadays.

The U.S. Olympic Team consisted entirely of players from Southern California – Lynwood Swim Club (the winner of the Trials) and the Los Angeles Swim Club and El Segundo. In the Games at Rome, Italy, our team finished seventh, winning four games and losing three. The consensus was that the difference between the U.S. and the best European teams was the Euros’ experience in top international play. In leading up to our own Team Trials, our Olympic Club team worked out at Fleishhacker Pool, mentioned previously, and at Searsville Lake, behind Stanford University. At Fleishhacker, if our coach was unhappy with our work ethic, we got to do a three-man ball drill down the pool (1,000 feet), across the width, and back up. Very exhilarating! At Searsville, we built a 20-meters by 30-meters course in the lake, and our coach would stand in a rowboat at the halfway mark and referee our scrimmages. On Sundays, we had a morning work-out, and those with families would join us for a picnic lunch, and then we would have an afternoon practice.

In 1961, I was fortunate to be elected to the U.S. Olympic Committee and its Water Polo Committee, of which I was chosen to serve as Chairman. In early meetings, we realized that just selecting the winning team’s seven players from our Team Trials plus four alternates, or subs, was not sufficient for succeeding against the experience of the Europeans, so we decided to select the winning seven players plus nine alternates for a three-week training camp, where our Olympic coach would select the final eleven players for the Olympic Team. 

The 1964 Trials were held in Astoria, New York, in conjunction with the Swimming and Diving Trials and the New York World’s Fair. There were sixteen teams entered, and the Trials ended in a three-way tie that necessitated a round-robin playoff, with El Segundo winning on goal difference. The three-week training camp was held at Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, where Head Coach Urho Saari selected the final eleven players for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. At the Olympics, I served as Manager of our team. In the preliminary round, we lost to powerful Yugoslavia 2-to-1, beat Brazil 7-to-1, and then lost to Holland 6-to-4, eliminating us from further competition. 

One of the highlights of the U.S. versus Holland game occurred when a penalty shot was awarded to the Dutch star, Fred Van Dorp. The U.S. goalie was his brother, Tony Van Dorp. Tony blocked the shot, and his explanation to the press corps later was a real classic. Tony said, “When I was preparing for the shot, I thought that Fred knows that I know that he always shoots to his right, so he will go to his left, and I’ll play it that way. But then I thought that he would also realize this and not shoot to his left, so I went to his right … and there was the ball.”

During our time in Tokyo, I was able to arrange for our team to at least scrimmage against the top teams that we did not meet in the actual competition. It was my feeling, based on the Olympics, we would need to develop a system to select a National Team and National Team Coaches, so that the U.S. players could get as much training as possible together and travel to Europe to gain international experience.

During this time period, in 1962, I was also elected as Chairman of the AAU’s National Men’s Water Polo Committee. Initially just a sub-committee of Swimming, I was able to get water polo established as a separate committee. In 1964, I created a separate Women’s Water Polo Committee and named Dave Rivenes as chair. The next year, Dave became involved with the Junior Olympics program, so I replaced him with Chuck Hines. Chuck served in this capacity through 1976.

I presented a plan to the AAU for the establishment of a National Team, with a National Team Coach.  Suffice it to say that this was not warmly greeted by the coaches, who felt they would lose an opportunity to be a Pan-American and/or Olympic Team Coach by virtue of their teams winning the Trials. I also established a fund under the AAU to pay for our team’s travel to Europe. 

In 1965, I was approached by the People to People organization with t he opportunity to send coaches to Europe. Seeing that it would be a lot cheaper to send coaches rather than a full team – and we did not have too much money in the fund anyhow – I convi nced Harry Hainsworth at the National AAU Office to use this opportunity, and we sent Bob Horn to Hungary and Art Lambert to Czechoslovakia and East Germany to learn from their coaches. This paid off as both Bob and Art became top club coaches and Olympic Team Coaches - Art as head coach in 1968 and assistant in 1972 and Bob as assistant in 1968. 

(To be continued next month)

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. We will tell you more about Andy next month. Hopefully, you enjoyed the first of two articles he kindly submitted to American Water Polo reviewing his experiences in the sport. 

Update on AWP Director Dan Sharadin

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- While it would be great to state that everything surrounding the Director’s recovery was moving along quickly, unfortunately that is not the case. Dan Sharadin was readmitted into the hospital last week due to complications resulting from the surgery. He was released this past weekend and they are continuing to monitor his condition through outpatient services and visits. As more information becomes available, we will keep you posted about his date of return.

A Note From AWP Director Dan Sharadin

For those of you needing additional details, hopefully this brief summarization will help. Since the surgery things have not gone as smoothly as hoped. Complications surrounding medications and issues with inflammation resulting in a fever have required several return  trips to the hospital, including the latest one in which I was readmitted for a couple of nights. The issues primarily surround inflammation from the surgery, continued loss of weight, and side effects from the medications.

I am home recovering now and the routine is pretty much the same. Since leaving the hospital over three weeks ago I am awake for about 2-3 hours at a time. I also sleep for no more than 3-4 hours at a time, so you can see it is not an optimal schedule for integrating back into the workplace yet. I am the eternal optimist, so I am hoping things will turn around and I can begin to get back into some work on a limited basis next week, but the reality is the setbacks have delayed my recovery time. It is still too early to say when I can begin limited involvement.

I appreciate everyone’s support and definitely apologize for the inconveniences created by my  absence. However, the good news is the health of my wife as she continues to recover at a much faster rate and looks better each day. Seeing her life restored helps me keep my perspective about work.

Happy Memorial Day

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- American Water Polo wishes to offer you all the best on Memorial Day and offer thanks to the military, past and present, that serve their country.

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.  I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.  We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did. 
- Benjamin Harrison

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. - John F. Kennedy

For love of country they accepted death... - James A. Garfield

These heroes are dead.  They died for liberty - they died for us.  They are at rest.  They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines.  They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest.  Earth may run red with other wars - they are at peace.  In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death.  I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead:  cheers for the living; tears for the dead.  - Robert G. Ingersoll

Peering into Polo’s Past with Chuck Hines

First published illustration of an American water polo by T. de Thelstrup, Harper's Weekly Magazine, February 28, 1891

History of the Game up to the 1960s
By Chuck Hines

Known as an outstanding rugby player, Englishman J. L. Mayger found himself struggling to survive when he tried his luck at water polo. The report, dating back to the 1880s, said, “A fierce struggle took place near the Leander goal, which was a heavy pontoon moored against the side of a gunboat. The tide was flowing in that direction, and Mr. Mayger, who was playing for England, was pushed beneath the surface and under the pontoon. The rest of the swimmers, in their frantic efforts to score a goal, prevented him from getting clear. It was only when he was nearly unconscious that his rescue was effected.”

