USA Water Polo To Re-Open Bid Process For 2011 Masters National Championships
10/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
Huntington Beach, CA – October 1 -- USA Water Polo announced today that it has reopened the host bid process for the 2011 Masters National Championships (MNC).
“This is no reflection on the Atlanta bid and efforts to date, which was superb,” said Christopher Ramsey, Chief Executive Officer of USA Water Polo. “Our decision is about creating more Masters events sized to the expected participation from the regions in which they will be held. There is a long tradition of teams caravanning to Masters Nationals within California, where we generally have 70-90+ teams participate. Only 30% of those teams indicated they would make the trip across the country, so we felt we had to rethink our plan, which will now include at least one new signature tournament hosted by Dynamo Water Polo Club and the rest of the Atlanta water polo community, in late March or early April, 2011.”
USA Water Polo crowned champions in 11 different age groups in both male and female divisions in 2010. The Masters National Championships, which has grown to be the second largest annual USA Water Polo event, hosted 80 teams in San Diego at its 2010 event. “Competition is key to growth and ensuring our national championship events facilitate maximum participation across all age groups and both genders are paramount. At the same time, being able to add another significant event and with a highly regarded event organizer also fosters growth in a region that shows incredible potential” said Scott Tanner, Director of Sport Development for USA Water Polo.
“Since we submitted our bid to host the 2010 Masters Nationals Championship in June 2008, the Atlanta water polo community knew we offered Masters water polo a first-class event. We take pride in the high quality of our bid, facilities, organization and long-standing commitment to develop water polo at all levels, including Masters.” explains Len Simonis, ATL 2011 Tournament Director. “Our plan for the Masters Nationals involved well over 300 Atlanta-area players, coaches, referees and families, which we hope to translate into support for our new 2011 event.”
“With little effort and still ten months before the 2011 MNC, we’d already identified over thirty first-time Masters teams from the Midwest and East coast,” shared ATL 2011 President Stuart Sheldon. “Continued growth in first-time participation from the majority of the U.S. plus the promised international recruiting efforts by USAWP had us on track for a large and high quality Masters Nationals. While we are of course disappointed to have the event moved from Atlanta again, we look to apply the same energy and effort to our event in Spring 2011.”
A new bid document goes to the California-based segment of the Masters Water Polo community as well as tourism and sports commissions throughout California and will be available at the USA Water Polo web site under the events section by clicking here.
Masters