Off the Deck

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Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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John Abdou on Twitter

1

What do you feel are the biggest hurdles for growing the sport at the collegiate level nationwide (D1, D2, D3)? What advice would you give college ADs (and other leaders) that would maybe help them consider adding a mens/womens program

2

How do we break down socio economic barriers to entry for our sport, both for athletes and for coaches

3

Where do you see the growth of wp in a diversity stand point in term of high level competitiveness?

How can we get more competitiveness in more diverse regions?

4

Given that your position requires you to wear a lot of hats, what does success look like to you? (i.e. is it about more schools adding water polo, is it about having more athletes like Ashleigh Johnson from FL or Max Irving as an athlete of color be a norm vs outlier, etc.)

5

Do you see more colleges like Sonoma State who have a program or may be considering adding a program dropping water polo in the future due to COVID or any other reasons?

6

How would you like to see coaches improve themselves with this downtime? What can coaches be doing better? Has USAWP thought about a coach credentialing system, like the Azevedos talk about?

7

I know you have talked about young coaches venturing out on their own across the country to find college jobs; talk to us about the inner struggle you had to decide to move from CA to the east coast, the struggles you went thru and how you think it made you better as a not just a coach but a human

8

You’ve seen a lot of teams the last couple months online…What’s the best quarantine home workout you’ve seen? Best virtual team bonding activity? Best shared video practice idea?

9

What are a few things you wish coaches would take more time to focus on with athletes under the age of 15?

10

Have you been working with schools in Texas at all to help develop the community more now that they sanctioned water polo as a sport

11

Do you see any changes in our game given some of the new covid guidelines? What ways can we show that water polo will be successful in the “new normal” (i.e.: social distancing)

12

Do you think the league should adopt the US Major sports model, closely mimic the European club model, or a hybrid of the two? How do you anticipate involving inter scholastic athletics for developing player?

13

How important is it to develop homegrown players for professional team or would a draft work best? Or a hybrid of the two similar to MLS

14

How do you think the our 10/12 Modified Rules help or hinder the development of the mobile athletes you are looking for the clubs to develop?

15

Any book recommendations?

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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Ethan Damato on Twitter

For SETWPC.com

Ethan Damato began his water polo career at Laguna Beach High School where he was a two time All CIF Player in 1999 & 2000. After graduating Damato played 2 years at Cuesta College where he was a 2 time All Conference Player. Damato became the Head Coach of Laguna Beach High School's Boys & Girls Water Polo Teams in 2008. Since taking over the Breakers have made 6 consecutive CIF Semi Final Appearances, winning CIF Championships in 2008 with the girls and in 2010 & 2011 with the boys team. Damato was named the CIF Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011. He was named OC Register Coach of the Year in 2009 & 2010. Damato joined the SET coaching Staff in 2010, he is currently the head Coach of the 16 U Girls and the Club's Technical Director. Along with coaching at LBHS & SET, Damato is also the 12th Grade U girls ODP Head Coach for the Sopac Zone and the Head coach for the Women’s Youth National Team.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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Highlights USA vs. Serbia 2008 Olympic Semi

Twitter - @MerrillMoses

From Pepperdine Athletics

Merrill Moses, a three-time Olympian and former All-American water polo player for the Waves, returned to Pepperdine in 2012 to join the coaching staff. He was promoted to the position of associate head coach prior to the 2017 season, and 2019 will be his eighthon the staff.

As the interim co-head coach of the Waves in 2012, Moses helped Pepperdine to an 11-13 overall record. The team achieved a national ranking as high as #3 during the regular season.

Upon the return of Dr. Terry Schroeder as head coach, Moses moved into the position of assistant coach in 2013. Moses played for Schroeder both with the Waves and the U.S. National Team.

With Moses on staff, the Waves won the inaugural Golden Coast Conference Tournament title in 2016, and he tutored the Waves’ all-time leader in goalie saves, Zack Rhodes.

Moses, a goalkeeper who helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship and the United States to a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, had been playing both professionally and with the U.S. squad for more than a decade before also turning his attention to coaching.

“The most exciting part about this is coming back to my alma mater, and to be a part of trying to bring another national championship to Pepperdine,” said Moses at the time of his hiring. “I get the chance to work with a great staff and to work for years to come with Coach Schroeder.”

Said Director of Athletics Dr. Steve Potts at Moses’ hiring: “I’m so thrilled that Merrill Moses is coming back to rejoin the Pepperdine family. His experience as an Olympian, a U.S. National Team member and a national champion will be inspiring to our student-athletes and they will learn so much from him.”

Moses had given up water polo in 2004 and was working in the mortgage industry before getting a call to rejoin the U.S. squad in 2006. He went on to become the starting goalkeeper for the United States at both the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. In 2008, Moses was part of a team ranked ninth in the world, but the Americans got hot at the right time and made it all the way to the gold-medal game.

