AnnualUSA Water Polo Report 2009 AnnualUSA Water Polo Report 2009 Progress in a Challenging Environment 2009 was a year unlike anything most of us teams. Time will tell, but as we measure had ever seen. It started with the economy progress and skill development, we are hope- in free fall, and none of us knowing when or ful that participants in ODP will make faster if things would stabilize, let alone recover. progress in the years ahead and make our Would our members, donors and sponsors sport better for all. stand by our organization and maintain their commitment in the face of severe financial Despite the difficult economy, our members, pressure? donors and sponsors did support us in 2009 so that once again we finished the year in We decided to be conservative, and man- very solid financial shape, with a strength- age our spending carefully so that we would ened staff, new programs for members of all be able to weather the storm. However, ages, and strong World Championship show- we wanted to invest in our programs for ings for both our women, who won the Gold members, our core events, and our national and our men, who made the medal round teams so that we could continue to grow and and equaled their best finish ever in fourth improve. So we were very selective and tried place. 2009 Board to give our members as much value as we of Directors could—focusing our resources on one major We look forward to continue to grow and Michael Graff CHAIRMAN new investment—The Olympic Development strengthen our organization and our sport Program. in 2010. As the year ended, we had identi- Jeremy Laster ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVE fied three individuals to nominate for the Ellen Estes Lee Nearly 1000 teenage members, from all Board who would be confirmed in January, ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVE around the country, got an opportunity to be 2010 — RoAnn Costin, Sandy Nitta and John Edward Reynolds on the ground floor of an ambitious overhaul Hendrickson. These three individuals increase DIRECTOR of our national style of play—an effort to our geographic coverage (New England and William Smith come together and agree on the key skills Mountain region) and bring a breadth of sport SECRETARY and techniques that our best players would and business experience that will serve all Robert Sternfels DIRECTOR need to be successful in the game, and then of us well. We also said thanks and goodbye have all of the participants doing similar train- to Lynn Kachmarik, who served as a board ing and skill development that the national member since 2006 and made many impor- teams were doing to get ready for World tant contributions. Championships in Rome. Mission Statement Thank you for the opportunity to serve our USA Water Polo, Inc. is a non-profit corporation Mission Statement: The result of this effort should be to increase sport. organized for the purpose to serve as the national the quality of play for those players, for their governing body for the sport of water polo in the The Mission of USA Water Polo shall be to grow clubs and high school teams, soon for their Michael Graff United States under the auspices of the United the sport of water polo throughout the United college teams, and one day for the national Chairman, USA Water Polo States Olympic Committee (USOC). States and win medals in Olympic, World Championship, and Pan American Games. 2 www.usawaterpolo.org www.usawaterpolo.org 3 AnnualUSA Water Polo Report 2009 2009 US MEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM 2009 US WOMEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM Name Position Hgt Wt. Club College Name Position Hgt Club College Brian Alexander ~ 2-Meter D 6-3 220 The Olympic Club UC-Santa Barbara ‘05 Betsey Armstrong ^ Goalkeeper 6-1 New York Athletic Club Michigan ‘05 Tony Azevedo *#© Driver 6-1 195 New York Athletic Club Stanford ‘03 Kami Craig ^ Center 5-11 Santa Barbara USC ‘09 Ryan Bailey *# 2-Meter 6-6 245 Newport Water Polo UC--Irvine ‘98 Water Polo Foundation Foundation Annika Dries Center 6-1 Saddleback El Toro LBHS ‘09 Layne Beaubien # 2-Meter D 6-6 220 New York Athletic Club Stanford ‘98 Emily Feher Goalkeeper 5-9 New York Athletic Club UCLA ‘07 Peter Hudnut 2-Meter D 6-5 220 Los Angeles Water Polo Stanford ‘03 Erika Figge Attacker 5-10 Saddleback El Toro USC ‘09 Club Tanya Gandy Attacker 5-7 San Diego Shores UCLA ‘09 Tim Hutten 2-Meter D 6-5 215 Newport Water Polo UC-Irvine ‘08 Water Polo Club Foundation Alison Gregorka ^ Defender 5-10 Great Lakes Water Polo Club Stanford ‘07 Justin Johnson ~ Defender 6-7 240 Los Angeles Water Polo UCLA ‘07 Brittany Hayes ^ Attacker 5-7 SOCAL Water Polo USC ‘07 Club Foundation JW Krumpholz 2-Meter 