Honoring Team Mates (Part 3) 6/30/2012

The painful process of making cuts is finally over.  After spending the last few weeks evaluating and processing the positives and negatives of each player, we settled on making JW Krumpholz our 14^th man (the alternate) on our Olympic team.  It was a very difficult decision and I think all of the coaches agonized and shed some tears over it. Every one of these guys is like a son and at this point they have all given up so much to be a part of the team.  It is difficult to leave any one behind.

JW Krumpolz is one of the “best of the best” in our country.  He is 24 years old, 6’3” and 205 lbs. JW was the last man to make the team in Beijing.  He made a huge impact on that team that won the silver medal. He was heavily recruited out of Foothill High School, where he was a three time All-American.  He went on to play at USC where he led the team to back to back championships in 2008 and 2009.  He won the Cutino Award in 2009 and 2010. This award recognizes the best collegiate player of the year. He has been a part of the national team since 2005, when he made the World Championship team as a 17 year old. It was an extremely difficult decision to make JW our alternate.  He is loved by all the guys. Just to let you know what a great team player he is – JW has decided to continue to train with the team and “do whatever he can to help the team”.  It is good to have him around and as the alternate – he can replace an injured player if anything was to happen to one of the thirteen prior to the Games.

Now let me briefly introduce you to our 2012 Olympic water polo team.  The two goalies are Merrill Moses and Chay Lapin.  Merrill was selected the “Best Goalie” in the Beijing Olympics and we will be relying on him to keep the opponents scoring at a minimum so that we have a chance to win every game – even when the offense is sputtering a bit.  Chay Lapin will back Merrill up and represent Team USA as a first time Olympian. Our two centers are Ryan Bailey and John Mann.  John was one of the last players cut in 2008 and has come back to earn a spot on this team. Ryan is our oldest player.  At 36, he is still a “machine” in the water.  He is one of our strongest players and certainly one of the best in the world at his position.  To have a successful offense, we will need Ryan and John to be strong in the middle for us. We have selected three defenders to the team. They are Jesse Smith, Tim Hutton and Peter Hudnut.  This will be Jesse’s third Olympic Games and second for Peter and Tim.  I feel like we have three of the best and toughest defenders in the world.  All three of these guys are also good shooters and can “post up” an opposing player. I do know this - No center is going to enjoy playing against us. Our attackers include four time Olympian Tony Azevedo (our captain), three time Olympians Adam Wright and Layne Beaubien, two time Olympian Peter Varellas and newcomer Shea Buckner.  Tony is considered by many one of the best players in the world.  He has been called the Michael Jordan of our sport because he such a dynamic scorer. He is also a great leader in the water.  Adam Wright is one of smartest players in the water.  He coaches at UCLA and is essentially a coach in the water. He is a great passer and we will look to him to be leading the team in assists.  Layne Beaubien is a sharp shooter who should provide some good offensive fire, while Perter Varellas is the only left hander on the team.  Peter actually led our team in scoring at the World League Super Final in Kazakhstan with 10 goals.  He has improved greatly over this past year and his role as a passer and a shooter on the right side of the pool is critical to our success. Shea Buckner  “soldier” is going to do whatever it takes to win.  Finally, rounding out the 13 is Jeff Powers.  He is in a class all by himself, because he is so versatile.  He can play center, center defender or attacker.  We will count on Jeff to do a little of everything for us.  I feel like this is a team that CAN make history and CAN bring home the gold in London. 

It is difficult to understand what an Olympian gives up to be a part of the team.  Making the Olympic team and winning a gold medal become the number one priority in their lives.  Yes -perhaps it is a bit unbalanced and perhaps we all put too much time and emphasis on winning the gold.  But I would argue that it is a worthy goal. There is a small window in all of our lives when we can actually represent our country as an Olympian. The Olympic Games bring out the best in each of us.  As we push towards our goal – we challenge ourselves and our team mates to grow and get better. Then in the end, we test ourselves against the rest of the world to see just how good we have become.  Only one team will bring home the gold and be crowned the best team in the world.    It is truly an incredible journey of self discovery.  For me, the absolute best part is to share this experience with a group of guys that you love and respect. As you can imagine, along this journey to the Games, you share many ups and downs.  Through the adversity and the fun times you become closer.  I believe that we have a special group – it is very close family.  Just this week, one of the media made a comment to me about our team.  He said, “I have been exposed to teams all over the world – both professional and Olympic and the vibe that I get with your team is the best I have ever felt”.  That was a great compliment and one that I certainly agree with.  I love these guys like family and I am excited about what will occur in the next few weeks.  Team USA’s Olympic motto in 2008 was “Amazing Awaits”. As we approach London, I am convinced more than ever that amazing is right around the corner for this team.