Moses also helped the U.S. to gold medals at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games and he was part of eight top-five finishes in the FINA World League Super Finals, including a second-place result in 2008 and a third-place standing in 2003.

He has played professionally in Croatia, Italy and Spain and with the New York Athletic Club (he was named MVP of the 2010 USAWP Men’s National Championships). Moses has worked as a coach at many of Terry Schroeder’s camps and has done private coaching in the past.

A native of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., who attended Peninsula High School, Moses played four seasons for the Waves between 1995-98. He earned All-American first team honors in 1997 and was on the second team in 1998 and honorable mention in 1996. He was also named All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all four years, including the first team in 1997.

Moses was named one of three tri-MVPs of the 1997 NCAA Championships after Pepperdine defeated USC, 8-7 in overtime, for the school’s first-ever NCAA title in the sport.

Moses graduated from Pepperdine in 1999 with a degree in public relations. He was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

He and his wife Laura have three children: Adrianna Nicole, Makenna Merrill and Brooklyn Ann.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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Follow Levon Dermendjian on twitter

Follow James Graham on twitter

In this episode we talk about the advantage rule.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From the Cal Athletic Web site

Producing three NCAA titles (2006, 2007, 2016), two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation crowns (2002, 2006), 79 All-Americans and numerous academic honorees, Kirk Everist has proven to be the perfect individual to perpetuate the tradition of excellence that defines California water polo.

In 18 seasons (383-118, .764) Everist has led the Golden Bears to the pinnacle of the sport on three occasions, most recently a stirring 11-8 overtime win over USC in 2016 to give his alma mater its NCAA-record 14th national title. Everist also directed the Bears to an 8-6 win over USC in the 2007 title game and a thrilling 7-6 last-second national championship victory over the Trojans in 2006.

A three-time All-American, 1988 NCAA Player of the Year and two-time United States Olympian, Everist earned 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year honors in his inaugural season when he guided Cal to the MPSF Tournament title and a national runner-up finish. Then in 2004, he was inducted into both the Cal Athletic and the USA Water Polo Halls of Fame. In 2006, Everist was selected USA Water Polo’s Elite Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to both the MPSF and NCAA titles. He also coached the United States’ World University Games team that competed in the summer of 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, mentoring five Bears on the squad.

On July 29, 2002 Everist returned to his alma mater and immediately led the Bears to a 20-7 mark and Cal’s first MPSF title and national runner-up finish since 1995. After guiding the Bears to the school’s first back-to-back NCAA trophies since the early ‘90s with wins in 2006 and 2007, Everist again guided the Bears to the top of the sport in 2016 when an overtime win over UCLA moved Cal into the national title match. There, Cal rallied from a late deficit to force overtime and the Bears took over in the extra periods to beat the Trojans. Finishing with a 23-4 record, Cal’s historic season earned Everist his second National Coach of the Year award (2006) from the ACWPC.

With all of his team’s accomplishments in the pool, Everist has also fostered excellence in the classroom. In September, 2009 his team was awarded the 2008-09 Newmark Award for the most improved cumulative team GPA among all of the Cal 27 sports. The team earned that award again in the fall of 2018, this time from a group of 30 sports.

Before his successful return to Berkeley, Everist had contributed to eight CIF North Coast championships as an assistant coach at Miramonte High School. During Everist’s 11-year tenure at Miramonte, the school also produced nine league titles and three third-place finishes in the California State Tournament. He helped develop 22 high school All-Americans, and three of his former players went on to earn NCAA All-American recognition, while two of his ex-pupils played on NCAA championship teams.

In addition to his work at Miramonte, Everist served as water polo commissioner at San Francisco’s Olympic Club from 1999-2001, a period that produced a gold medal and two silver medals in FINA World Masters competition. Also, since 2000 he has been co-head coach for the Lamorinda water polo team, leading that club to the 2001, 2004 and 2005 USA Water Polo 20-Under national championships, and the 2002 Northern California Zone Junior Olympic title. In January of 2005, Everist added to his duties the position of treasurer of the College Water Polo Coaches Association.

A 1990 Cal graduate, Everist propelled the Bears to national championships in 1987 and 1988 as a player. He earned NCAA All-American status from 1986-88 and was named the NCAA National Player of the Year in 1988. Everist went on to play for the United States National Team for nine years (1988-96) and was a member of the USA Olympic Team at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games. He also competed on America’s gold medal winning water polo teams at the 1991 World University Games and 1995 Pan American Games.