From the very beginning, water polo was a rough, tough game. From what we know, it was in the 1860s in England that various attempts were made to create some kind of ball game in the water that was initially called “water handball.” In 1870, a committee appointed by the London Swimming Association drew up a set of unofficial rules for what they called “water football.” The first semi-official matches to be covered by the media occurred in 1876. A ball from India was used, and as the word for ball in the Indian language was “pulu,” the game was called water ball or water pulu and, eventually, water polo.  

A Scotsman named William Wilson is credited with formulating the first official set of rules which were used in Glasgow in 1876 and 1877. The goals could be anything that was handy – boats, floats, flags anchored in the water, the walls at each end of the pool – and the number of players per team varied from three to twelve, with seven being the most common.  Some games were played outdoors in lakes and rivers, but as more swimming pools were built, the indoor game gradually became more prevalent. Fi nally, goals that were eight feet wide and six feet high were suggested, and competition continued in the 1880s and 1890s between club teams from England, Scotland, and Ireland.

It’s generally reported that Englishman John Robinson brought the game to the U.S. in 1888, with the first teams being found in Boston and Providence, RI. Well, maybe not. There’s a beautiful engraving of a water polo game being played in front of a large crowd of spectators in New Orleans in 1881 by players sitting on barrels and using twin-bladed kayak paddles to propel themselves forward and move the ball toward the goals, which were anchored boats. Does this qualify as water polo? You tell me.

Back in the Northeast, a type of game that emphasized underwater wrestling was being developed, quite at odds with the swifter surface-swimming style being promoted by the Brits and other European countries. It was called “softball water polo” as the ball was deflated so it could be taken beneath the surface, where there was grappling, holding, kicking, and everything else. A goal was scored when the ball was placed by hand on a ten-foot-wide by three-foot-high panel attached to the end of the pool. The first U.S. “softball” championships were held indoors in NYC in 1889, with the following results: 1st -Knickerbocker Athletic Club, 2nd - New York Athletic Club, 3rd - Duquesne Aquatics of Pittsburgh, 4th - Brookline Aquatics of Boston, and 5th - Univ. of Pennsylvania. A game played at the New York A.C. in 1890 was reported by the newspaper to involve “the swallowing of tons of water by the participants.” Some games were played to large audiences in Madison Square Garden, and in 1895, the New York A.C. hosted the Chicago A.C. in front of a large crowd and defeated the visitors, 4-to-1 and 2-to-1.

This type of rough subsurface water polo continued to be promoted by the Eastern clubs and was sanctioned, somewhat reluctantly, by the Amateur Athletic Union. The game was controversial, and even Gus Sundstrom, the famed New York A.C. Coach, wrote in his 1901 textbook, “I would advise all clubs to adopt the English version.” Interestingly, it was the women and the YMCA that first took his advice.  We’ll discuss the history of the women’s game at a later date, so let me only say now that semi-official women’s competition was started in England and the U.S. in 1901 and 1902, with the ladies playing the surface style. Likewise the YMCA, which had teams playing five-per-side in New York City and Chicago in 1908 and thereafter, utilized the surface-style swimming game. An article in The New York Times, in referring to a Y contest, said “There was little roughness” and “only once was there a protest of the referee’s calls, to no avail.”

Water polo was also being played in the western United States. The San Francisco Call newspaper ran a long article on July 20, 1896, complete with artistic drawings, of a rough wrestling type of game played in the Lurline Baths. The article stated that “at the Lurline Baths on Larkin Street, there is no end to the fun and excitement. The swimmers vie with one another in the execution of fancy strokes, high dives, double somersaults, etc., and their exhibitions of aquatic skills are heartily applauded by the admiring spectators. Every Friday evening, there are contests of polo – football in the water – followed by a varied schedule of swimming and diving.”

Walter Camp, the dean of American sportswriters and an astute observer of the sporting scene, included a ten-page chapter on water polo in his 1903 textbook. He wrote “The game of water polo has perhaps done more during recent years to popularize and to cause an interest to be taken in swimming than any other branch of aquatic sport. It is essentially a game for swimmers and one that affords ample opportunity for the exhibition of skill and the development of staying power.”

Internationally, there were now men’s water polo teams scattered throughout Europe – in Germany, France, Belgium, Hungary – and others could be found from New Zealand to Panama to Rhodesia to South Africa. Men’s water polo was introduced into the Olympic Games of 1900. The English rules were followed, complete with goals similar to those used nowadays, and the Brits copped the gold medal by beating Belgium and France.         

The 1904 Olympics were conducted in St. Louis, and we, the host nation, insisted on using our “softball” rules which permitted underwater wrestling and excessive roughness. This was anathema to the Europeans, who refused to participate. There were other problems, as well, which we shall not mention here. Thus the U.S. won the gold medal … uncontested … unfortunately.  

A review of the 1908 U.S. “softball” championship game said that “rough play and charges of foul tactics marked the bitter contest from first to last. As a result, the AAU dropped water polo temporarily and did not send a team to the London Olympics in 1908.” This trend continued, and at the 1912 U.S. Championships, hosted by Pittsburgh, it was reported that “the New York A.C. and the Chicago A.C. played the roughest water polo game on record. After four men had been carried out of the pool unconscious, pugilist Joe Choynsky, the Chicago coach, hit Joe Ruddy of the New York A.C. in the jaw. Ruddy then hit Choynsky in the eye. A riot ensued.  Dr. W. L. Savage, the Pittsburgh physical education director, stopped the game (which hadn’t even reached half-time) and announced that several of the contestants would be barred from the Pittsburgh club house and pool.” When learning of this occurrence, the AAU once again dropped water polo, and no U.S. team was sent to the 1916 Olympic Games in Stockholm.

On a more positive note, a number of Eastern colleges started playing water polo, following the more sedate and safer surface-swimming rules with passing and shooting at goal frames. YMCA records indicate a game called “water football” was played in the Springfield, MA, College pool in 1891 under the direction of the Y’s famed physical education guru Luther Gulick, who that same year encouraged his protégé, James Naismith, to develop a gym game that came to be known as basketball.  From 1905 through the late 1920s, there were active teams at Penn, Princeton, Yale, Navy, CCNY, Harvard, Columbia, and Dartmouth. Many photos of those teams still exist.

In the Midwest, there were AAU and YMCA teams in Chicago plus a team at nearby Northwestern University, and the Minneapolis and Duluth Ys in MN were enjoying five-per-side, surface-swimming water polo games at the conclusion of their yearly home-and-home swim meets.  In fact, water polo was a nationally-sanctioned YMCA sport from 1916 thru 1926, and in 1922, John Slater, the young director of aquatics at the Fort Wayne, IN, YMCA wrote, “We have an industrial water polo league with four industries represented. We have 44 men taking part in the league games in the Y pool. All of the games are drawing large audiences. Some of the rules in the Swimming Guide are used, and others are changed or added. The changes make the play fast. Roughness and dirty playing are not allowed by the referee. In the twelve games so far, a total of 87 goals have been scored. All of the teams have worked up signals and trick plays.” A report written two years later by Mr. Slater stated that the Fort Wayne YMCA polo program had grown to six teams, then eight, with 78 participants.

