SWEET SHOT! United States’ Brittany Hayes reflects on winning the gold in Beijing. The “Old Man” A Look Inside The Bond Between Ted Newland and His Boys, and Why It’s Stronger Than Ever VOLUME 25, NUMBER 1, SPRING 2010 VOLUME 35, NUMBER 3 Terry Schroeder LeadsSplashball the Men’sTM Arrives! National Team to Gold. What’s Inside... VOL. 25, NUM. 1, Spring 2010 SWEET SHOT! USA WATER POLO NATIOnaL OFFICE United States’ Brittany Hayes reflects on winning ON THE COVER... 2124 Main Street, Suite 240 the gold in Beijing. Huntington Beach, CA 92648 A collage of photos (714) 500-5445 business The “Old Man” Inside Water. 2 A Look Inside The Bond Between Ted Newland from the career of (714) 500-5449 membership and His Boys, and Why It’s Stronger Than Ever (714) 960-2431 fax Ted Newland Photos courtesy of Water Polo Times . 4 USA WATER POLO NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER UC-Irvine Athletics 11360 Valley Forge Ave. Los Alamitos, CA 90720 ER 3 VOLUME 35, NUMB 5 Meters. 18 (562) 799-8506 business Splashball Arives! (562) 799-8508 fax Terry Schroeder Leads the Men’s National Team to Gold. WEB SITE In the Area. 22 www.usawaterpolo.org CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Christopher Ramsey 2010 Calendar of Events. 28 EXECUTIVE AssISTanT TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mai Lam CHIEF MARKETIng OFFICER Jennifer Rottenberg Also In This Issue... DIRECTOR OF OLYMPIC DEVELOpmENT Guy Baker World League .......... 8 DIRECTOR OF SPORT DEVELOpmENT Scott Tanner AssOCIATE DIRECTOR OF SPORT DEVELOpmENT Positive Coaching ...... 12 Liz Grimes CONTROLLER Golf Tourney Recap .....14 Ulises Sam EVENTS ManagER Kate Strand Hot Shots ............. 16 AssOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COmmunICATIOns Greg Mescall Ted Newland Masters Festival ....... 28 AssOCIATE DIRECTOR OF OLympIC DEVELOpmENT Marcy Crouch MEMBERSHIP SERVICES ManagER Lasting Impact Whitney Collins FundRAISIng COnsuLTanT Inge Hergenrather pg10 VIDEO COORDInaTOR Look Ahead... Jeanine Baca NATIOnaL TEams COORDInaTOR Next Issue Ashley Papenbrock >Summer Events Preview FInanCE COORDInaTOR Fay Hu RECEPTIONIST/ MARKETIng AssISTANT Sarah Stern BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Graff (Chairman), Jeremy Laster, Ed Reynolds, William Smith, Ellen Estes Lee, Robert Sternfels, RoAnn Costin, John Hendrickson, Sandy Nitta EDITOR Greg Mescall CONTRIbuTORS Darcy Couch, Chris Oeding, Jason Lynch, Jim Cullingham, Mary Pat Robinson, >Hall Of Fame Induction Recap Joan Gould, Ed Haas, Summit Photography, Sally Olds, Jeff Shewmon, Tracy Birdsell, Kevin Burke, Fotos FPN, Fotos Hugo Rocha, Michael Duffy, Gwen Golub, Michael Machnik, George Stransky, Mike Miller, Stan Schwimer, Karina Cordisco, Stuart Sheldon, Jordan Eickman, Kelley Casey, Allen Lorentzen PRINTING Quad Graphics 800 Washington Ave North, Suite 206, Minneapolis, MN 55401 pg26 CREATIVE Adrenalin, Inc. 54 West 11th Ave., Denver, CO 80204 303-454-8888 | goadrenalin.com Hall of 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, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Periodicals postage is paid at Fame Huntington Beach, CA 92648 and additional mailing offices. 2010 Class Anounced POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Skip Shot Magazine, United States Water Polo, Inc., 2124 Main Street, Suite 210, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 usawaterpolo.org 1 letter from the CEO, Christopher Ramsey USA WATER POLO INSIDE WATER Introducing Water Polo Through SplashballTM Most kids learn to play baseball through tee-ball and soccer through Kid- die Kick. Until now, however, there haven’t been many options to learn the basics of water polo before the ages of 9 or 10. Splashball™ changes all that. This month USA Water Polo is rolling out one of its most impor- tant new programs ever. Aimed at boys and girls aged 5-9, Splash- ball™ uses flotation, shallow pools and other kid-friendly elements to allow players to graduate to a friendly version of water polo di- rectly from beginning swim lessons. We believe this program will dramatically increase the number of kids playing water polo in the United QUICKFACTS States. • Splashball is for children ages 5-9. • Customizable marketing materi- • It provides basic water polo skills als through our USA Water Polo Kids can begin wearing any type of swimwear they want, including and understanding of the sport in partner Vistaprint. board shorts or “jammers” for boys. They can also use flotation devices a recreational format. • Splashball equipment grants (ball, such as vests or noodles, and they can bounce off the bottom of the pool (if • USA Water Polo clubs can caps, goals). shallow). The game allows them to build their skills in a safe, supervised designate themselves as Splashball • Splashball Festival combining aquatic environment. programs through their online water polo and a weekend of fam- account. ily fun at Disneyland. We all know it. When kids see the yellow ball, they forget their fear and • Splashball athlete membership For more