Men's Team Update 6/9/11

Last week was difficult. I found myself scrabbling to keep up. I was running from practice to the office and then back to practice. It is always difficult to shift gears and get into a new schedule. All the free time that I used to have in the middle of the day was literally gone. Evenings hanging out with Lori and the girls was gone too. I am aware of this imbalance and will work hard to keep all areas in a good place – especially family. We actually had a night off last night and it was nice to relax and spend some good quality family time. Balance will be a key word over the next 14 months. It will be challenging but I am sure it can be done.

Practices have actually been going pretty well. The staff and players all seem to be getting along very well. There is a good energy in the pool and on the deck. Everyone has been working very hard. The younger players have been pushing the older players. It is good. There is a healthy competition for spots on the roster. We actually have three Junior team players training with us. Those players are Brett Bonani, Spencer Hamby and John Sibley. They are all doing very well. All three have been holding their own and gaining some valuable experience.

We have a total of 24 athletes in the water – which is a lot. In the end, we will have to choose just 13 to make the final Olympic team. On Monday, I had to name the team for the World League Super Final in Italy. This is never an easy task. I struggle with cuts. It is my least favorite part of being the head coach. Each athlete that is training with us expects to be a part of the team that is named. If they did not feel that way then they probably would not be out in the water with us. So when I have to talk to them individually and them that they are not going on this trip – it is very difficult -to say the least. It hurts me to do this. This first cut was especially difficult. I pride myself with trying to create an environment where each athlete feels that they were given a fair chance at making the team. In this case, we only had a week together before I had to name the team that was going to World League. This is very difficult and honestly much of the decision is based on last years performance combined with what I saw last week in practice. Is it fair? All I know is that I don’t take it lightly. I mull over it for hours and look at all the pros and cons of each player. I do my best to make the right decision. Here is the team that made the cut this time.

Merrill Moses (G)
Chay Lapin (G)
Tony Azevedo
Ryan Bailey
Jeff Powers
Jesse Smith
Tim Hutton
Peter Varrellas
Layne Beaubien
Peter Hudnut
JW Krumpolz
Adam Wright
John Mann
Brain Alexander
Shea Buckner

We are taking 15 players on this trip. We leave on Monday and fly to Croatia first for 4 days of training. Then we fly into Florence and prepare for the tournament. We will open up with Italy, then we play China and Serbia before the cross over begins. We can declare 13 players for each game so we will plan on resting a few different players in each game so that we can evaluate each player.

Our focus has been on front court defense, 5 on 6 and 6 on 5. With two weeks of preparation our expectations are not great. We will certainly do the best we can but our goal for the summer is to win a medal at World Championships which will be in July. This would also qualify us for the Olympics. All the tournaments this year are qualification tournaments. The winner of World League qualifies, the top three from the World Championships and the winner of the Pan Am Games. Lots of great competition this year and a chance for us to grow as a team and begin the process of coming together.

Each day presents a new opportunity to grow and get better. Day by day we will become a team – a family if you will. One day at a time the journey continues…

See you at the pool.

Coach