Doubtless the best-known polo player in those days in the Midwest, and perhaps in the entire country, was Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller of Chicago, who won five gold medals in Olympic swimming competition in 1924 and 1928 and also performed on Uncle Sam’s Olympic bronze medal water polo team in 1924.

Farther out west, the San Francisco Olympic Club was playing the game by 1920, if not earlier, and collegiate teams popped up at Stanford, Cal, Long Beach State, Fullerton and elsewhere, including UCLA.  There were several high schools playing in southern California, and a photo still exists of the Long Beach High School boys’ team which won the SoCal prep league in 1912.

By the 1930s, Hungary had supplanted Great Britain as the world water polo power. California was fielding most of the best teams and producing most of the U.S. players who were capable of playing the British/European/Olympic style of game with its emphasis on swift swimming and adept ball-handling. In both 1932 and 1936, it was mostly Californians who represented the U.S. at the Olympic Games. However, after earning a bronze medal at the LA Games in 1932, the U.S. did not make the final eight at the Berlin Games of 1936.

The lingering depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s put a damper on most sports worldwide. When the Olympics resumed in 1948, in London, the U.S. sent a water polo team but once again did not make the top eight.  

It was California that really picked up and promoted the sport in the 1950s, with other states jumping onboard in the 1960s, and in next month’s history report for American Water Polo, we’ll look at the how the game has progressed over the past 50 years.

Disclaimer by writer Chuck Hines.  The history of water polo remains somewhat obscure.  There are numerous versions of what took place in the last half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.  Accounts differ. The above  is what I’ve been able to glean from my studies.  Further info is available from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale and from several web-sites devoted to water polo history, perhaps the best of which is the www.waterpololegends.com web-site.   

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.

VA Tech Wins State Title

Collegiate and Masters teams clashed on February 26^th & 27^th, as the Greater Richmond Water Polo Club hosted the first ever Virginia State Water Polo Championship at the NOVA Aquatic Center in Richmond, VA. The colleges were represented by the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison University and William & Mary College while the Masters squads included Greater Richmond and Hampton Roads Water Polo Club. Each team played four games over the course of two days.

As the weekend progressed, it became clear that UVA and Virginia Tech would be the teams to beat. Hampton Roads, a Masters club from Virginia Beach comprised of current and former Navy personnel, gave both college teams competitive games but fell short in handing either program a loss. The host club, Greater Richmond, played UVA to the wire losing by only three goals while taking the eventual State Champion Virginia Tech to a 2-1 score early in the fourth quarter before losing 7-2 after giving up several key fast-break opportunities.

On Sunday morning, JMU almost pulled off the upset of the tournament when they lost to the UVA Wahoos by a goal. With thirty seconds remaining in regulation, UVA regained possession of the ball and buried the eventual game winner for an 11-10 victory over JMU. The win gave UVA their fourth victory and a spot in the championship game versus the Hokies of Virginia Tech.

The last time these two teams faced each other was during the fall season of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Atlantic Division regular season competition. In that contest, it was the Hokies outlasting the Wahoos by a 9-8 final score. This meeting resulted in another closely fought match. Tech blew things open in the last quarter to gain a 12-7 victory and the state title. Virginia Tech’s win over UVA was highlighted by brilliant performances from Daniel Straight and Braxton Vinson, each with three goals, as well as strong two-meter play from UVA’s Daniel Sunday.

As an added bonus to the event, an All Tournament Team was selected and was comprised of the strongest players during the weekend:

Kurt Clauss, James Madison
John Covant, Hampton Roads
John Rogers, Hampton Roads
Daniel Sunday, UVA
Braxton Vinson, Virginia Tech
Alex Zykov, UVA
Peter Ollis, Virginia Tech (goalie)

Each member of the All Tournament Team received individual trophies to mark their accomplishment.

The inaugural Virginia State Championship was successful beyond great competition. The event provided a great experience for every participant. Every game ran on time and teams were given ample opportunities to properly warm-up. Championship shirts were available as well as an official program listing the game schedule and rosters. 

“This was a really great tournament and we appreciated how well it was run,” expressed Peter Ollis, president of Virginia Tech Water Polo. “We want to help anyway we can to ensure this becomes an annual event.”

The success of any event is also due to the efforts of the officials working hard to call the games consistently. Head Referee David Jacobs and Rodolfo Samayoa took on that responsibility all weekend and provided the host program additional support in assisting the scoring table to operate properly.   

“It was a pleasure working the tournament and my hat is off to all those involved in the planning and administration,” stated Jacobs. “I know it’s a great deal of work to ensure a well-attended, smooth and official tournament and I think they (GRWP) did a great job.”

The tournament also showcased the effort to grow water polo in the state and highlighted several younger programs still in their first few years of development. One such team is William & Mary College from Williamsburg, VA. Only in existence since the fall of 2007, the team has moved from being an intramural sport to competing against other squads. William & Mary practices three nights a week and invites anyone interested to participate even those with no previous experience.

“We (GRWP) played William & Mary in their first match back in January of 2008,” remembered Martin. “Its incredible to see how much they have come along as a program but, more importantly, how they continue to provide an opportunity for students at their school to learn an awesome sport.”  

Greater Richmond Water Polo will be hosting the Second Annual Virginia State Water Polo Championship again next year during the weekend of February 25-26, 2012. If your team is from Virginia and interested in participating, please contact Tim Martin, president of GRWP at membership@grwp.org or visit the team website at http://www.grwp.org/.  

Several of the above photos were provided by Mike Francher. Feel free to browse additional photos from the championship by visiting: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51544722@N04/sets/72157626045505769/with/5486975125/.

Army to Host 2nd Annual Capt. John Hallett Tournament

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. will host the 2nd Annual Captain John Hallett Memorial Tournament on March 5.  The tournament will feature teams from Army, Severn School, Greenwich School, Fordham University, New York Athletic Club (NYAC), Asphalt Green, Cornell University, Boston University, Columbia University and St. Francis College (N.Y.) in a one-day, 17-game event to raise money for Team Red, White & Blue.

A non-profit veteran support organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of wounded veterans and their families, Team Red, White & Blue aims to transform the way wounded veterans are reintegrated into society when they return from combat and exit their position in the Active Duty force or National Guard.

The event commemorates and remembers the legacy of Capt. John Hallett, a past water polo captain at Army, who lost his life at the age of 30 on on August 25, 2009 in Southern Afghanistan.

