East Coast Rising: CT Premier, Capital Emerge Victorious At National JOs

In a resounding coda to what has been a difficult period for the sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last month USA Water Polo hosted 184 teams at multiple venues in Texas’ the Dallas / Fort Worth area Texas. Session 3 of the 2021 National JO’s was open to all 49 states besides California, which held its own, separate tournament in Southern California earlier in July. The competition, camaraderie and facilities in Dallas following an18-month layoff for national tournament play could not have been better.

Especially for teams from USAWP’s Northeast Zone (NEZ).

With seven clubs—Capital, Connecticut Premier, Greenwich, Maverick, Navy, North Penn and Y Pro—sending a total of 19 teams, there was an over-representation of Eastern clubs at the top of the various JO platinum and gold brackets. Leading the way with wins in 14U and 18U boys platinum divisions was Connecticut Premier. Joining them at the top of the podium was Capital. The club from the Washington D.C. suburbs went undefeated in capturing the 16U boys bracket.

[2021 National Junior Olympics Session 3 Results]

No stopping Connecticut

A successor to the Chelsea Piers club in Stamford, CT program sent five teams—14U boys and girls, 16U boys and girls and 18U boys—and besides the two wins also captured fourth in 16U boys. According to club director Scott Schulte, the stellar results at JOs are an affirmation of his program’s inclusive approach. CT Premier draws athletes from all over the tri-state region—Connecticut, New York and New Jersey—that has enabled his club to thrive despite COVID-19 which has caused intermittent shutdowns of the facility where they practice.

[Scott Schulte, New Director for CP Water Polo: “Nothing’s Going to Happen Overnight”]

Athletes from as far away as Florida competed under the CT Premier banner, an acknowledgment that COVID made it difficult to ensure where athletes would be allowed to compete during the greatest health challenge America has faced in a century.

Despite these challenges, the results could not have been more favorable for three of the strongest clubs in the East.

“For Navy, for Capital and for our program, JOs in Texas was the perfect opportunity,” Schulte said in a conversation earlier this week. “It allowed us to compete against teams we could play against, gave us a chance to win something and to play at a high level.

“It’s exactly what we want to build our program, get kids excited about the sport—and to keep training,” he added.

Besides the opportunity for an organized tournament spanning multiple facilities against teams from as far away as Hawai’i, Schulte believed that the facilities in Dallas were second to none.

“Texas has amazing pools,” the CT Premier leader said. “All the pools [there] are ridiculous. Having the facilities to compete in a [part of the country[ that isn’t too far away helped us.”

Romping to the 16U boys title

Capital was another NEZ club that enjoyed an excellent adventure in Dallas. Fielding a lone squad, they ran the table undefeated to the 16U boys platinum title, including defeating local NEZ powerhouse Greenwich—which sent a Zone-high total of six team.

A lopsided 14-5 semifinal result against the East’s top team was an affirmation of Head Coach Miras Jelic’s progress with the northern Virginia-based club. During his six-year tenure, Jelic, who also serves as the head development coach for the zone’s Olympic Development Program (ODP), has establish a stronghold in the population-rich Washington D.C. to Alexandria, Virginia corridor—a vital connection for growing of the sport in the East.

Acknowledging that the combination of North Texas and indoor competition—"It was different than any JOs that I was part of”—were factors in his team’s success, Jelic said he could not have predicted the result his players achieved.

“I cannot say we were expecting to win all the way but, knowing the Northeast Zone and the teams in it, I was expecting we were going to do well. Probably in the top four,” he said. “It’s a great achievement for our club and that age group.”

Besides Greenwich, Capital faced—and beat—Navy twice. Which was ironic because five Capital athletes competed for a Navy 18U boys squad that finished fifth in the platinum bracket.

“It was definitely an exciting time for players,” said Jelic—even though there were no California teams and Greenwich, the Zone’s top program didn’t send It’s top seven 16U boys athletes.

