By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor
With age group action heating up nationally as a result of upcoming USA Water Polo Junior Olympics Zone Qualifications, recent activity in North Carolina demonstrates that water polo is growing all along the Eastern seaboard.
Part of this exciting development is an age-group tournament this weekend sponsored by Carolina Water Polo. The North/South Challenge will include teams from Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia that are a within comfortable driving distance to the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, NC.
This weekend’s inaugural North/South tournament will feature six 18U, six 14U, and two 12U teams from the following programs: SwimRVA (Richmond, VA), Potomac (College Park, MD), Carolina (Hillsborough, NC), Titans (Cary, NC), STAR (Greensboro, NC), Granite Falls (Rolesville, NC) Forsyth (Atlanta), St. Pius X (Atlanta) and Kraken (Atlanta).
The tournament it the brainchild of Eric Gordon, who for the past few years has been tilling the rich aquatic soil northeast of Charlotte, NC. A 1996 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Gordon went west for almost 20 years to coach age group and high school water polo at the San Diego Shores Club and The Bishop’s School, also in San Diego. Key to his coaching success has been Doug Peabody, who founded San Diego Shores in 1992 and has coached at The Bishop’s School since 1997.
“Doug and I coached together for 17 years and I learned so much from him,” Gordon said via email. “I credit him for the success that I’ve had in the sport.”
During his time in California, Gordon’s high school and club teams competed in multiple California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and Junior Olympics championships. Among the many successful athletes he’s coached are Olympians Brett Ormsby (2004) and Kelly Rulon (2004, 2012) as well as Gabby Stone, the former Stanford goalie who is currently playing with the U.S. National Team, Katie Dudley and Julia Hermann, Stanford seniors who are driving for a second-straight NCAA title.
Eric Gordon and his players. Photo Courtesy: E. Gordon
Now that he’s returned home, Gordon has embarked on an ambitious program to determine what works for water polo in areas outside of SoCal, home to some of the country’s best youth clubs. He’s jumped right into the challenge—and, often, his car—establishing year-round age group programs inCary, Greensboro and Hillsborough, NC. Known as a hotbed for aquatics—for the 3rd straight year, North Carolina State finished fourth at the NCAA Men’s Championships, with junior Andreas Vazaios taking gold in the 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle relays—the region appears ripe for Gordon’s enthusiasm, experience and organizational skills. A local masters team from Greensboro has been rejuvinated, and Carolina Water Polo players have begun to populate the rosters of local college club programs.
“We’ve sent a few players to college club programs in NC and beyond, and will graduate four seniors this year,” Gordon said. “NC State’s club water polo program has been a huge supporter of the efforts to build youth polo and many of our seniors are hoping to attend NCSU.”
Photo Courtesy: Eric Gordon
Without experienced coaches or referees in the area, Gordon is tasked with building the sport from the ground up. But he’s not alone; NC State students and alums have been essential to the process. Nikolas Bravo and Paige Hacker, lead coaches at the Cary and Hillsborough locations, are members of the Wolfpack club team. NC State’s alums Josh Horner and Ryan Morgan are assistant coaches and recently become certified CWPA officials.
The experience of Caroline Water Polo is likely familiar to those who strive to start polo from scratch in a region with little or no experience with the sport. Gordon explained that most of his players are brand new to the sport; luckily a handful are transplants to the area who have some experience.
“Water polo is not a high school sport in NC and without more pools, it’s unlikely to be anytime soon,” Gordon said. “Many of our athletes want to play for a school team and are pulled away by other high school sports.
“That may be the greatest challenge that we face.”
As in aquatics facilities seemingly everywhere, swimming maintains a strong grip on the majority of pool time, which Gordon says restricts practice time.
Despite this and other obstacles, the results of Gordon’s efforts have been impressive. He said membership doubled from last year and—by combining the three locations as well as partnering with other programs—there’s always enough players to travel to games and tournaments. Regional rivals include SwimRVA in Richmond, VA, Naval Academy Aquatics Club in Annapolis, MD, Capital Water Polo in Washington, D.C., and East Coast Aquatics in Virginia Beach, VA.
As Gordon knows, competition not only builds success but also begets more playing opportunities. Last year Gatley Stone (STAR WP Greensboro); Ethan Park (STAR WP Greensboro) and Constantin Zodl (Titans/Cary WP) attended regional Olympic Development Program camps in Atlanta. To make up for the shortfall in talent, Gordon’s has partnered with Zilla Water Polo from Austin, Texas, and also sent players to Denver, Florida, and New Mexico to compete in various tournaments.
Photo Courtesy: Eric Gordon
This summer Zilla 16U and 14U boys’ teams will include Gordon’s players as they look to qualify for the 2018 Junior Olympics Tournament in the Southwest Region. There’s a precedent for Carolina Water Polo players finding a pathway to the country’s largest youth polo event. In 2017 Gordon found Ella Murphy (STAR WP Greensboro) a spot on the Atlanta Dynamo’s 16U girls team at JO qualifiers in FL and JO’s in CA last summer.
“We’re hoping to send a number of kids to JO’s with Zilla & Dynamo this summer and have a handful of 14U’s, 16U’s, and 18U’s interested,” he said. “Unfortunately, there aren’t yet enough at any one age group to send our own team.”
In addition to the North/South Tournament, this summer Carolina Water Polo will organize clinics and camps in various areas to give water polo more exposure. Gordon knows that a big part of the sport’s challenge is increased visibility.
“Most kids want to try soccer, basketball and baseball but don’t even know that water polo’s an option,” he said. “Years ago lacrosse was unknown but now is extremely popular. We want that for water polo as well.”
That’s a new one on me 🙂
Potomac Water Polo 16s are there!
Hi Andy:
That’s great to hear! I’m thrilled to know about what’s happening in your part of the world; it’s a sign that polo is (slowly) spreading throughout the East Coast.
If possible, I’d like to post scores so let Swimming World readers know how the 16s do!
Your correspondent
Coach Eric is incredible and and his dedication to building water polo in the area is even more so. As a U.S.A Swimming Certified Age Group Coach and Head High School Swim Coach for Durham Academy, I always encourage my swimmers to cross train with Coach Eric. Playing polo for a few hours in a week is a great way for athletes to stay in the water and get the mileage. Polo requires and athlete to be able to sustain repetitive & prolonged fast breaks out followed by very active and often physically rigorous “rest”. It is a great sport with lots of opportunities for both girls & boys. Sarah Chaires, owner Club Kick Start Swimming, Head Coach Durham Academy and former water polo player.
Dear Sarah:
My apologies for the delayed response to your email. I do get busy with things this time of year (NCAAs) and the FINA WP conference in Budapest.
From what I’m hearing, Coach Gordon is exactly what’s needed for the region – a knowledgeable and experienced coach able to build a program from scratch. Plus, if he can get some swim coaches on his side, the pathway to pool time becomes that much easier.
I’m hopeful of getting down to the region and seeing for myself all the great work that your coach is doing.
Your correspondent
Eric Gordon is a gift to our players! What a talented coach who is committed to building this incredible sport of water polo throughout the East Coast.
Hi Kim:
Thank you for your thoughts. As I just commented, the reports out of North Carolina are great. One challenge is to connect play up the coast; there’s some good polo being played in Connecticut, and having kids travel to play is super important.
I really liked the idea of a North/South tournament and hope that Coach Gordon will try again and work with the Tri-State League <https://tristatewpleague.shutterfly.com/> to find a date when the Northeast teams are available.
Your correspondent