Flirting with disaster 5/12/12

This weekend we are playing the World League Prelims at Foothill High School in Tustin. It is a three team tournament that includes Brazil and Canada. Neither of these teams has qualified for the Olympic Games so they are both “reloading” so to speak. They have brought young teams that may be the core of their teams in 2016 when the Olympic Games will be in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, this equates to a lower level of competition for us. We blew out Brazil on Thursday night with a 14 – 1 win and last night we beat up Canada by the score of 11 – 2. Our team trained hard in the morning on both days and played fairly well at night. We certainly have not rested for these games. Despite the lopsided scores, we have enjoyed some nice crowds down in Orange County. The challenge for us is keeping the intensity and focus up where it should be for any game we play. We are trying to work specifically on our defense which will eventually be what wins us a gold medal in London. Although, the scores look great on the defensive end we still have a long way to go to get to where we need to be. It is a work in progress. The week began with some bad news. Over the short break when we returned home from Italy, Ryan Bailey (our starting center) was training down in Irvine and he heard a “loud pop” in his knee. The “Machine” (as we call him because of his strength) immediately got out of the pool and went to one of our medical personnel down in Orange County. He was told that he may have torn his meniscus. However, further testing and an MRI revealed that it was not a torn meniscus. Instead, he was diagnosed with a knee sprain and a bone contusion. As a result he has been advised to refrain from doing any leg work (eggbeater) this entire week. Ryan has been swimming with the team every day, however he is very frustrated that he has not been able to do any water polo or play in the games this weekend. While the news was bad it certainly could have been much worse. A meniscus tear could have possibly sidelined him for the Olympic Games. On Monday, we had another close call with disaster. On a simple counter attack drill, Merrill Moses (our all-world goalie) was poked in the eye accidently. When he got out of the water it did not look so good. His eye had involuntarily closed shut and it was difficult for him to even open it at all. Upon examination it did not look so good. His eye was cut on the cornea. Karen Bloch (our trainer who just became a chiropractor) set him up to see an ophthalmologist first thing Tuesday morning. After examination, the doctor told Merrill that if the cut on the cornea had been 1 millimeter deeper, it would have been bad he would have been out of action for awhile. I am not sure what “awhile” meant in this case and I am glad that I do not have to know. As it turns out, Merrill has been able to train this week but we have held him out for the games this weekend as a precautionary measure. Without Merrill and Ryan playing this weekend, we have been able to play Andy Stevens and Chay Lapin (our two younger goalies) and give more playing time to JW Krumpholz and John Mann (the two other centers vying for a spot on the team). In that regard, it has been valuable for evaluation; however I will be very happy when Merrill and Ryan are back in the water at full strength. We have set the date to name our Olympic team! It will be June 5th at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. We have three weeks to go with 16 players and then we will have to cut it down to the final 13, plus one alternate for London. There will be no easy choices. We (the coaching staff) have been evaluating and talking about what the right combinations might be. At this point, there are many players that are on “the bubble” so to speak. We will have some tough choices to make. Each of these players has given so much and the thought of cutting any of them is stressing me out already. I will certainly rely heavily on my assistant coaches and even a few of the veteran players to help me make the final selections. The final decision will more than likely come down to who will fill a certain role that is needed on the team. For example, who might be able to go in and play for a few minutes as a defensive stopper, provide a little speed on the counter attack or be a sharp shooter who might provide an offensive spark? It will also come down to who is going to help the team chemistry the most. This is a huge consideration - in the most critical moments we all have to be able to count on each other. When we head into London, we will be like a family. In order to succeed we need each other. No one can do this alone. As a reminder, for those of you that want to come out and watch the team play – on Wednesday evenings at 7:45 pm we will normally have an intra squad scrimmage. These are held at Oaks Christian High School and are free to the public. See you at the pool. Coach