That doesn’t mean the Connecticut powerhouse which in June enjoyed outstanding results at the Futures Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, didn’t have a successful JOs.

[On The Record with Ulmis Iordache, Greenwich Water Polo Coach]

Their 12U coed squad finished second—albeit in a pool of 13 team—and their 12U boys finish first in the 14U bracket in the gold division. Meaning that teams from the NEZ captured both the platinum and gold titles in the 14U boys bracket.

Another program that enjoyed success with a lone club—14U boys—was Y Pro from Sheepshead Bay in New York City. They were. Despite being on the wrong side of a 10-9 score to CT Premier in the 14U platinum final, Y Pro Head Coach Eugene Prokhin was pleased with both the result and the tournament.

In an email Prokhin said was proud of how his team responded to adversity.

“The semifinal game we played versus Pegasus—the team that beat us previously in penalties,” he wrote. “They were the home team and we played in SMU which is the pool that they practice in—and we beat them by two goals (11-9).”

According to Prokhin the final was “tough” but his three main players—including his son Max—each tallied three times.

“Overall the tournament was very good we played good and hard water polo, the pool facilities were very nice,” added the Y Pro head man.

Navy back in the water

The rise of Capital in D.C. has been paired by the revival of The Naval Academy’s age group water polo—known as Naval Academy Aquatic Club (NAAC)—in Annapolis, Maryland. Ken Vincent, a recent addition to the Navy staff for both for age group and collegiate play, was down in Dallas with three teams: 16U boys and 18U boys and girls.

According to the long-time youth coach who last year relocated from Bucks County in Pennsylvania where he led the Buxmont club, NAAC enjoyed a successful trip to the great Southwest.

“Our teams finished strong with two bronze medal finishes and one 5th place finish,” Vincent said in an emailed statement. “NAAC was proud to represent the Northeast Zone of USA Water Polo which had very strong showing at the tournament.

“The NAAC 18U teams were collaborative and included athletes from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Our 18U boys team included athletes from NAAC and Capital Water Polo.”

Vincent gave a shout out to his club’s chief regional, saying Capital “represented the Northeast Zone well” in their romp to the 16U title, even as they swamped Navy 24-10 in the platinum semifinals.

In that spirt, Vincent praised both his athletes’ performance and the general atmosphere in Dallas.

“I was very proud of the way that our athletes played, both in the intensity and focus of their game play as well as the sportsmanship that they displayed,” he wrote. “The tournament allowed our athletes to meet other athletes from around the country and to build the sport of water polo as well as promote the collegial atmosphere of our sport.”

Mavericks from the Philadelphia Main Line sent two boys’ teams. Their 16 squad finished in the second tier of the platinum group but their 18U boys took top honors in the gold bracket—the second double age group win for NEZ programs.

[On Deck with Kevin Van Such, Maverick Water Polo Boys’ and Girls’ Coach]

North Penn sent an 18U boys’ squad which finished 14th in the platinum division, but they had an exciting journey, with back-to-back wins in penalty shootouts.

Dallas is a keeper for national play

That Dallas hosted JOs was a due to COVID-19; restrictions in the Golden State—which for the past two decades has been the home of USAWP’s national competition—meant that only California-based teams could compete there this summer. For some programs—including Greenwich—this was a disappointment. For Schulte, who has been involved with the past five decades, the Texas setting was a boon for non-California athletes. Large indoor venues allowed college coaches to take the measure of a greater number of athletes.

“A lot of coaches liked the JOs in Texas better than California—the reason it is they could go to one or two spots and see a lot of different players,” he said. “They got to see players that they might have otherwise missed.

“Which was advantageous; coaches didn’t see a lot of the 18Us last year. They had to see double as much; 18U and 16U,” he added.

Navy’s Vincent seconded Dallas as a great destination for teams from all over the country.

“It is my hope that USA Water Polo will continue to sponsor this venue in years to come—and even consider holding an annual national tournament of this size in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex,” he said.

All of which will shower additional silver linings for Northeast Zone teams.