THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF USA WATER POLO THANK YOU TONY! Five-time Olympian Azevedo ends decorated career with one final game at Stanford VOLUME 32, NUMBER 2, SUMMER 2017 MASTERS RETURN TO RIVERSIDE p. 10 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF USA WATER POLO VOL. 32, NUM. 2, Summer 2017 THANK What’s Inside... USA WATER POLO NATIONAL OFFICE ON THE COVER . 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, YOU Tony Azevedo after Inside Water ...................2 Huntington Beach, CA 92648 TONY! scoring the final goal of (714) 500-5445 business • (714) 500-5449 membership • (714) 960-2431 fax Five-time Olympian Azevedo ends decorated career with one final game at Stanford Turbo 5 Meters .................4 USA WATER POLO NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER his career on June 11. 11360 Valley Forge Ave., Photo by Catharyn Hayne Sub Photo by Jonathan Moore Los Alamitos, CA 90720 MASTERS RETURN TO RIVERSIDE Water Polo Times ..............8 WEB SITE p. 10 www.usawaterpolo.org A Day in the Life ...............26 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Christopher Ramsey Water Polo Scene ..............27 CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Marty Samuels CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER From the Deck ................28 Jim Callahan CHIEF MEMBERSHIP & ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Stephanie London Krogius Lob Shots ....................33 CHIEF HIGH PERFORMANCE OFFICER John Abdou DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Hot Shots ....................36 Greg Mescall DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Christy Sicard DIRECTOR OF MARKETING ReCaps Katherine Schmidt DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Scott Aubin 2017 Masters . 10 DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Joni Walbring HIGH PERFORMANCE MANAGER pg14 ReCaps Anne Laurence 2017 Pipeline National MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER Teams Announced . 12 Kayla Heath National FINANCE MANAGER Fay Hu TEXAS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER League Also In This Issue Joe Linehan MARKETING COORDINATOR Year Three Results Annalece Montgomery DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Tony Azevedo . 18 Yiyon Lee HIGH PERFORMANCE COORDINATOR Kathryn Manderino Bringing Diversity VIDEO PRODUCER To Water Polo . 22 Sherie Key EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CEO Mai Lam MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Bryson Walker BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Graff (Chairman), Rudy Baldoni, Look Ahead... Richard Esterkin, Houston Hall, Ray Kennedy, Kay Krill, Jeremy Laster, Sheldon Pang, Walt Price, Alfonso Pulido, Next Issue Steve Rodosky, Bill Smith, Jessica Steffens, Robert Sternfels, Peter Varellas, Brenda Villa > USA Water Polo Academic All-Americans EDITOR Greg Mescall CONTRIBUTORS Jim Cullingham, Kelley Casey, Kelley L. Cox, Angela Kraus, Paul Ciaravino, Jonathan Moore, Matt Szabo, Michael Randazzo, Dave Williamson, Naresh Rao, Brian Alexander, Chris Ramsey PRINTING pg16 Quad Graphics, 555 South 108th Street, West Allis, WI 53214 CREATIVE > Junior Olympics Results Adrenalin, Inc., 54 West 11th Ave., Denver, CO 80204 Junior Olympics 303-454-8888 • goadrenalin.com Preview USA Water Polo Skip Shot Magazine (ISSN# 15507580) is published four times per year by United States Water Polo, Inc., located at 2124 Main Street, Gear Up For The World’s Largest Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Periodicals postage is paid at Huntington Beach, CA 92648 and additional mailing offices. Water Polo Tournament POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Skip Shot Magazine, United States Water usawaterpolo.org 1 Polo, Inc., 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 INSIDE WATER letter from the CEO, Christopher Ramsey USA WATER POLO Los Angeles Moving Closer To Olympic Bid The odds that Los Angeles will host an Olympic While Paris officials have expressed a strong committee for our initiatives in Southern Games are increasing, with two scenarios now in preference for the 2024 Games, Los Angeles 2024 California. Beyond that, SoCal has always been play by the International Olympic Committee. The has been more measured, and its officials appear to a symbol of water polo excellence, and we can first scenario is that LA wins the bid outright over be open to hosting either 2024 or 2028. expect smart, knowledgeable fans to get very Paris, and that the games are held in Los Angeles The 2024 bid process has been messy. Other cities excited about the Olympic water polo tournament, in the summer of 2024. Another unusual but besides Boston dropped out, citing the high costs making it an unforgettable event. increasingly likely outcome is that both cities earn and uncertain returns associated with hosting Subtler but no less important is the value of bids to host the Olympic Games with Paris get - an Olympics. Finalist cities Hamburg, Rome and fanning of the Olympic flame in California