"John was the team captain when I was a Yearling (sophomore)," notes Army water polo coach Matt Price, who organized and is a driving force behind the event.  

"John was not only the most inspirational captain I have ever played under, he was also a tremendous friend to everyone.  His inspiration extended far beyond the pool.  I did and still do think of him and things he said often.  Many of his words helped me through some of the toughest challenges I have faced."

An inveterate organizer,according to his wife, Lisa, in an October 25, 2009 article in the Los Angeles Times,  John L. Hallett III "always left the house with pen and paper, ready to make a list."

Hallett was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and grew up in Concord, northeast of San Francisco, where he played basketball at St. Agnes Elementary School and water polo at De La Salle High School.

During his final year at West Point, the 6-foot-1 Hallett was captain of the water polo team, where he was "the focal point and the individual that grew their team and made them competitive," noted Collegiate Water Polo Association Commissioner Daniel Sharadin.

At West Point, Hallett earned All-New York Division First Team honors in 1999 and helped the Black Knights win back-to-back New York Division titles in 1998 and 1999 to join the 2000 and 2001 Army teams as the only programs to win consecutive championships in the history of the division.

"He was  always such a great leader as well as a player. Both John and his brother Tom (Villanova University) played in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) and made tremendous contributions," noted Sharadin.

In 2001, Hallett graduated and received his commission, embracing the motto of his class: "Till duty is done."

Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash., his duty to country was matched only by his love of family and friends.

A story in the September 9, 2009 Tacoma News Tribune, notes the epitome of this attitude as he summoned the battalion rear detachment commander into his office days before the unit deployed to Afghanistan in July. He had two requests for Capt. Franky Kim - Hallett wanted constant updates about the soldiers back at Fort Lewis, and he wanted Kim to contact him as quickly as possible after Hallett's wife gave birth.

"That conversation I had with Capt. Hallett reflected perfectly the kind of man he was," Kim noted. "It exemplified not only his eagerness to take care of soldiers, but also the love he devoted to his family."

In Afghanistan, Hallett gained a reputation of befriending anybody near him, including construction workers at Kandahar Air Field and the laundry staff at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, where his unit was based.

On August 25, 2009, Hallett was among a group of soldiers that arrived at a cholera-stricken area in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, to provide injections to sick villagers. A massive bomb hidden in a culvert underneath the road ripped through the Stryker vehicle he was travelling in as his unit returned to their base, instantly killing all four soldiers on board.

Also killed were Capt. Cory J. Jenkins, 30, of Mesa, Ariz.; Sgt. 1st Class Ronald W. Sawyer, 38, of Trenton, Mo.; and Pfc. Dennis M. Williams, 24, of Federal Way, Wash.

Hallett's father, John L. Hallett II, noted about the humanitarian mission, "Knowing my son, he volunteered.".

"They were not only executing the infantry task of tying in with the local forces to improve the security situation," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Newman. "They were also demonstrating our compassion to the people of the Shah Wali Kot district by providing medical expertise."

Soon after Hallett died, the Army released a statement from his wife, Lisa, that stated,"Capt. John Louis Hallett III was an amazing father, devoted and joyful husband, thoughtful son, loving brother and inspiring friend. . . . He would always put the needs of others before his own. He was a patient teacher to our children."

"He had the warmest and most genuine smile. John would always make people laugh by his clever ways and kind humor. He was the support system for his family. From his years at West Point through his military career, John loved the challenge of being in the army and knowing that he had the opportunity to serve his country and help others through leadership, example, and duty. John felt a strong commitment to serve the country he loved."

In addition to his wife, Hallett is survived by two sons, Jackson, 5, and Bryce, 3, along with a daughter daughter, Heidi, who was born in August, 2009 and whom he never got to meet.

Price notes, "As a West Point graduate John made the ultimate sacrifice and his memory will not be forgotten."

"The Army water polo team honors him not only with this memorial event, but we also wear his initials on the backs of our game caps.  John was always a charitable person, so it seems appropriate that his event is a charitable one."

Following the completion of the tournament, John Hallett II, father of Capt. Hallett, will present the awards to the competing teams.

More information about Team Red, White & Blue is available online at http://teamrwb.com/

Interested parties can donate directly to Team Red, White & Blue in memory of Captatin Hallett at:

GRWP Set to Host State Champs

On the weekend of February 26th & 27th, the Greater Richmond Water Polo Club will host the Inaugural Virginia State Water Polo Championship for collegiate and Masters level athletes. The event will be held at the NOVA Aquatic Center in Richmond, VA and will feature squads representing the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary College, James Madison University, Hampton Roads Water Polo Club and Greater Richmond. The tournament will give one of these six Virginia based clubs a chance to call themselves state champions.

Each of the teams participating are guaranteed four games. Teams will play three games on Saturday and one game on Sunday. The two teams with the best record will compete in a fifth and final game on Sunday to claim the championship trophy.   

“American Water Polo is excited about Greater Richmond running this championship and their desire to host it as an annual event,” stated Tom Tracey, AWP Director of Membership Development. “We foresee this helping seed more Master programs, as well as give collegiate teams an opportunity to play during their off-season, and we will continue to see water polo grow in Virginia.”

Three of the six programs participating in the championship are current members of American Water Polo. The event is being sanctioned through AWP at no cost to the host since this is an additional perk for AWP club teams.

“We want to support our club teams and make it as easy as possible to offer more events for their area,” added Tracey. “That’s why we made sure our insurance allows our members to play against even non-members and still receive their coverage.”

“Its one of the reasons why clubs like Greater Richmond can continue to grow in areas with a limited number of programs since we do not restrict them from hosting other programs who carry their own insurance.”

Greater Richmond Water Polo is a young club formed in the Spring of 2007 with a purpose of giving local players a chance to continue beyond the collegiate years. Today, the program is comprised of twenty active players whose experiences range from international play and all the way down to first-timers. This is evident in the club motto “all abilities and experiences welcomed!” located on the homepage of their website.

The last two fall seasons, GRWP offered a tournament but many of the collegiate men’s clubs couldn’t participate because they were heavily into their collegiate competition schedules. So the team decided to move their tournament to a time of the year when everyone was available. They also wanted to offer something different that would attract teams back every year. And that’s when the Virginia State Water Polo Championship was born. The event will feature championship shirts, programs and an All-Tournament Team voted on by the coaches.        

But the state championship weekend won’t be the end of the season for the Greater Richmond athletes. They will continue to practice and play games throughout the year. They will continue to offer anyone who has a passion or desire to play water an opportunity to get into the pool. And Most importantly, they will continue to grow as a club.

“For anyone interested in playing, please come to a few practices and see if you have fun,” expressed Tim Martin, GRWP Club President. “All we ask is that you be a competent enough swimmer ready to enjoy yourself.”