information on go after it. This basic motivation leads to dramatic improvement in swim- is $25 (no previous memberships Splashball please visit ming skill, conditioning, and confidence. Kids also benefit from being part please) of a team in a fun, exciting atmosphere. www.splashballusa.org or email: [email protected]. In pilot programs in the Southern Pacific Zone (which came up with the name Splashball™), Sacramento, and Greenwich, CT, beginning play- ers have made extraordinary progress developing their aquatic skills. Of A new partnership with Disney Sports will make it possible for Splash- course, unlike competitive swimming, water polo requires kids to change ball™ players and their families to travel to Southern California for this direction in the water, to use their legs to powerfully tread water and to year’s inaugural Splashball™ Festival. The festival will combine playing become proficient using their arms to pass and shoot. These additional opportunities organized by USA Water Polo and a weekend of family fun skills translate into safer swimmers at ease in any aquatic environment. culminating with an athlete celebration at Disneyland® Resort with their Splashball™ also motivates players to improve their swimming skills and families. speed. We’re providing the program to all of our clubs. We hope each club will A key component of Splashball™ is its partnership with the Positive get at least one Splashball™ session up and running this year. We will also Coaching Alliance. Splashball™ adopts the PCA magic formula of positive make Splashball™ available to local parks & recreation departments, Boys reinforcement, surrounding every constructive criticism with at least five & Girls clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs, JCCs, and other community-based encouraging ones. Splashball™ emphasizes: organizations. • Mastering skills and having fun instead of worrying Splashball™ will strengthen clubs by increasing membership and the about keeping score. potential pool of competitive athletes. It can also provide more jobs and opportunities for high school players (and beyond) who will, in turn, pro- • The joy of exerting effort to improve. vide a ready stream of coaching talent and other assistance. If your club • The fun of learning new things and mastering them. has not started a Splashball™ program yet, see what you can do to help get one going. • Positive reinforcement to reward effort. We believe that Splashball™ is a game-changer for USA Water Polo. Help • Teaching that mistakes are okay if we learn from them. get the word out and give those beginning swimmers somewhere to have USA Water Polo will assist with equipment purchases, as well as secur- some fun! ing Splashball™ coaching instruction and providing templated marketing C.R. materials to clubs and community organizations adopting Splashball™ programs. Huntington Beach LETTERS TO THE EDITOR If you have a comment or question concerning Skip Shot magazine, send in a letter to the editor. You can write to Skip Shot Magazine: c/o USA Water Polo, 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 or send an email to: [email protected] 2 News Briefs USA WATER POLO WATER POLO USA Water Polo Annual Awards Honor Contributors to the Game USA Water Polo’s Annual Awards returned in Gabriel Martinez, Commerce Photos by Mai Lam by Photos 2010 with recipients honored for their work in Aquatics. Martinez is one of the 2009 at a dinner during the Annual ODP Sum- anchors at Commerce, aninstitu- mit on January 30. The awards are for persons tion in the Southern California who’ve made extraordinary contributions to the water polo scene. Martinez led the sport, and this year the recipients included a Commerce club to top-eight fin- wide range of luminaries from across the United ishes at the 2009 Junior Olympics States. An additional highlight from the evening in 10u Coed, 12u Girls, 14u Girls, was a celebration of Team USA. Athletes, coach- 16u Girls (first place), 18u Girls, National Team athletes spanning several decades were on hand in es, referees, and contributors who took part in Women’s Nationals and Girls late January to honor great contributors to the sport of water polo. the Olympic Games, World Championships, Speedo Cup. credible dedication to the sport, not only in her and World Cups were recognized at the start of Ted Newland Distinguished Men’s Coaching efforts to develop her skills as a referee, but also the evening. Award (Developmental): Takeshi Inoue, United in her role as a leader in the Pacific Northwest. USA WATER POLO AwaRDS FOR 2009 Water Polo (Los Alamitos). Coach Inoue piloted Shoen was an integral part of an outstanding (recognition remarks from January 30) his club to the championship of the 2009 Boys crew at this year’s Speedo Cup and surely will Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Men’s Speedo Cup and JO’s 14u Boys. United also continue to be a fixture on the National scene. Coaching Award (Elite): Jovan Vavic, USC and placed at the National Junior Olympics 12u Boys Trojan Water Polo.