Junior Olympic Results

Wow what a busy 5 days we had, it was full of early wake up calls, at least 10 games each day, at up to 8 different pools, trying to squeeze in time to eat, trying to figure out game times, locations, who we are playing, but filled mostly with awesome water polo games. What an experience we had!! The Junior Olympic are open to only 48 teams in the United States, which meant many teams did not qualify to compete in the these National Junior Olympics. Here is a quick recap of each of our teams:

18's - we only had Steven Kassenger on the 18's...Adam Huff from Utah was the coach for this team. They had a few blow out games both ways and a few very close games. Finished 47th. According to Steven his teammates were great, he had a great time and learned how physical the game really is... and loves it.

16's - Robert Wills and Bill from Arizona were the coaches for this team. We had Hunter, Josh and Zach on this team. Robert said our players did a great job! They finished 13th in the Gold Division

14's - Sandy and Brad Peercy coached the 14's. Like the 18's - 16's we also meet some of the players for the 1st time. On the first day we won games to put us in the top bracket - Platinum Division. We had great games (all close games) which means tons of great learning experiences. Vegas had Connor, Brenden, Ashton and Max on the this team, all four played great. Fished 17th in the Platinum Division.

12's - Louie and Janet (New Mexico) coached this team... what a great job Louie did with the team, when I could I went to watch and sit on their bench as quietly as possible. With his special soft touch he brought this team to the next level. When I was sitting on their bench watching them play it brought tears to my eyes.. I was so proud of them!! They made steals by baiting or they played the lanes and were up on counters.. Noland was awesome in the cage .... this was one of the only teams that more than one or two players who communicated. They were awesome: Noland, Steven, Sky, Jarrod, Dale, Joey, Lake and Derek. They finished 5th in the Gold Division.

10's - Tony coached our little ones, like the 14's they won games to move up to the Platinum Divs ion. They played like a very oiled team!!! They ran their plays, I don't think the other teams even knew they were running plays because no other team had plays except get the ball to their biggest guy to score. Our teams consisted of: Sam in the goal, our ladies were: Mia, Sarah, Maci, Gage, Lake, Trevor, Jorge, McCarthy and Joey. This team finished 9th in the Platinum Division.. Great Job!!

A special Thanks to Trish Taylor for all the work she did organizing all 5 teams from 5 states (Nevada (Vegas and Reno this makes it like 6 states), Utah, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado). If Trish did not step up to do this I know I would not have taken this on and we would have only had a 10's and 12's. I don't know if anyone really really knows what it takes to get all the work done: it is like trying to pull teeth for parents and coaches to respond to emails, making sure we have money to pay our bills, getting rental cars, making sure every players has a ride once we are there, getting hotel for the team, making airline reservations, medical releases, making sure once we get their all teams knows which pools they are playing at, getting directions, ice and water at each pool and the list goes on. Plus she has to organize her schedule so she can watch her two kids in different divisions, different pools, taking care of her mom and meeting friends and relatives. So Thanks Trish!!

Parents thanks for letting your kids join in on a great Life Experience.. it may have cost you money but in the long run you will be paid back many times over when they get older.