USA Water Polo Awards To Honor Key Contributors To The Game
1/28/2010 12:00:00 AM
Huntington Beach, Calif. – January 28, 2010 – USA Water Polo’s Annual Awards return in 2010 with recipients scheduled to be honored at a dinner during the Annual ODP Summit on Saturday, January 30, 2010. The awards have each been named in honor of a person or persons who have made an extraordinary contribution to the sport, many of whom will be on hand in Los Angeles to present the inaugural trophy for the perpetual awards.
USA Water Polo Awards for 2009:
Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Men’s Coaching Award (Elite)
Sandy Nitta Distinguished Women’s Coaching Award (Elite)
Bill Barnett Distinguished Men’s Coaching Award (Scholastic)
Doc Hunkler Distinguished Women’s Coaching Award (Scholastic)
Ted Newland Distinguished Men’s Coaching Award (Developmental)
Brent Bohlender Distinguished Women’s Coaching Award (Developmental)
Bret Bernard Distinguished Referee Award (Elite)
Tom Hermstad Distinguished Referee Award (Scholastic)
Aaron Chaney Distinguished Referee Award (Developmental)
Barbara Kalbus Distinguished Volunteer Award
Bryan Weaver Master of the Year Award
Ratkovic/Burke Zone Service Award
The USA Water Polo Lifetime Service Award
USA Water Polo Chairman's Cup
Monte Nitzkowski is synonymous with men’s water polo in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s serving as Head Coach of Men’s Olympic Team in 1972, 1980, and 1984, leading Team USA to a bronze medal in 1972 and a silver medal in 1984. Nitzkowski also served as an Assistant Coach with the 1968 and 2000 Men’s Olympic Team. Sandy Nitta is a pioneer for women’s water polo, an Olympic swimmer as a teenager; Nitta segued to water polo and held the post as Head Coach of the Women’s National Team during large parts of the 80s and 90s, leading Team USA to bronze medals at the 1986 and 1991 World Championships. She was also instrumental in the creation of Commerce Aquatics, a groundbreaking program.
Bill Barnett, an outstanding high school coach at Newport Harbor High School, with 10 CIF boys championships and four girls championships, initiated and coached the first USA Men’s Junior National Team, then picked up where Nitzkowski left off in the 1980s, guiding the Men’s program to a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games and a gold medal at the 1991 World Cup. Meanwhile “Doc” Hunkler, three-times named National Collegiate Coach of the Year, was a visionary for women’s water polo who fought to have a true national women’s collegiate championship and helped guide the programs at Slippery Rock University to unprecedented heights spanning three decades, including ten top-three finishes and a national women’s collegiate championship in 1995. Hunkler also holds the distinction as the only coach to win both a Men’s and Women’s Olympic Festival Gold Medal
Few have groomed more men for Olympic competition than Ted Newland. Entering the coaching scene in the late 1960s Newland turned the University of California-Irvine into a tenacious competitor, earning three NCAA titles as he coached well into the new millennium. Called by some the “godfather” of high school water polo in Northern California, Brent Bohlender’s Women’s Junior National Teams captured two bronze medals from 1984 to 1999; Bohlender recently amassed his 700th career victory on the scholastic circuit keeping Johansen High School as a perennial contender. Lastly on the club circuit, Bohlender’s Modesto-Stanislaus club won 18 National Championships over 34 years.
Bernard, Hermstad, and Chaney all took US officiating to unparalleled heights during their time in the whites. As a past president of USA Water Polo, Bernard also whistled the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and was the preeminent collegiate official for many years. Hermstad was a fixture at several Olympic Games whistling the 1972,
1976, 1984, and 1988 Olympic Games in addition to four World
Championships and has worked tirelessly on behalf of water polo
officials, helping to form the USA Water Polo National Referee
Committee. Last but not least, Chaney capped an outstanding officiating career serving as the United States referee at the most recent Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 as well as 2004 in Athens and now currently serves as Assistant Coach for the USA Women’s National Team.
Current Masters Committee Chair Bryan Weaver continues to work tirelessly for more playing opportunities while also piloting the boy’s team at Brentwood High School. Long-time manager of the Men’s National Team and holder of various offices since the incorporation of USA Water Polo, Barbara Kalbus continues to give back to the sport today, providing critical history for the USA Water Polo program and overseeing the official scoring table at NCAA Championships and various other competitions.
George Ratkovic and Andy Burke fittingly serve as the namesake for the Zone Service Award; few have represented regional water polo with more dedication and compassion. Ratkovic, stalwart of Southern California and longtime Southern Pacific Zone Chair oversaw unprecedented growth in his zone; Burke, a beacon of Northern California’s famed Olympic Club, has remained active in USA Water Polo Premier League and the new National Tryout Series; he also served as the Team Manager at the 1964 Olympic Games.
“Our sport has been blessed with an exceptional group of athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers who have guided it and achieved exceptional performance over many decades,” said USAWP CEO Christopher Ramsey. “It is really an honor to be able to recognize some of them through these awards and, just as important, use their accomplishments to inspire our next generation of high performers.”
Winners were chosen through a zone nomination process and then reviewed by a national selection panel. Be sure to visit www.USAWaterPolo.org for complete listings of the honorees for 2010.
About USA Water Polo
USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters Championships. With more than 30,000 members, USAWP is also the sanctioning authority for more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport nationwide. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.
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