It seems like the word is out.  Every day this week, we have had media at practice.  We have had NBC, BBC, Universal Sports, a new cooking show and of course the Star at practice.  There has also been more and more “fans” showing up to watch practice and support the team.  The positive momentum is growing.  I am enjoying each day and each moment as our team comes together.  We are climbing towards the top.  .

See you at the pool.

Coach  

The Adventure continues...6/21/12

We finished up World League with a bit of a disappointment. For the second time in the tournament we played Italy and lost. Italy jumped out early on us and took a 4 - 1 lead. We fought back and tied the score at 4 before Italy rallied and went back up by two. In the fourth quarter, we had all the momentum. We scored to bring the score to within one but then struggled to find the back of the net. We had some great chances, especially on the power play where we went just 3/10. Down by one with 30 seconds left in the game, we called a time out and set up a play for Ryan Bailey. It worked beautifully and Ryan rifled a back hand shot that hit the top bar and settled on the goal line (no goal). The end result was a 7 - 6 loss and a fourth place finish in World League. Merrill led the way on defense with a strong showing in the goal notching 11 saves, while Peter Varellas led the team in scoring with three goals. Peter was actually Team USA’s high scorer for the tournament with ten goals.



Immediately after the game we went to our hotel and had a few hours to pack up and prepare for another long travel day. Our journey to Montenegro began with a five and a half hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Leaving at 10 pm we arrived at 1:30 am (with the time change) and then had a five hour layover in the Istanbul airport. There is not too much to do in the middle of the night in Istanbul. A few guys were able to get into the Star Alliance lounge at the airport because they have a gold card (they have racked up enough miles with United Airline partners). So they rested pretty well and were even able to shower. The majority of us cruised the airport in “zombie mode”. After the layover, we then had another two and a half hour flight from Istanbul to Dubrovnik, Croatia. After picking up our luggage we loaded a bus for another two and a half hours from Dubrovnik to Budva, Montenegro. Exhausted, we finally arrived at our hotel at about 10 am, with our body clocks all messed up. Everyone slept for about three hours and then after lunch, we decided to have a little team bonding (since there was no scheduled training that day) and do something fun together.



We rented a boat and toured the Montenegro/Croatia coast line. Tony Azevedo had spent his last two seasons playing professionally over here in Montenegro so he had some good connections. The boat left from Tivat, Montenegro and eventually ended up in Kotor, Montenegro. We enjoyed time in the Adriatic Sea together - exploring caves and just hanging out as a team. It was a great day, full of sunshine, laughter and relaxation. There were some great conversations centered around our dream to win the gold in London. We finished the day with a nice dinner in Kotor as we watched the sun set over the sea and then headed back to rest and prepare for five good days of training with Montenegro.



Our training schedule is excellent over here. We do weights (P3) in the morning followed by two hours of water time on our own. We have been focusing on our leg work and pushing the guys pretty hard. In the evenings, we play against Montenegro. They have twenty players still in their camp - so we feel like we are playing against a small army. Training has been great. The first night was a bit of a wake up call. With two Montenegro officials, the game was a bit one sided. Montenegro came out with much more energy and pressed us out to the walls. We struggled a bit with the physicality of the play because it was so different then what we had just experienced in Kazakhstan at World League. We have adjusted well and it is actually perfect for training. In an all out press you really have to work your legs much harder. Each player is being grabbed and held all the time and they are learning to rely more on their legs. Since the first night the scrimmages have been much closer. Montenegro won again on Wednesday night in a close game and last night was a tie. We will play them one more time on Friday before leaving for Croatia and preparing for our fight home on Saturday morning.



Weighing heavily on my mind is the final cut which must be made this weekend. It will be another difficult decision. I have been spending a good amount of time talking with Robert and Marco (my two assistants) and also a few of the older (veteran players) about this final cut. Obviously, it is an important decision for our team and our success in London, however, I also know that it is a decision that will impact all of these guys for the rest of their lives.