Visit the Greater Richmond Water Polo website at www.grwp.org for complete information regarding practice times, locations and fees.

For more information regarding the Virginia State Water Polo Championship, or if you are interested in becoming a club program and member of American Water Polo, contact Tom Tracey at 610-277-6787 or tracey@americanwaterpolo.org.

Balancing Winning, Fun and Sportsmanship

Rudy Ruth, the former Wilson High School water polo coach and current superintendent of the school district in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, was featured in the February 13 Reading Eagle discussing his coaching philosophies as it related to sportsmanship.

Balancing winning, fun and sportsmanship

Former Wilson water polo coach Ruth displayed compassion for weaker foes

Before Dr. Rudy Ruth took over as superintendent of the Wilson School District - his "day job" as he referred to it in a recent e-mail - he was the Bulldogs water polo coach.

Well, actually, he was more than just a coach; he played a major role in the growth of water polo, not just in Berks County, but throughout the state.

He is a member of the Berks County Aquatic Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Bill Barnett Distinguished Coaching Award (Scholastic), given annually by USA Water Polo.

Ruth's teams at Wilson were dominant and laid the foundation for success that continues today.

Under Ruth, the Bulldogs won nine state titles, four East Coast championships and more than 100 consecutive matches from 1992-96.

They also won a fair amount of games by landslide, much like the Christian Heritage girls basketball team won its game against West Ridge in mid-January. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the Crusaders' 108-3 victory over the Fighting Eagles in Riverdale, Utah.

The game received national media attention and got blog posters on each side of the issue fired up, sometimes vehemently so.

You had some folks complaining about the lack of sportsmanship by Christian Heritage in running up the score, and others incensed that the winning team should be expected to "apologize for a job well done."

There wasn't much middle ground.

The Christian Heritage coach, Rob McGill, rationalized the rout by saying: "Too many people in the world right now allow the youth to not be as good as they can be, allow them to be lazy. 

"Here, I'm giving them an opportunity to live up to the best of their abilities and be proud of what they're able to accomplish."

Honestly, there should be no pride in winning by 105.

Ruth's philosophy about handling games against decidedly weaker teams took into consideration his players and the opposition.

When it was clear the outcome wouldn't be in doubt, Ruth would often start reserves, and when the Bulldogs went on the road, he'd leave the starters home to practice.

"(Doing) this was not only a great experience for the players," Ruth said, "but the parents had a chance to see their kids start in a varsity game and get more playing time than normal."

And even though Ruth was aware of the discrepancy in talent and the need to keep the score respectable, his team's effort wasn't a casualty of his compassion.

"We would play hard, but we would have the kids aim just wide when shooting," he said. "If we did it well, the team we were playing didn't even know we weren't going full bore and the end score would be very close."

Ruth's rules didn't apply just in the water. He also wanted his kids to be conscious of their behavior on the deck.

That's why he insisted that his players not laugh on the bench. Just one more safeguard to make sure the opponent never felt "belittled."

"We would tell our kids you might be laughing about something that is totally unrelated to the game, but that is not what the weaker opponent is going to think," he said.

In a perfect world - wishful thinking, I know - scholastic sports would be about winning, but not at the expense of having fun, working hard and learning lessons that can't be taught in the classroom.

"Working toward the win is always a goal," Ruth said, "but treating others the way you want to be treated is even more important."

If scholastic sports were to adopt a golden rule, that should be it.

Contact Mike McGovern of the Reading Eagle: 610-371-5068 or mmcgovern@readingeagle.com.

Hun Swimmer Sky Walker Aided by Water Polo

Sky Walker got away from swimming competitively when he was still young to focus on water polo.

Almost six years later, he began swimming competitively for The Hun School swim team, and it has helped with water polo, his primary sport.

”It definitely helps a lot,” said Walker, a junior who plays for Tigers Water Polo club team as well as Hun’s water polo team in the fall. “I remember freshman year, I was about the same speed as everyone else in water polo. When I came back, I was faster than a lot of them.”

Walker is also one of the faster swimmers for the Raiders co-ed swim team, which travels to St. Benedicts today in their first meet since their winter break. Walker will be looking to continue the trend of steady improvement in his times.

”I’ve gotten my personal bests so far every meet for the 200 freestyle, which is my main event,” Walker said. “I also do the 100 breaststroke and the 500 freestyle occasionally.

”I want to try the 200 IM because I want to see how I’d do in that. I think I’ll get that chance on Friday.”

AWP Honors One of the Greats

American Water Polo recognizes there are many people who have given so much to the sport and have touched the lives of many more. That’s why each of the individual tournaments part of the Master Cup Series will be named after someone who has contributed to the development of the sport. 

“The ability to name the Cups after icons in the sport is a way we can honor those who have provided so much to water polo,” states Dan Sharadin, Director of American Water Polo.

The first competition of the Masters Cup Series will be named after Peter J. Cutino to recognize his hard work on many of the different levels of aquatic sports. Peter Cutino was a coach and educator in swimming and water polo for over 40 years. He was the co-author with his son on several books, including 101 Offensive Water Polo Drills and 101 Water Polo Defensive and Conditioning Drills.

During his 26-year tenor as the head coach of the University of California - Berkeley, Cutino won eight NCAA titles and compiled a 519-172-10 career winning record. In addition, Coach Cutino has also served as a US National Team Coach and US Olympic Team Coach as well as a member of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee and the chair of the Men’s International Olympic Committee. 

Not only has Coach Cutino received numerous honors, such as being inducted into six Hall of Fames, but in 1999 the San Francisco Olympic Club established the Peter J. Cutino Award, which is considered to be the highest distinction presented to the top male and female collegiate water polo player each year. 

Peter Cutino continued to coach with the Olympic Club as well as run specialty clinics after his retirement from Cal Berkeley in 1989.

In September of 2004, Peter J. Cutino Sr. passed away, a loss felt by all the athletes, coaches and fellow aquatic enthusiasts he came into contact with over the years. 

The Inaugural Cutino Cup will take place in the San Francisco Bay Area on Presidents’ Day Weekend. This is fitting considering Coach Cutino’s strong bond to the area. The event will run at several local pools in order to offer competition to athletes on various age levels, as well as both genders.

“We love the idea of creating new concepts for competition and are looking forward to giving the senior level athletes even more innovative ideas in the future,” concluded Sharadin.

For more information on the Cutino Cup for Masters Athletes, or if you have interest in hosting a Masters Cup Series Tournament in your area, feel free to contact Tom Tracey, AWP Membership Development, at Tracey@americanwaterpolo.org or call 610-277-6787. 

High School All-Star Game Makes Waves

The Pennsylvania All-Stars battled back from a 7-3 halftime deficit against the East Coast All-Stars to win the game by one with a final score of 11-10. The 2010 Men's CWPA Eastern Championship High School All-Star game was bursting with excitement and set the stage for the second round of the varsity championship. Both the Pennsylvania and the East Coast All-Star teams played with exceptional sportsmanship and epitomized the characteristics of an All-Star.

