USA WATER POLO NATIONAL TEAM 2008 MEDIA GUIDE Special Thanks to USA Water Polo Sponsors Table of Contents QUICK 2008 Schedules ..........................................2-3 facts Outlook & Preview ..................................4-7 USA MEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM National Teams At a Glance ...................8-9 HEAD COACH.....................Terry Schroeder 1st Year (Pepperdine) All-Time Finishes & Rosters ..............10-13 ASST COACHES ............................ Ryan Brown 2nd year (Pacific), Robert Lynn 1st Year (Long Beach State) Men’s National Team ...........................14-49 Coaching Staff ..................................16-17 TEAM LEADER ........................................Rick McKee (Anderson) Roster .................................................18-19 TRAINING FACILITIES Bios .....................................................20-49 California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Oaks Christian High School, Thousand Oaks, CA Women’s National Team .....................50-85 OLYMPIC APPEARANCES .....................................................19 Coaching Staff ..................................54-55 BEST OLYMPIC FINISH ......................................................Gold Roster .................................................56-57 (1904 St. Louis, Missouri) Bios .....................................................58-85 BEST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH .............4th Place (1990) Intro to Water Polo ..............................86-87 HIGHEST WORLD RANKING ........................................2 (1988) Water Polo Rules ..................................88-89 ROSTER BREAKDOWN Goalies ..............................................................................................4 Glossary of Terms ................................90-91 Drivers ..............................................................................................9 About USA Water Polo .......................92-98 2-Meter ............................................................................................4 2-Meter Defense ..............................................................................7 Utility ................................................................................................2 Players from California ...................................................................24 Players from Oregon ........................................................................1 Players from Hawaii .........................................................................1 USA WOMEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM HEAD COACH..................Guy Baker 10th Year (Long Beach State) ASST COACHES ..................Kyle Kopp 8th Year (Long Beach State) Heather Moody 4th Year (San Diego State) Team Leader/Asst. Coach .......................Bernice Orwig (USC) TRAINING FACILITY MEDIA INFORMATION USA Water Polo National Training Center www.usawaterpolo.org 11360 Valley Forge Avenue Los Alamitos, CA 90720 MEDIA CONTACT ALTERNATE MEDIA CONTACT OLYMPIC APPEARANCES ............................ 2 (2000 and 2004) Greg Mescall Christine Bird BEST OLYMPIC FINISH ..........................................Silver Medal [email protected] [email protected] (2000 Sydney, Australia) (p) 714-500-5455 (p) 714-500-5438 (m) 732-895-1833 BEST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH .................... Gold Medal (f) 714-960-2431 (2003 and 2007) HIGHEST WORLD RANKING ................................................... 1 USA WATER POLO OFFICES (March 2007-Present) 2124 Main Street, Suite 210 ROSTER BREAKDOWN Huntington Beach, CA 92648 Goalies ..............................................................................................2 Centers..............................................................................................2 This media guide was assembled and edited by Greg Mescall with assistance Attackers ..........................................................................................6 from Christine Bird, Jennifer Ross, Eric Velazquez, and Rick Fillmon Defenders .........................................................................................4 All-Around .......................................................................................1 Photos courtesy of Jeff Shewmon, Sandie Orias, Kirby Lee, and Players from California ...................................................................12 Pepperdine Sports Information Players from Michigan .....................................................................2 Proofreading and Copy Editing courtesy of Dave Urbanski Players from Oregon ........................................................................1 Media Guide Design and Layout by Adrenalin, Inc. 1 2008 schedules 2008 SCHEDULE MEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM DATES