Once we get home, we will take a few days off before we resume training on Tuesday evening in Thousand Oaks. We will basically have three full weeks of training with our final thirteen before we leave for London on the 16th of July. Our final preparation, will consist of more tactics and fine tuning as we prepare to make history in London.



The team appreciates all of the support that we get. We feel we are in a good place. Even with the fourth place finish at World League, I am more confident then ever. Most of the time losing will teach you more about yourself then winning. So a few loses at World League do not scare me. In fact, I feel that we have grown a great deal on this trip and we are closer now to being the team we need to be to win the gold!



See you at the pool.



Coach

Our Adventure in Kazakhstan 6/16/12

Our journey began with a flight out of Orange County - John Wayne Airport at 8:00 am. This meant that we had to jump in a shuttle at 4:45 am in Thousand Oaks to make the flight. Wow - talk about making a long day even longer. Our flight path took us to Houston with a two hour layover and then to London with another two hour layover and finally into Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was a super long day to say the least. All in all, it was about 22 hours in the air - sitting in coach seats. To make matters worse, many of our guys had middle seats for a least one leg. Needless to say, we all felt pretty beat up when we arrived. After arriving around 10:30 pm, we had a late dinner and went right to bed. The hotel was out in the middle of nowhere and it was eerie quiet. We woke up to a beautiful setting. The hotel is very isolated - lots of trees around and some pretty good snow capped mountains off in the distance. What was a bit strange to me is that even in the morning it was quiet. As I opened my window and stared outside, I was perplexed by the absence of birds. All these trees but no birds? Something seemed amiss. Actually, I did not see any birds for the first two days we were here and since I have seen only a few. Weird to say the least... Water polo wise - we had two days of training before the tournament began. On Tuesday (we arrived late Saturday night) we played the host country in the final game of the night. I good crowd showed up to cheer on the home crowd. On our first possession of the game we had two of our players kicked out and then when Kazakhstan did not score on their power play they were awarded a penalty throw on the rebound. It was obvious from the beginning that the officials were going to make it difficult on us. After struggling to a tie in the first quarter (4-4) we began to pull away. We were up 8 - 5 at the half and 10 -5 at the end of three quarters. Kazakhstan made a bit of a run and the game finished with us on top 11 - 8. No time to rest or celebrate in this tournament as we will play a game a day for six days straight. Next up was China. This was more of a battle then it needed to be. The Chinese were tough and played a solid game on defense but our shooting was definitely off. We were up 3 - 1 at the half and went on to win 6 - 4. The match featured our team captain, Tony Azevedo playing against his father, Ricardo who is now the head coach for the Chinese national team. Tony had one goal in the game. In the final preliminary game, we faced off with Italy, who is currently ranked # 1 in the world. This was an interesting game in which each team took turns going on surges. We took an early lead and at the end of the first period we were up 3-1. Then it was Italy’s turn as they scored four straight to lead 5 - 3 at the half. The third quarter was all USA as we battled back and tied the score 5 - 5 at the end of three. Unfortunately, it was Italy that had the final push and they ended up winning 7 - 5. We gave up four “soft” goals in this game. We beat them in every aspect of the game except for the scoreboard. John Mann led the scoring for us with two goals. After the loss to Italy we crossed over in the quarter-final game against Australia the following day. We played with passion for three quarters taking a commanding 5 - 1 lead and dominating them. We seemed to tire a bit at the end and let them back into the game but won a one sided 7 - 5 game. Peter Varellas scored three nice goals for us to lead our attack. Every aspect of our game was good except for our 6 on 5 which was mediocre. The win put us in the semi-finals against Croatia. Once again, we started strong and then faltered a bit and let Croatia back into the game. By the beginning of the second half, the game was being played in a thunder and lighting storm. Rain was coming down hard throughout the second half which made things interesting and really wet for the coaches. Croatia ended up on the winning side of an 11 - 10 game. Once again, we did a lot of things very well but made too many small mistakes that cost us a few key goals. Croatia ended up getting three penalty shots which is a bit unheard of in a single game. Anyway, we definitely had our chances to win the game. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We can’t give up that many goals against anyone. Our game is defense and we need to clamp down if we are to come out of here tomorrow with a win. We will play Italy (they lost to Spain today) in the third/fourth place game tomorrow. Ok - back to the interesting facts about this place. There have been impressive storms almost every day in the afternoon. In fact, as I write this we are being bombarded with rain, thunder and lightening. Other than that it is a bit too quiet here. As one of our players said, I almost expect to see Jack Nicholson walk out of my closet at night? The food has been OK at best. Lots of mystery meats... Just as an example - tonight Ryan Bailey ate french fries for dinner (he could not do the meat). As for the lack of birds - I am not sure what to say. There are not many small animals either... regardless, it has been quiet and I have definitely been sleeping well. We will work hard for a win tomorrow and then it is on to Montenegro for five days of training before heading back for our final preparation. See you at the pool. Coach