The Eastern's All-Star game was held in conjunction with the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Eastern Championship scheduled at Bucknell University on Saturday, November 20^th. This championship hosts the top eight teams on the East Coast with the winner advancing to the Men's Final Four hosted at the University of California's Spieker Aquatics Complex on December 3^rd and 4^th.

The All-Star game featured the top 14 athletes from the state of Pennsylvania and the East Coast. "The game was excellent to say the least.  I was very impressed with the level of play on both ends of the pool.  It is clear that the athletes are committing to a year round training regimen that allows them to play at a high level in 30 meter water.  I am sure this has a lot to do with many of the players crossing over into swimming in the off-season.  Great job to everyone who competed you all have a very bright Collegiate career," said two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Co-Founder of Kap7, Inc Brad Schumacher.

For many of the All-Stars this was their first high level competition in a 30 meter tank. In spite of this obstacle the game's pace was up tempo and did not cease until the final whistle. It could be characterized by momentum swing, with 8 of the Pennsylvania All-Stars' 11 goals coming in the second half of play, splitting 4 goals a quarter. While the East Coast All-Stars scored 7 of their 10 total goals in the first half.

At the end of the day the final score will eventually fade in the memories of these athletes, however their experiences of competing at an event of this magnitude will remain robust. For some it was their first time playing in 30 meters, playing in an all-star game, or competing against high level opponents. "I thought it was a great chance for me to compete on a team full of kids who are on my level, against a team of other players who are also on my level.  It made my perception of the game alot different," said Carl Dowzicky (Jr., Pennsylvania All-Star/Germantown Academy, Pa) when asked of his experience.

If you are interested in watching the High School All-Star game or any of CWPA Men's Eastern Championship games, please visit the Collegiate Water Polo Association's website (www.collegiatewaterpolo.org) and follow the link "2009-2010 Web Streaming Archive."

East Coast Goals: Sam Butler (2), Steve Roberts (2), Kevin Schofield, Mike Carter, Fred Sutter, McClatchy Ruskin, Patrick Reyes, Timmy Barry

Pennsylvania Goals: Jake Lloyd (3), Alberto Munarriz (3), Seth Coldren (2), Ian Thompson, Wes Hopkins, Carl Dowzicky

Exclusions: East Coast - 8, Pennsylvania - 6

Advantage Opportunities: East Coast - 5-for-6, Pennsylvania - 4-for-8

Sports Book Promotes Polo

Need to know how to teach water polo?  Ask Dr. Pete Snyder, professor of physical education at Fullerton College!  Water polo has been an integral part of his life for over 30 years. As the chapter author of water polo for the publication Physical Activity & Sport for the Secondary School Student, Snyder shares his knowledge about skill instruction, safe and effective practice techniques and game strategies.

“Water polo is an Olympic sport and activity that is ranked as one of the top forms of exercise for the body. Many different muscular combinations and energy systems are used while playing the game; and, more importantly, it is fun,” says Snyder. “At the same time, given a few precautions, the game is very safe and poses little risk of injury to the muscular-skeletal systems of the body.”

This edition of Physical Activity & Sport makes water polo less daunting.  Teachers, students and teacher educators will find the latest in skill instruction, practice techniques and game strategies for 22 sports and activities, all backed by research. They also will find reams of hands-on tools – assessments, lesson plans, practice drills and safety guidelines - on the CD-ROM that accompanies the book.

“Perhaps best of all,” says Dr. Neil Dougherty of Rutgers University, editor of the book, “readers will find the tips, tricks and insights that the book’s authors have accumulated over the many, many years that they’ve been teaching these sports and activities.” 

“NASPE is proud to offer this updated practical resource to the professionals who dedicate their careers to serving the physical activity needs of our nation’s young people,” says Charlene R. Burgeson, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), publishers of Physical Activity & Sport. “Every child and youth needs a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity every day and this publication will help physical education teachers, Y instructors and other physical activity professionals to help make that happen.”

Snyder has coached the sport of water polo for over 30 years at all levels – with championship teams youth through Olympic ages - and he continues to coach students at Fullerton College. In the classroom, his students develop performance and practice drill techniques and learn the value of water polo as a lifelong learning activity for physical fitness. Through Physical Activity & Sport for the Secondary School Student, Snyder reaches a wider audience of educators and teachers and shares his knowledge about the sport of water polo.

A graduate of Stanford  University, he is also a member of  the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the California Community College Organization for Physical Education.  In addition to his three decades of coaching and teaching, Snyder served two years as dean and athletic director of physical education and athletics at Fullerton College.

Learn how to teach water polo and 22 other sports and activities with the help of Physical Activity & Sport for the Secondary School Student. Other subjects include: aerobic fitness, archery, badminton, basketball, climbing and challenge courses, cycling, dance, golf, inline skating, lacrosse, pickle ball, soccer, softball, speedball, swimming, tennis, track & field, tumbling, volleyball, water polo and weight training. Order online at http://www.naspeinfo.org/shop.  Stock number is 304-10463, $48 for NASPE/AAHPERD members; $69 for non-members.

For more information contact Paula Keyes Kun at 703-476-3461 or pkun@aahperd.org. 

AWP Offers Masters Something More

Masters Cup Series Information Brochure (PDF)

American Water Polo wants to be at the forefront of offering the Master Level Athlete an opportunity to participate in great events, as well as grow the number of athletes who participate beyond the college years.  

“We are really excited about the chance to provide something for Masters athletes that has never been done before,” expressed Dan Sharadin, Director of American Water Polo. “The Masters Cup Series is going to be a number of great tournaments, providing a lot of chances for teams to compete, while at the same time offering some significant prize money for those clubs trying to win several Cups over the course of a year.”

Teams can enter as many, or as few tournaments as they want. There are no limitations or minimum participation requirements. Each Masters Cup tournament will have awards for the top teams during that weekend in each age group and gender. In addition, each club program will accumulate points based on their teams finish during each of the Masters Cup Tournaments. At the end of the year, the club program with the highest accumulated points will win the overall Masters Cup Series along with $1,000 prize money.

“The concept is not original to the sporting world but it is new to water polo,” points out Tom Tracey, AWP Membership Development. “We came up with the idea after seeing the excitement based around the recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and thought ‘wouldn’t that be a great format for Masters water polo and those teams that like to enter numerous tournaments throughout the year.”

In addition, the Masters Cup Series doesn’t punish a team from wanting to only attend one event since they still have the chance to win that particular tournament’s age bracket.

The idea was shared with a number of Master Teams during two conference calls that discussed how American Water Polo can work with Master Level Athletes to offer things that they want.

