First Annual Olympic Development Summit For USA Water Polo Coaches and Referees Opens in LA
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM
Huntington Beach, Calif. – January 22, 2009 – USA Water Polo elite coaches and referees from across the United States will gather in Los Angeles, California this weekend for the first annual Olympic Development Summit. The conference will be led by Director of the ODP program, Guy Baker, Men's Senior National Coach Terry Schroeder and National Referee Committee Chairman Jim Cullingham. Spanning two days, the summit will lay out a comprehensive blueprint for nationalizing the sport of water polo.
Goals of the weekend include sharing a common system for numbering and position assignment between men's and women's water polo that will be universal to everyone in the USA Water Polo system. A national training program for the year will be unveiled, which will feature 60-80 hours of common training for each of the 48 groups as well as competition weekends. The training will take place in USA Water Polo Regional Training Centers in metropolitan hubs across America.
The national team coaching staffs will be integrated into the development process to ensure that fundamentals are taught consistently and emphasized across all age groups. A long-term calendar of events and training will be unveiled as well. The conference will also address issues of character in sport and ways to enhance mutual respect and collegiality among coaches and referees.
A major presentation will be made on increasing participation in the sport of water polo across all fifty states. In a joint session, referees and coaches will also meet to discuss ways to improve mutual respect for one another, including standards for conduct on the deck and how better to improve sportsmanship among athletes and parents.
In attendance from each of the 12 ODP Training Zones will be the Head Referee and Coordinator and the four Head Coaches, as well as USAWP FINA referees and ODP referee instructors. Participants will take part in a wide variety of presentations, meetings and interactive discussions, including:
1. A presentation of the USAWP strategic plan for growing the sport nationally
2. Athleon Sports: On-line coaches education; planning and technical and tactical training
3. Coach and Referee Interactive Session:
a. Discuss coach and referee relationships in terms of improving our sport
b. Discuss press defense and offense
4. ODP Coach, Referee and Coordinator guidelines
5. ODP Tryout, Training and Selection Guidelines
6. ODP Calendar Coordination
The mission of USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program is to mobilize the expansion of our sport and offer the incentive and motivation for USAWP athletes, coaches and referees to compete for inclusion at elite levels of training and competition. Once in the Olympic Development Program select level athletes, coaches and referees will be taught the American System of Water Polo and are directly connected to the National Teams Pipeline, the Senior National Teams and Olympic Teams.
The Olympic Development Program serves as the primary feeder system for the National Teams Pipeline. The foundation of the program is a systematic approach to athlete, coach and referee development through a year round training program that focuses on long term development.
Top 12 Reasons to Participate in the Olympic Development Program
1. Train and compete with and against the best players in the USA
2. Year round, systematic training for long term improvement
3. Opportunity to be seen by National Team Staffs
4. Feeder system for the National Teams
5. Systematic Athlete, Coach and Referee Instruction
6. Progressive and evaluative Standards
7. Help make water polo a truly national sport
8. Elite coach instruction
9. Raise potential recruitment profile among top collegiate programs
10. Higher levels of competition, including ODP National Championships
11. Learn the American System of Play
12. Improve overall performance
For more information on the Olympic Development Program visit www.usawaterpolo.org or click here.
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.
Olympic Development Program