Great article on espn.com about the influence John Wooden has on the UCLA water polo program.  Great to have water polo mixed with Wooden on espn any time, but it is also a great article.

Some good quotes from Adam Krikorian on Wooden’s influence:

“All of the coaches at UCLA recognize that we’re surrounded by a ton of other coaches — it would be silly not to take advantage of it. We’re especially fortunate to have the greatest coach in of all sports with us as well. There’s no better coach, teacher or mentor than Coach Wooden,” Krikorian said.

“He doesn’t know anything about water polo — I think he’d be the first one to admit that. But Coach Wooden teaches me more about being a better person, father, husband and coach. He recognizes that we, as coaches, are role models, and it’s our job to teach our athletes not just about their sport, but about life as well.”

espn.com: Legendary coaching gives Bruins edge in title hunt

Good article on Australia’s Junior World’s win:

ninemsn: Australia wins junior water polo title 

China, the story of the Junior Women’s National Championships, finally ran out of steam losing to Australia in the final 8-6.  It was an impressive run for a country with little water polo history.

Hungary beat the US 10-8 to win the Bronze.

Junior World Final Standings:

1. Australia
2.  China
3.  Hungary
4.  US
5.  Italy
6.  Spain
7.  Netherlands
8.  New Zealand
9.  Russia
10.  Canada

go to: Porto2007.net to learn more

The Chinese Junior National Team has come from nowhere to beat Holland, Russia, and now the US to enter the finals of the Junior World Champs against Australia.

Now, the US will face Hungary for the Bronze.

The US Junior Women had another barn-burner.  This one in their favor…Next up: the surprising China who beat Russia and Holland, the gold and silver medalists from European Juniors last summer. Kami Craig had four goals…

Legendary actor Burt Lancaster narrates this 1965 documentary on water polo. After we failed to rank in the 1964 Olympic games, AAU commissioned Hungarian Gabor Naby to create this instructional video. The video included Bob Horn, Monte Nitzkowski, and Uhro Saari.

ISHOF Video Archives: Usa Water polo

This is a very good article on Ratko and his career of success.  Since leaving the US, he has been building Croatia and seeing fast results.

 Fina.org: The Man who has conquered all

His record is amazing!

1980 OLYMPIC GAMES: silver (player) Yugoslavia
1984 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach) Yugoslavia
1988 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach) Yugoslavia
1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (coach) Italy
1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (coach) Italy
2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: fifth (coach) Italy
2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: seventh (coach) USA
1986 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach) Yugoslavia
1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: sixth (coach) Italy
1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach) Italy
1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: fifth (coach) Italy
2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: sixth (coach) USA
2005 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: fourth (coach) Croatia
2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach) Croatia
1985 FINA WORLD CUP: fourth (coach) Yugoslavia
1987 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach) Yugoslavia
1989 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach) Yugoslavia
1993 FINA WORLD CUP: gold (coach) Italy
1995 FINA WORLD CUP: silver (coach) Italy
1997 FINA WORLD CUP: fifth (coach) Italy
1999 FINA WORLD CUP: silver (coach) Italy
2002 FINA WORLD CUP: seventh (coach) USA
2006 FINA WORLD CUP: fourth (coach) Croatia
1985 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (coach) Yugoslavia
1987 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (coach) Yugoslavia
1991 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: fourth (coach) Yugoslavia
1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach) Italy
1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (coach) Italy
1997 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: sixth (coach) Yugoslavia
1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (coach) Italy

Tony Azevedo lead the team with 4 goals, the US Men’s water polo team sank Brazil to earn a berth to the 2008 Olympics.

Quotes: Uswaterpolo.com:

‘We had to work very hard tonight,” said head coach Terry Schroeder after the win. “Brazil is probably the most improved team over the last year and they made us work hard. We had to keep our intensity on defense. That was our theme for the week.”

“The only thing we focused on the last couple of months was qualifying for the Olympics,” Azevedo added. “Now we have to go out and train for next year. We are going to work as hard as we can to become better offensive players, better defensive players and be ready to show up in Beijing.”

So, while we were “gone”, the US Junior women lost to Hungary in a heartbreaker 11-10 and the beat the Germans 15-6.

Now, the US takes on Japan Thursday in the quarterfinals

Oh and by the way, here is the US Junior Women’s roster:

The US Men continue to destroy the competition at the Pan Am games, beating Cuba 15-4 to go into the final against Brazil who they have already beaten 12-6. The game is in Rio and the home crowd should be a factor. Bottom line, the Olympics are on the line.  The final will be Thursday at 7:30PM.

From the CSTV article:

“Our first game against Brazil was a bit of a wake-up call,” said head coach Terry Schroeder. The Brazil team has improved a great deal. The crowd will be rocking and we have to be ready to play.”

CSTV: Men’s US Team Tops Cuba 15-4

If you have been following NCAA women’s water polo, you know that the championships fall on Mother’s Day.  They may change, not this year, but the next.

There are some other updates from the committee as well.  Read here: NCAA.org: Women’s Committee examines Championship date formula

They also confirmed the qualifying conferences for the 2008 championship (meaning the conferences who get at least one bid):

• Collegiate Water Polo Association
• Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
• Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
• Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Western Water Polo Association