EVENT Feb 9-10 Premier League Round 1 (Huntington Beach, CA) Feb 13-20 Common Training (in Serbia) Feb 20-24 Tournament (in Greece) Feb 25-March 2 Common Training (in TBA) March 15-16 Premier League Round 2 (Moraga, CA) April 5-6 Premier League Round 3 (Greenwich, CT) May 6-11 FINA Men’s World League Prelims (Thousand Oaks, CA) May 16-18 Premier League Championships (California) May 26-June 4 Training w/ Croatia May 30 vs. Croatia (Stanford, CA) June 1 vs. Croatia (Thousand Oaks, CA) June 18-22 FINA Men’s World League Super Final (Italy) June 23-30 Training (Olympic Team to be announced prior to or on June 28th) July 29-August 7 Training (in Beijing, China) August 8-24 2008 Olympic Games (Beijing, China) 2 2008 SCHEDULE WOMEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM DATES EVENT January 6-17 Common Training with Australia (in Perth and Sydney) January 9 vs Australia (in Perth) January 10 vs Australia (in Perth) January 12 vs Australia (in Perth) January 14 vs Australia (in Sydney) January 15 vs Australia (in Sydney) January 24-27 Common Training with Canada (in Southern California) January 24 vs Canada (Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA) January 26 vs Canada (Rio Mesa High School, Oxnard, CA) January 27 vs Canada (Commerce Aquatics Center, Commerce, CA) March 14-23 Test Event in Beijing, China March 18 Test Game (Beijing, China) March 20 Test Game (Beijing, China) March 22 Test Game (Beijing, China) May 12-15 FINA World League Prelims (Los Alamitos, CA) May 19 Naming of FINA World League Super Final Team (14 Players) June 11-15 FINA World League Super Final (Madrid, Spain) June 17-22 Common Training with Greece (Greece) June 26 Naming of 2008 Olympic Team (13 Players) July 3-10 Common Training with Australia (California) July 4 USA vs Australia (Los Alamitos, CA) July 6 USA vs Australia (La Jolla, CA) July 8 USA vs Australia (Coronado, CA) July 10 USA vs Australia (Stanford, CA) July 30-August 4 Common Training with Netherlands (Da Xing University, China) August 11-24 2008 Olympic Games Competition (Beijing, China) October 24-26 Speedo Top 40 (National Training Center, Los Alamitos, CA) 3 MEN’S Outlook & Preview Twenty years have passed since the last time the USA size to the position and has racked up a great deal of Men’s Olympic Team won a medal. Back then their experience in recent years, serving as the reserve goalie team captain was Terry Schroeder; now, two decades in 2007 at all the major championships. later, he’s their head coach and is hoping to bring Returning to action with the men’s team this year is back some of those winning ways. the starter from the 2004 Olympic Games, Brandon The Men’s Senior National Team is comprised of 26 Brooks (Honolulu, HI/UCLA). After spending the last members, and that number will be whittled down to couple of seasons as a coach at his alma mater, UCLA, a roster of 13 for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games Brooks reenters training with the men’s team, bringing in Beijing, China. Among this group are a wide range a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position. of athletes, including multiple-time Olympians as At 6’6” and 240 pounds, he possesses prototypical size well as those fresh out of the college ranks with no to the position. international experience to speak of. Rounding out the group is Brooks’ protégé for the The challenge is great for this group of 26 as it tries Bruins, Chay Lapin (Long Beach, CA/UCLA). to restore the glory days of men’s water polo in the Viewed as the future of goaltending for Team USA, United States. Recent history shows a ninth-place Lapin enters his first legitimate training with the finish at the 2007 FINA World Championships last men’s senior national team with a great deal of March along with a fifth place finish at the 2007 FINA talent; he also lacks the game experience of his three World League last August. Sandwiched in between counterparts. While only two goaltenders will partake was a gold medal victory at the 2007 Pan American in the upcoming Olympic Games, the options are Games which clinched a berth for this group at the impressive for Team USA. upcoming Olympics. DEFENDERS With their place in the games secured, finding the This group brings a solid core to Team USA as three right mix of athletes will be the key to returning to players have prior Olympic experience. Leading the the victory platform. Schroeder will lean on his years way are Layne Beaubien (Coronado, CA/Stanford) of experience that saw him selected to four Olympic and Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA/UC-Irvine). teams, two of which won silver medals, as well as a Beaubien is a solid defender but also a big offensive run as head coach of Pepperdine University’s men’s threat. Boasting a great deal of international team, which netted a national title in 1997. To help experience, he was an Olympian