ting the nod in 2024 and LA for 2028, giving the Budapest also dropped out, leaving Los Angeles and across the nation. Water polo is one of our Olympic movement two wonderful locations and Paris. country’s fastest growing sports, and a Los Ange- following Tokyo in 2020. The dual-award possibility has gained signifi- les Olympics will give our game the exposure it The U.S. Olympic Committee is eager to host the cant momentum in recent months. IOC officials deserves. It will also give our nation a fresh games on American soil. New York made a bid discussed it with the two potential hosts at the reminder that we are all one team. The decision for the 2012 Games but didn’t make the final cut. Sport Accord conference in Aarhus, Denmark. will be made by vote of the IOC at the September The New York bid was followed by Chicago for 13 meeting in Lima, Peru. the 2016 Games, but Rio de Janeiro instead got A Los Angeles Games would mark the first U.S. the nod, becoming the first South American city Olympics since the Salt Lake City Winter Games to host the games. Then there was Boston, which in 2002 and the first Summer Olympics since the was initially awarded the privilege of represent- 1996 Atlanta Games. The games were last held in ing the United States in the 2024 bid process, but Los Angeles in 1984—an organizational triumph later dropped out after a hailstorm of local political that opened a brilliant new approach to hosting opposition. That led to the extraordinary move the Olympics. Chris by the USOC of truly changing horses midstream A third Olympiad in the City of Angels would be and shifting its bid to Los Angeles, which has a great for water polo. As part of the legacy program long and proud Olympic tradition and was more of the LA2024 bid, USA Water Polo will ben- than happy to accept the challenge. efit from concrete support from the organizing Stay current with USA Water Polo by visiting USAWaterPolo.org or joining our social media community! www.facebook.com/usawp www.youtube.com/usawp www.twitter.com/usawp snapchat www.instragram.com/usawp Follow “USAWP” If you have a comment or question concerning Skip Shot magazine, send in a letter to the editor. LETTERS TO You can write to Skip Shot Magazine: THE EDITOR c/o USA Water Polo, 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 or 2 send an email to: [email protected] Stop by Sea Air Federal Credit Union’s booth for information about our exclusive package designed to support our student-aged savers and learn about our youth programs for great saving opportunities. 888.732.2471 Colorado Time Systems is pleased to announce the introduction of a completely wireless timing and scoring solution for water polo. The portable scoreboard can be moved within your facility to accomodate the best viewing for your audience (caddy sold separately). Game and shot time are displayed in an all-new ruggedized polyethylene molded plastic enclosure. All components are controlled with a 2.4GHz wireless controller. WATER POLO CLOCK – 10” LED digits display shot time, 5” LED digits display game time – Integrated horn – performs separate shot and game tones – Integrated batteries SCOREBOARD – 5” LED digits – External horn – Integrated batteries WIRELESS – 2.4GHz wireless Call us today to get additional information and be the first in line to receive this exciting solution. www.coloradotime.com 1551 E 11th St. | Loveland, CO 80537 800.279.0111 | 970.667.1000 Colorado Time Systems is proud to be the Official Timing & Scoring Partner of 5 METERS Quick Shots from USA Water Polo USA WATER POLO WATER POLO Five Questions with... SAMI HILL, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist & SS: When did you get a sense this was becoming a big thing outside of #FlopFriday Commissioner your team? SKIPSHOT: How did #FlopFriday get SH: I knew that #FlopFriday had the potential to go viral in the water started? polo world from the response I got on the very first video I posted on Instagram! My belly flop wasn’t my best, but people seemed to love it! SAMI HILL: During our rigorous full-time training schedule SS: What is your most memorable flop? before the Olympic games, it was SH: One we did at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. important to find joy and laughter I was a coach at the USA Holiday Camp and organized the biggest in small things when the going #FlopFriday created so far! Over 100 campers flopped, and we pulled it got tough. So my teammates and I off. It was so fun and SO AWESOME! found a way to make the end of the SS: week the best day of the week! Every What does it mean to be the #FlopFriday authority, and what are Friday we would belly flop into some of the cooler flops you’ve seen online? the pool as a fun way to keep team SH: Of course I love participating in #FlopFriday myself, as I did for spirits high. months and months of our Olympic training...but my favorite thing SS: What makes a successful flop? is seeing it spread across the country in our sport! Some of the coolest ones I’ve seen include themes, obstacles, music, slow motion, and my SH: The commitment.