“Masters have been under-appreciated for their value to the sport,” added Tracey. “They shouldn’t be treated like they are just another dollar. They are the coaches, the referees and the individuals who in some cases played on every level of the game. They have so much to offer to the sport and we know there are so many more out there that would love to get back in just to play!”

Jeff Roy of Tri Valley Master added “We look forward to a great relationship with AWP and their events.  They provide individual and team insurance coverage, lower membership fees, and allow teams to participate without a lot of red tape! It is a growing membership and I am sure this will foster better team events locally and nationally!”

American Water Polo is currently developing a section on the organization’s website that will focus on the Master Athlete. This area will provide competition information as well as stories, standings and results for the Masters Cup Series.   

For more information on the Masters Cup Series, or if you have interest in hosting a Master Cup in your area, feel free to contact Tom Tracey, AWP Membership Development, at Tracey@americanwaterpolo.org or call 610-277-6787. 

XMAS Mini-Camp Enters 12th Year

In the summer of 1999, after having a few years of experience at the U.S. Naval Academy camp and over 25 years of coaching experience, Pete Snyder contacted a small group of what he considered the best teachers of Water Polo to put on a December mini-camp for girls in Southern California.

They were able to secure the Janet Evans 50 meter pool in Fullerton, CA. The camp was short, only 2 1/2 days, and focused on the following goals:

1. 1. Keep a small coach to athlete ratio - 1:12 max. (including separate goalie instruction) 
2. 2. Coaches learn every athlete’s name, evaluate and provide positive verbal and written feedback; creating a positive learning-oriented environment.

3. Focus on educating the athletes about the sport of water polo. Unlike many of contemporary sports, the core of water polo skills, especially in the formative years, needs to be strengthened and expanded significantly.

4. Fit water polo with high school and college planning and help the athletes develop a consciousness of College and University choices.

5. Make sure the athletes have fun playing competitive games, building enthusiasm and enjoying the sport!

From that first year in ’99, the Annual Christmas Water Polo Camp grew to the upper limit of 95 athletes every year. The location shifted from Fullerton to Mount San Antonio and back again to Fullerton but all the camps were offered in 50 meter pools and focused on the same goals. 

“Nike Swim and Wahoo’s Fish Taco have been very gracious as sponsors each and every year,” expressed Snyder. “Every camper takes home a good amount of stuff and there are snacks and liquids provided.”

The experienced coaching staff has remained, with some minor changes, intact every year. Past and current coaches have included Adam Krikorian - UCLA, Jamie Wright - U.C. Davis, Carin Crawford - San Diego State, Shari Baird-Smart - Univ. of Hawaii, Vickie Gorman - Villanova, Matt Anderson - U. of Michigan, Todd Clapper - Arizona State Univ., Alex Rodriguez - Pomona College, Scott Hinman - Irvine H.S., Don Luethke - Western H.S., Lani Ruh - Walnut H.S., Marc Ruh - Mt. San Antonio College, Chris Jackson - Mt. SAC and Gabriel Martinez - Fullerton College. In addition, several Olympians have been involved, including Jule Swail, Natalie Golda, Gubba Sheehy, Mariah Van Noorman, Nicolle Payne, Bernice Orwig and Omar Amr.

The camp covers a sport psychology and referee component under the direction of UCLA’s Dr. Robert Corb, who also happens to be the NCAA National Coordinator of Water Polo Officials. This has been a huge bonus for the athletes and incorporate meetings with parents as well.

Every athlete also receives a camp notebook. It includes sections on many phases of the game written by some of the best coaches in water polo’s history.  

“The camp emphasizes listening and taking notes during the in-class sessions,” states Snyder. “This is incentivized with awards for the best note-taking.” 

Another value for the athletes are discussions regarding College and University recruiting. Several sessions educate the athletes on the process of contacting coaches and sorting out the match between high school and college participation.

This year’s camp is scheduled for December 17-19 at the Fullerton College Pool and is open to all girls between the ages of 13-17, with some exceptions.  Players have come from as far away as Florida and New Hampshire. 

For more information regarding the F.C.C.A.T. Water Polo’s 2010 Christmas Girls Mini-Camp, visit any of the following link:

http://waterpolo.fullcoll.edu

Pete Snyder holds a Ph.D. and is a professor at Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA. Pete has written several educational material for water polo that includes Water Polo for Players & Teachers of Aquatics which is available under the Coaches Resources & Links. 

High School All-Star Team Selected

American Water Polo is proud to inform you of the 2010 Eastern Championship High School All-Star Team selections. The Eastern's All-Star game is held in conjunction with the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Eastern Championship scheduled at Bucknell University on Saturday, November 20^th. This year the Pennsylvania All-Stars and the East Coast All-Stars are set to meet at 11:30 a.m., just after the conclusion of the Brad Schumacher Water Polo Clinic.

This marks American Water Polo's fourth high school All-Star game held in conjunction with the CWPA's Eastern Championship. We believe this event to be a great opportunity to showcase the East Coast's premier high school talent.

 "We are excited to see the high school all-star game and clinic take place during the CWPA Eastern Championship and believe it to be a great benefit for the development of the sport. The athletes get a chance to play in front of several college coaches and then have the opportunity to stay and watch some great collegiate water polo.  Those participating in the clinic get the chance to work with a past Olympian as well. It should be a fantastic experience for all involved," said the Commissioner of the CWPA Dan Sharadin.

East Coast All-Stars

Pennsylvania All-Stars

Team Continues to Thrive in Newark

During the fall of 1989, Saint Benedict's Preparatory School offered the first season of water polo to its community. The sport was started to help keep the boys' swimming squad active and in shape for the upcoming swim season. Twenty-two years later, the Grey Bees Water Polo Team is still thriving in a state that only offers four high school programs.   

Saint Benedict's Prep opened its doors in 1868 to the Newark community. Guided by the Rule of Benedict, written in the sixth century, St. Benedict's combines rigorous academic study with an emphasis on building a community whose members are responsible to one another for developing virtue, character and talent. Their school motto "Whatever hurts my brother, hurts me."

Today, the school consists of approximately 550 young men between 7th and 12th grade. What makes their water polo program unique compared to most high school water polo programs in the Northeast, as well as the country, their team consists a majority of young black and latino male athletes.   

"In the early years of this, we would walk into places and everything would stop and heads would turn," stated Head Coach Glenn Cassidy. "Here's a team of primarily black and latino kids coming from Newark playing a game not traditionally played by black and latino kids." 

The team was recently featured in an article on NJ.Com and the Star-Ledger that also included a short video clip. The Grey Bee players talk about their experiences with water polo and how it helped develop their swimming abilities. The article starts off explaining the physical nature of the game but gradually turns to how the players developed strong bonds with their teammates. You can read the full story by clicking here. 

