Ken Vincent: Navy Water Polo on the Rise

Editor’s Note: This past February teams flocked to the Florida’s Coral Springs Aquatics Center for the South Florida International Water Polo Tournament. Now in its 19th year—after a break last year due to COVID-19—the tournament saw a return to form. Teams from all over the country participated in one of the country’s premier youth water polo events.

CORAL SPRINGS, FL. Ken Vincent is an example of how dedicated water polo folks in the East continue to grow the sport. A Pennsylvanian who spent a decade leading the Keystone State’s Buxmont Water Polo Club, two years ago the Lehigh graduate relocated to Annapolis to join the polo staff at The Naval Academy.

Working with Luis Nicolao, Navy head coach, and Tom Popp, Nicolao’s top assistant, Vincent has focused on rebuilding the boys’ and girls’ teams with the Naval Academy Aquatics Club, the school’s age group program. The results of Vincent’s efforts were on display at the recent South Florida International Water Polo Tournament. Navy sent three teams: the 18U boys and 14U coed placed fourth while the 16U boys were seventh.

[In the Brilliant Florida Sun, Let the Games Begin… Again!]

I spoke with Vincent at the Coral Springs Aquatics Center about how his program weathered the COVID-19 shutdown, the positives his athletes will take away from a well-run tournament in Florida and the responsibility Navy AC members have represents one of the world’s best military academies.

- How does this tournament help your program?

This has been a great experience for all our athletes of our Navy team. We are coming together after COVID-19 and getting new kids into the program. Our younger kids had the opportunity—many for the first time—to play in a tournament at this level with 53 other teams and athletes from around the world.

We are really proud of our kids and how they stepped up and met the challenge. We’ve not won every game but in every game have gotten better. And, in every game our kids have learned something.

It’s just fantastic weather, fantastic pools. The tournament has been run in a great manner.

- COVID presented so many challenges to our country as a whole and to individual citizens who suffered terrible losses. How does this tournament perhaps that we are finally leaving those tough times behind?

We are navigating out of this pandemic. Whether or not we’re navigating into an endemic situation or not, what we have to keep in mind is how we keep our athletes and their families safe. At the same time, we need to keep our them engaged, becoming young men and women—and water polo is part of that.

We’re looking for that balance. We’re super excited that [the future] is bright and that we’ve found a pathway to continue safely. This is an example of that, and our athletes are absolutely excited that they can be here and be part of this tournament.

- The competition here is great because Michael Goldenberg and his club does a great job bringing in some of the country’s best referees.

It’s amazing to have three officials here who have officiated in the Olympics [including Goldenberg, who was on deck for the 2020 Tokyo Games]. It’s difficult for our athletes and even our parent to question whether they are competent; these are the best officials in the country. It’s good for our kids to see how they officiate so they know what the highest level of water polo is and how that’s being officiated.

[On The Record with Michael Goldenberg of South Florida Water Polo Club]

It’s an honor to play with them as officials and against other athletes who are playing under them as officials. We get to see what the game of water polo is really like—not just in Annapolis, Maryland, not just in the Northeast, not just in Florida but around the world.

- How is this tournament a springboard for what your club plans for the future?

We look forward to where we’re going to fit in tournaments. We have a heavy tournament schedule in the Northeast Zone this spring. We are also looking at what we do this summer. Of course, Junior Olympics is part of our portfolio of tournaments.

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We’ve been talking with some of the teams here about international opportunities. Another great thing about meeting athletes from all over the world is we can collaborate and play in different environments, different cultures and bring water polo together as one.

- You are not just any age group club; you represent the Naval Academy, one of the world’s finest military academies. How does that responsibility reflect upon your performance and approach to this tournament?

Not only am I representing the Navy but every single one of our athletes is an ambassador for the Naval Academy and for the United States Navy. We hold ourselves, our team and our individuals up to a standard where they honor the Navy. It’s good because it’s the same as honoring USA Water Polo. We look for the same values, the same competition and the same sportsmanship we expect of all the athletes in USA Water Polo.

We’re seeing that from the other teams as well. That’s another thing we like about this particular tournament. It’s great competition but also great sportsmanship.

[On Deck With Ed Reynolds of SOCAL Water Polo]

- You are also on the staff of the Naval Academy’s men’s team. How does this role facilitate a conduit between your club team and collegiate competition?

What’s important for these athletes is for them to see that the United States Naval Academy does have a significant water polo program, both at the club and the collegiate levels. Many of these athletes didn’t know that Navy has a collegiate team. This opens up opportunities for those who want to be military officers to think about: I want to go to Navy and play water polo there.

Navy is one of the top 20 programs in the country, we’re confident that Navy will be in the country’s Top Ten before the next four years. We want people from all over the U.S. top know that this is a possibility for them.