Honoring Team Mates (Part 2) 6/8/12

The team just completed a short week of training, prior to jumping on a plane and flying half way around the world for the World League Super Final in Kazakhstan. It was one of my most difficult weeks as the coach of this team. I had to once again sit with two players and tell them that they did not make the final team. It is such a painful process. The deeper that we go into the year – the closer we get to the Olympic Games – for me to be the “dream taker” is terrible. My heart is too involved. I guess that this is a part of who I am - I love and appreciate the relationship that I have with each one of these guys. They are each special. In a way it is like I have sixteen sons. You can imagine what it is like to have to tell one of your children that they did not make the team. The players that are cut shed some tears and I usually cry along with them. I have felt emotionally drained for the past three days. This process takes so much out of me. I have been told by friends and family that the fact that I care so much is what makes me good at what I do. It is a special group and I am honored just to be a part of it. We all know going in that only 13 players make the final Olympic Team. There is a tremendous amount of risk involved in devoting so much of your life to making the dream come true. However, these players that have been cut need to know that I am proud of them and that their friends and families are very proud of them too. They are the best of the best in our sport and their efforts in training every day have made our team better. They are absolutely a part of every success that we achieve in London. These two gave it their all – they did their best and they deserve to be recognized for their efforts. Let me introduce you to these two team mates. Brian Alexander is 29 years old. He is 6’3 and 220 lbs. He was born in Santa Ana, California and attended UCSB where he graduated with a degree in psychology. He was a two time All-American while at UCSB and he has played professionally in Greece, Spain and Australia. He and his wife Erica live in San Diego. Brian played in the 2003 Junior World Championships and led the team in scoring. He has been a member of Team USA since 2005. He has represented our team in four World Championships, three World League Super Finals and recently helped us win the gold at the Pan American Games in 2011. He has played attacker and defender with the team and is one of the best pure shooters that we have. Along the journey is has scored some huge goals for the team. In 2008, he was one of the last players cut also. Brian is a man of high integrity and character. He has played a vital role on the team since I have been the head coach. As you can see by his credentials and accomplishments this was a very difficult decision. I hope that he will hold his head high knowing that he gave his best. I am very proud of Brian. Andy Stevens is one of the younger players on the team. He is 24 years old, 6’3 and 205 lbs. He is a graduate of LMU where he was named the best college goalie from 2008 – 2010. He is a four time All-American and was voted to the first team All-Tournament at the NCAA’s in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He joined the national team while still in college and has been one of our top goalies since. He has played in the World Championships, World Cup and World League Super Final over the past couple of years. He also traveled to Europe where he played for a few months with one of the best club teams in the world (Pro Recco). While in Europe he faced many of the best shooters around the world. He continues to work hard and improve each year. In my opinion, Andy will be one of our countries Olympians four years from now. It was also an extremely difficult decision to let Andy go. He has given much to our team and to the sport to pursue his dream. My heart is heavy as we leave for World League. I miss having these guys around and yet at the same time I know it is a part of the process. Our journey continues. By the time you read this we will have traveled half way around the world to Kazakhstan where we will be competing in the World League Super Final. We will play Kazakhstan, China and Italy in bracket play before crossing over to the quarter finals. The other bracket has Croatia, Spain and Australia. The tournament is another great test for us. It will be good to experience the international game and be able to measure ourselves outside of Southern California. This is our final tournament prior to the Olympic Games. It is also the final chance to evaluate the team. After World League, we will travel to Montenegro for 5 days of training with their national team. We still have 14 players on our roster and we still have to trim this to the final 13 when we return. Unfortunately, there will be a Honoring team mates (part 3). When we return we will be training for three weeks in Thousand Oaks for our final preparation. Less than 50 days to go now… See you at the pool. Coach