St. Benedict's will be finishing up its 2010 season this weekend with the Eastern Prep High School Championship and will compete against teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. In the spring, they will begin playing again and compete as their club team, The Grey Bees, in the AWP Main Line League. 

(Team Photo courtesy of SCANMANPHOTOS.COM)

Boston Water Polo Begins Second Season!

This past spring nearly 70 players with water polo experience ranging from high school to National team competed during eight Sunday nights at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool in Boston, Massachusetts. Building on this amazing turn-out, Boston Water Polo will begin its second season of co-ed water polo play this fall. Due to the limited availability of pool time at competition-ready facilities, they will host a short season consisting of two nights at Boston University's Fitness and Recreation Center. They expect to form four teams who will be guaranteed three games per night.

For more information or to register, contact Brett Marinelli at brett.marinelli@gmail.com.

Date:

Saturday, December 4^th, 6 - 9 PM

The registration fee is $100, to register please click on the link below:

www.bostonwaterpolo.com/node/2

All participants must have an active membership with American Water Polo.

(www.americanwaterpolo.org/membership)

AWP Sponsors Clinic at Eastern Championship

2010 Clinic Registration Form / Bucknell University Informed Consent Release Form

American Water Polo is sponsoring a coed water polo clinic in conjunction with the 2010 CWPA Men’s Eastern Championship. The weekend of festivities will be taking place November 19th-21st at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. The clinic will feature Brad Schumacher, a two-time Olympic Water Polo Athlete and Gold Medal Winner in Swimming, who is currently the Head Coach of Set Water Polo Club and co-owner of Kap 7 - featuring “equipment for water polo players made by water polo players.” 

The weekend ties in several great aspects of the water polo community. The clinic is an opportunity for young athletes to learn from one of the country’s top Olympic Water Polo players who started his career on the East Coast. There will also be a High School Boys All-Star Game that will feature some of the top players on the East Coast and a chance for them to highlight their talents and skills. In addition, all the young athletes will have an opportunity to watch the top collegiate varsity men’ programs compete for the CWPA Eastern Championship Title and the right to represent the league at the NCAA Championship in December.

The cost of the coed clinic is $65/person and includes four tickets for the CWPA Eastern Championship, a CWPA Media Guide and Championship Program, a CWPA T-shirt and a photo with Brad Schumacher. Not to mention a whole lot of water polo!

“The clinic has always been a great experience for those athletes who have been involved,” stated Tom Tracey of American Water Polo. “Its not often you have an opportunity to learn from one of the great water polo players in US history and watch the top collegiate teams in the East compete for a chance to go to the NCAA Championship and all under the same roof.” 

The CWPA Eastern Championship starts on Friday, November 19th and continues all weekend with the Championship Game at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 21st. The coed water polo clinic will take place on Saturday morning, November 20th for any athlete between the ages of ten and eighteen.

For more information, call Alex Bond at American Water Polo 610-277-6787 or email office@americanwaterpolo.org.  

ECMSL Final Weekend of Competition

The 2010 East Coast Middle School Water Polo League enters its last weekend of competition with the championship round at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa. Teams started competing in September to determine the seeding for this final event. On Sunday, October 24th, a champion will be crowned in the boys’ and girls’ divisions.   

The league started several years ago as the Pennsylvania Middle School League but changed its name after several non-Pennsylvania programs joined. To better represent the clubs involved, the league was renamed the East Coast Middle School League. The mission has always been to provide middle school-aged athletes an opportunity to play water polo in a fun and educational environment. All the officiating, and a majority of the coaching, is provided on a volunteer basis. 

“Our purpose was to help promote age group development in the sport,” states Veronica Coyle, coordinator of the league. “A majority of the teams in the East play water polo as a fall activity on the high school level and it is important to the growth of the sport that teams offer similar fall competition at the developmental level.”  

This year’s league involved 15 programs and close to 200 age group athletes currently in 5th to 8th grade. Teams competed in two games consisting of 12 minute halves on each of the five Sundays. Those programs travelling a longer distance were given the opportunity to play in at least three games on each date.

Coyle expressed how pleased she was with the attitude of all the coaches. “They did a fantastic job of adhering to the mission of the league and ensured every athlete, regardless of ability, had a great experience each weekend.”  

Coyle, who completed her fourth year as the volunteer coordinator, has watched the league not only grow in size but improve on a competitive level as well.

“Although scores don’t really matter, games were a lot closer this season which makes the atmosphere much more exciting for the kids and the parents.”

The environment has been key in the development of the league. Much of the thanks go to the efforts of the host sites like North Penn, Governor Mifflin, Cumberland Valley, Pennridge and Pittsburgh, who have volunteers running their scorers table and concessions. In most cases, the volunteers are parents and several high school athletes who at one point also participated in the league.
 
“I’ve had the pleasure of watching a lot of the middle school athletes move on to their high school team and have an immediate impact,” stated Coyle. “It’s great knowing that our league played a role in their development.”

Games will be played between Noon and 5:30 p.m. this Sunday, October 24th at North Penn High School, 1340 Valley Forge Road, Lansdale, Pa.

For more information on the East Coast Middle School League, or other water polo activities throughout the year for age group athletes, contact Tom Tracey, American Water Polo, at 610-277-6787 or tracey@americanwaterpolo.org.     

Villanova University Orphan Invite

This past weekend Villanova University hosted their annual Orphan Invite tournament. Since its commencement in 1998 this tournament has raised over $16,000 to go towards children with out a family. Founded by Dan Sharadin, Head Coach at Villanova and Director of American Water Polo, the invite helps raise awareness for the plight of orphans.

This event is run completely by volunteers and donations. Villanova University donated the use of the pool and volunteers agreed to officiate for free. This permits 100% of the proceeds to be directed towards the children.

Dan Sharadin has a strong passion for kids in this situation, having adopted 5 children of his own. "It is really great to be able to create a win-win situation. Athletes have fun playing water polo and at the same time they are helping kids that have a difficult time in life through no fault of their own. The Orphan Invite has been a wonderful way to assist children that don't have anything close to the advantages of the typical collegiate athlete, while still providing some great competition for teams throughout the region," said Dan Sharadin.

The tournament ran smoothly with plenty of stiff competition. There were a wide range of teams involved; such as high school, senior men, and men's collegiate club teams.

A 17 - 14 overtime win for Drexel University over the Patriots kicked off the tournament on Friday night, with an impressive showing from Marc Felgoise in cage for the Patriots.

Play continued to be tight moving into Saturday with a close game between Georgetown University and Penn State University, ending with Georgetown as the victor in a 6 - 5 finish. Penn State rallied from that loss with an intense 11 - 10 win over Villanova University to close out Saturdays play.

All in all, the 2010 Villanova Orphan Invite was a tremendous success with great competition and $2100 raised for charity.