6-3 205 New York Athletic Club USC ‘10 Jaime Komer ^ Goalkeeper 6-0 New York Athletic Club UCLA ‘03 John Mann 2-Meter 6-5 240 New York Athletic Club UC-Berkeley ‘07 Jillian Kraus Utility 5-10 New York Athletic Club UCLA ‘08 Merrill Moses Goalie 6-3 215 New York Athletic Club Pepperdine ‘00 Courtney Mathewson Attacker 5-7 New York Athletic Club UCLA ‘08 Jeff Powers # 2MD/2M/U 6-7 230 Newport Water Polo UC-Irvine ‘03 Heather Petri * # ^ Attacker 5-11 New York Athletic Club UC-Berkeley ‘02 Foundation Kelly Rulon# Attacker 5-10 San Diego Shores Water Polo UCLA ‘07 Jesse Smith # Utility 6-4 240 New York Athletic Club Pepperdine ‘05 Club Peter Varellas Driver (L) 6-3 192 The Olympic Club Stanford ‘06 Lauren Silver Attacker 5-9 New York Athletic Club Stanford ‘09 Adam Wright # Driver 6-3 195 New York Athletic Club UCLA ‘01 Jessica Steffens ^ Utility 6-0 New York Athletic Club Stanford ‘09 Michelle Stein Attacker 5-10 New York Athletic Club USC ‘09 Moriah van Norman ^ Center 5-10 New York Athletic Club USC ‘06 © - Captain Brenda Villa * # ^ © Attacker 5-4 Commerce Aquatics Stanford ‘03 Coaches: Head Coach: Terry Schroeder * - 2000 Olympian (Sydney, Australia) Lauren Wenger ^ Utility 6-3 New York Athletic Club USC ‘06 Assistant Coach: Ryan Brown 6th Place Finish Elsie Windes^ Defender 5-10 USA Pacific Northwest United UC-Berkeley ‘07 Assistant Coach: Robert Lynn # - 2004 Olympian (Athens, Greece) Team Leader: Rick McKee 7th Place Finish ~ - 2009 World Championship team © - Captain Coaches: Head Coach: Adam Krikorian * - 2000 Olympian (Sydney, Australia) Assistant Coach: Brandon Brooks 2nd Place Finish Team Leader: Serela Kay # - 2004 Olympian (Athens, Greece) Trainer: Karen Bloch 3rd Place Finish ^ - 2008 Olympian (Beijing, China) 2nd Place Finish 4 www.usawaterpolo.org www.usawaterpolo.org 5 AnnualUSA Water Polo Report 2009 his team to its third straight medal-winning performance at the Olympic Games—accepted perhaps an even greater challenge: creating a truly national development program for elite athletes, coaches, The Year in Review: 2009 and referees. Baker was succeeded by a new women’s national team coach, Adam Krikorian, the same man who had succeeded Baker at UCLA nearly a decade earlier. Krikorian brought an exceptional re- sume of performance as an NCAA women’s coach to this new challenge. The year’s major test for the teams led by Schroeder and Krikorian was the FINA World Championships in Rome. The USA men had never placed better than fourth in a world championship, and the world Report from the CEO was watching to see if they could once again get to the medal round. Other eyes followed Krikorian, curious how the new coach would fare in his first major international competition. The problems of victory The women did not disappoint, defending their 2007 FINA World Championship title by winning a stiff finale against Canada to capture the Gold Medal. The 2009 title was the women’s third overall FINA are more agreeable than World Championship, making the U.S. the first country to win three women’s water polo crowns. The those of defeat, but they men suffered a setback, losing a close game to Spain in the semifinal after dispatching Italy on its home turf, as well as arch-rival Germany. The men made it to the medal round but settled for fourth, are no less difficult. tying their best-ever finish and reminding everyone that they remain a threat in every tournament they Winston Churchill enter. The Women’s Junior National Team, led by Coach Kyle Utsumi, also capped off a decade of dominance with a Bronze Medal performance at the Junior World Championships. The decade 2000-2009 saw the Preface women’s program win 17 medals at the 21 FINA Championships. Following the Silver Medal performances of USA Water Polo men’s and women’s teams at the Olympic The Olympic Development Program used the general structure of the old zone team model to begin Games in Beijing, the challenge of 2009 was to devise an approach that would bring consistently high the first of four 12-month phases. As the primary feeder system for USA Water Polo’s pipeline to its se- international performance in the future while addressing the need to grow water polo nationally and nior national teams, the ODP articulated a systematic approach to athlete, coach and referee develop- improve the organization’s financial condition. ment. The training program focused on long-term development rather than short-term selection. ODP also recognized that the growth of superior coaches and referees was at least as important nationwide These were not small challenges. As 2009 began, the United States was snared in the most cata- as the selection of athletes. strophic economic disaster since the Great Depression.