Changing Tides 6/2/12

We just finished our series with Croatia and Hungary here in the USA. It was an exciting week for the water polo fans here. This was an opportunity to see three of the best teams in the world battle in preparation for London. Here is a recap of one of the best weeks of water polo for Team USA in many years. Last Saturday, we opened play against Croatia at Newport Harbor High School. Croatia is currently ranked 3rd in the world. On the defensive end we played well – allowing just seven goals. However, offensively we were tentative. As is often the case in these “big games” the power play is where the game is either won or lost. Unfortunately, we were very weak on our 6 on 5 (power play). In fact, we went just 2 for 13 on our 6 on 5. We had many great opportunities to come away with a victory but just could not find the back of the net. In the end, we would lose 8 – 7. Merrill Moses played very well in the cage making 12 blocks to keep us in the game. Tony Azevedo and Adam Wright led the team in scoring with two goals a piece. Ryan Bailey, Jesse Smith and Layne Beaubien scored to complete our scoring. We played well enough to win the game in every area except for the 6 on 5. Our post game meeting was spent talking about being more aggressive and confident on our 6 on 5. All I can say is that the team responded. The following day (Sunday May 27th) was historic. Another capacity crowd of 1,500 fans welcomed Hungary and the USA. The game was televised on NBC Sports. We jumped on the Hungarians from the get go to take an early 5 – 2 first quarter lead. The power play was working just fine as we scored on our first three attempts. We expanded our lead to 7 – 2 at the half as our defense totally controlled the game. Hungary closed the gap on a few occasions, however we responded each time. In the end we would come away with a 12 – 9 victory. Merrill Moses once again dominated play in the goal recording 12 saves for the day. Tony Azevedo had a huge game offensively scoring 6 goals. Jeff Powers and Peter Varellas each added two goals and Layne Beaubien and Tim Hutton scored a goal to round out the scoring. This was the first time in ten years we had beaten the Hungarians! Four days later we would meet the Hungarians again at UCLA. Knowing the Hungarians were going to come out with more energy we talked about preparing to match that intensity and begin the game strong. We jumped on them again early in the game and played very strong defensively. Merrill recorded 10 saves and we limited the Hungarians to 5 goals. This is huge considering that the Hungarians are one of the most dangerous teams in the world offensively. In the Beijing Olympic final we gave up 14 goals against them. Tonight was a different night though and once again the power play was the difference in the game. We scored on 5/8 of our attempts on the 6 on 5 while the Hungarians managed to score on just 2/8 man up situations. Once again, Tony Azevedo led the team in scoring with 3 goals, John Mann had two and Brain Alexander, Peter Varellas, JW Krumpholz and Peter Hudnut all had one goal. JW played in his first game since suffering a concussion three weeks prior. Friday night was a rematch with Croatia at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. There was standing room only at this game as the fans packed the pool deck to watch two of the medal contenders’ battle in the last game in America prior to the Olympic Games. Once again Team USA came out strong opening up an early 4 – 1 lead. However, Croatia would fight back to even the game at 4. Once again, we responded and pulled away with some solid defensive play. In the end, we would end up on the winning side of another 9 – 5 game. Our power play was strong at 6/13 while we limited Croatia to 3/10. Merrill did the job for us once again in the cage notching 9 saves including a big save on a penalty shot when Croatia had changed the momentum in the game. Tony scored twice, while Brain Alexander, Layne Beaubien, Ryan Bailey, Tim Hutton, Jesse Smith, JW Krumpholz and John Mann rounded out the scoring with one goal each. This game marked the first time since the 2008 Olympic Games that we had beaten Croatia! Obviously, it was a very successful week for Team USA. We “changed the tide” and broke some long running losing streaks against two of the best teams in the world. It had been ten years since we beat the Hungarians and four years since we beat the Croatians. Hungary has to be considered one of the favorites in London as they have won the gold at the last three Olympics and Croatia has been consistently among the top three teams in the world. It feels good to beat these teams and break these streaks. Perhaps the most important thing that we all come away with is a growing confidence that we CAN win a gold medal in London. There should be no doubt at this point. The reality is that these games are just “training” games and that all the teams will be at a whole new level at the Olympic Games, however for our team this has been an important test and we come away with a little more of that powerful belief in ourselves. In my opinion, that “belief” is one of the intangibles that is critical to our success. We must continue to work hard and grow together, for there is much to improve on. However, on this day I like the way that the tide is going. See you at the pool. Coach