“Kirk has been an Olympian and an All-American, but I believe he is now a better coach than he was as a player,” said four-time NCAA Coach of the Year Pete Cutino, Everist’s former Cal mentor who passed away in September of 2004. “He is a very intense person who has always been a student of the game. Kirk is everything we would want in a coach.”

Everist resides in Danville, Calif. with his wife Jen, daughter, Keira, stepdaughter, Haley, and two stepsons, RJ and Duke.

EVERIST'S RECORD

2002 - 20-7 !

2003 - 20-8

2004 - 20-10

2005 - 21-7

2006 - 31-4 !^

2007 - 28-4 ^

2008 - 19-9

2009 - 22-6

2010 - 24-4

2011 - 22-4

2012 - 17-8

2013 - 18-8

2014 - 22-7

2015 - 24-7

2016 - 23-4 ^

2017 - 20-4

2018 - 18-6

2019 - 14-11

Total - 383-118 (.764)

! - MPSF Champions

^ - NCAA Champions

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From Water Polo Planet

Dante Dettamanti: Coach Dettamanti has produced winning and championship water polo teams at all levels. He was a engineering graduate and MVP and all-league swimmer and water polo player at UC Davis. After a stint as a 1st Lieutenant and US Army Airborne-Ranger, he returned to UCLA for a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology. While at UCLA he became a graduate assistant coach under the legendary coach Bob Horn; and the school won the first ever NCAA Championship ever held in 1969. From there he went on to Occidental College, where he transformed a water polo program that had been the league doormat, into league champions in both swimming and water polo. After coaching at Oxy for 4 years, he went on to UC Santa Barbara and turned the water polo program around; again producing a league champion team and a NCAA top-four finish in just three years time.

It was at Stanford University though, that Dettamanti came into his own as a winning coach. In 25 years at Stanford, his teams played in the NCAA Championship final game a total of 14 times, producing eight NCAA Championships and six second-place finishes. He became only the second collegiate coach in NCAA history to record over 600 career wins, and the only collegiate coach to win NCAA Championships in four different decades, the 70’s, 80’s 90’s, and 2000’s. His eight National championships ties the NCAA record for the most in NCAA history, along with the legendary Pete Cutino of Cal-Berkeley. NCAA records include a .800 winning percentage at Stanford, a 52 game undefeated streak over a three year period in the 80’s, and two undefeated seasons (28-0 in 1981 and 36-0 in 1985).

He has been named League “Coach of the Year” ten times and NCAA “Coach of the Year” six different times. Dettamanti has also had great success at the International level. He coached the USA World University Games teams to Gold and Silver medals in 1979 and 1981; the highest finish ever for a USA National team. Dettamanti gained valuable International coaching experience as the Assistant National Team Coach at the 1990 FINA Cup and at the 1991 FINA World Championships under Olympic Coach Bill Barnett; and as an USA assistant at the 2001 World Championships, under the top International coach in the world, Ratko Rudic.

Dettamanti has not only produced winning teams, but also top international players. Fourteen of his players have gone on to play for the USA Olympic Team, including Olympic team standouts Jody Campbell (1980, 84, 88), Wolf Wigo (1996, 2000, 2004) and Tony Azevedo (2000, 2004, 2008). Several of his players have gone on to become successful coaches at the high school and college levels; and several have gone on to become nationally ranked referees as well. Dettamanti is an excellent athlete in his own right. He was one of the original pioneers in the sport of triathlon, placing 6th overall in the prestigious Hawaii Ironman in 1981, along with competing in many other marathons and triathlons during the early 80’s when the sport was just getting off the ground.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From Longbeachstate.com

Gavin Arroyo is in his 14th season as the head men’s water polo coach at Long Beach State. During his time at LBSU he has compiled a 197-166 record. Under his guidance, the Beach has posted a winning record in seven of the last eight seasons.

In 2018, Arroyo led the Beach to a 14-12 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Golden Coast Conference. The Beach ended the season with a final ranking of No. 5 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years.

Arroyo is a three-time MPSF Coach of the Year, earning the honors in 2007, 2012, and 2014. During the 2014 season he led the Beach to a 22-7 overall record and a 7-3 conference record. Long Beach State earned a No. 4 national ranking that season--matching the team’s final ranking in 2001 as the highest in program history.

In 2012 Arroyo led the 49ers to a 24-8 regular season finish as well as a 4-4 finish in conference play. The historic year led LBSU to its first appearance in the MPSF Tournament since 2008 and ended with a fifth-place finish. Arroyo was also awarded with his second MPSF Coach of the Year award for his efforts.

In 2007, Arroyo was selected as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) co-Coach of the Year after leading Long Beach State to a 17-15 record. During the 2007 season the 49ers upset No. 2 Stanford (7-5) in an MPSF home match and won the Inland Empire Tournament.
In his first season in 2006, the 49ers were 11-17 overall and tied for sixth place in the MPSF, picking up two victories over rival UC Irvine.

Arroyo is a two-time member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team (1996, 2000) and spent two years as an assistant coach at California.

Arroyo worked as an assistant coach for the United States Men’s National Team in the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in the summer of 2019.

In 2017, Arroyo served as the head coach of the USA Water Polo Men’s Junior National Team at the FINA Junior World Championships in Serbia, leading the Americans to an 8th place finish. The next year, Arroyo served as an assistant coach for the Men’s Senior National Team, working with head coach Dejan Udovicic.

In 2005, he served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team planning training schedules, aiding in game preparation, organizing fundraising events, and being responsible for fundamentals, tactic implementation and conditioning.

Arroyo started the Long Beach Water Polo Club catering to youth water polo players, both boys and girls, on May 1, 2010. He has also served as the head coach for the Olympic Club of San Francisco men’s team (2004-05) for two years.

A 1994 graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in political science, Arroyo was a first-team All-American at Cal in 1993. He was a part of three NCAA Championship squads at Berkeley (1990, 1991, 1992).

Arroyo competed on the U.S. National Team for eight years (1993-2000) helping lead the U.S. squad to numerous championships. The U.S. men’s team won the World Championships in 1994 and 1998, the 1997 FINA Cup and the 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games. He also competed on the U.S. men’s team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.

Arroyo competed for seven years overseas playing professional water polo in Greece and Spain with five different clubs (Vouliagmeni, Glyfada, CN Barcelona, Olympiakos and CN Barceloneta). He was a member of the 1998 Greek League championship team and was runner-up in 1997 and 1998 at the European Cup.

Arroyo is a native of Southern California, growing up in Orange and earning 1990 Swimmer of the Year and High School Player of the Year honors from the Orange County Register at Villa Park High School.
Arroyo and his wife, Erene, have two daughters, Angeliki (5) and Mikaela (born in March 2012).
197-166

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

Thank you to everyone that has take the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From GregMescall.com

Follow Greg on Twitter @gregmescall

Greg Mescall is a sports broadcaster and host covering a variety of sports for different networks. 2018 marked Mescall’s second Olympic Games for Westwood One Sports/NBC Radio where he covered freestyle ski and snowboard including Shaun White’s return to the podium. Currently calling Manhattan College men’s basketball, Mescall also calls college football on the ESPN family of networks and has handled play-by-play assignments for Pac-12 Network, Olympic Channel, Big Ten Network, ESPNU and Fox Sports West. The voice of USA Water Polo, Mescall calls a host of National Team events annually in addition to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Championships for Tupelo Raycom. Additional work includes play-by-play for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, IVY League on ESPN+ and Monmouth University’s ESPN digital broadcasts.

A native of Leonardo, New Jersey, he is graduate of Monmouth University and Wagner College.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has take the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From gostanford.com

Brian Kreutzkamp begins his third season with the Stanford men's water polo program as an assistant coach. He joined head coach John Vargas in his inaugural campaign with the NCAA title-winning Cardinal in 2002. Kreutzkamp arrived on The Farm after spending three years (2000-02) with Golden West College where as the head coach, his team won the California State Championship in 2001. Kreutzkamp also served as an assistant coach with the U.S. Men's National Senior Team and the U.S. Men's National Junior Team.

While the head coach at Golden West College, Kreutzkamp took his teams to the Orange Empire Conference and California State titles. Prior to his time in Huntington Beach, Kreutzkamp served as the co-head coach at Newport Harbor High School (1996-2000) and led his team to four conference titles and one CIF Division I title. Prior to that, Kreutzkamp was the head coach at Costa Mesa High School (1993-96) where his teams claimed three conference titles and one CIF Division II title.

Kreutzkamp earned his Bachelor of Arts in Exercise and Sports Science from Concordia University. As a student-athlete, he helped his teams claim three conference championships while at Costa Mesa High School and the California State title in 1992 at Golden West College.

You can help support this podcast by making a donation via PayPal.

If you’re a coach, join our slack channel! The conversations are great and we have some webinars as well!

Buy Fredric Durand’s book Water Polo Legends: 50 Amazing Stories

Thank you to everyone that has take the time to leave a review, send me an email or send me a tweet. It has truly meant the world to me!

Remember you can reach me on twitter @stevecarrera and on instagram @stevecarrera and you can email me [email protected]

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From SHAQ Website

Matt grew up in San Diego and attended Poway High School, and was a part of the first water polo club in San Diego. He then attended UCLA and was a part of two NCAA championship teams in 1995 and 1996, earning NCAA player of the year awards both years. After college he moved to Marin County and has coached water polo in the MCAL league for 17 years. Matt and Mark formed SHAQ in 2007.