By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor
CLEARWATER, FL. Bringing the UANA Junior Pan American Water Polo Championship to Clearwater, Florida this week has been a bold stroke by USA Water Polo to expand polo interest in one of the country’s more accommodating regions. But key to the event’s success will be creating a lasting impact that spurs growth of the sport in South Florida.
Which is why recruiting Zak Kappos, a former Long Beach State player who played high school ball in Miami, to grow polo in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater region may turn out to be an even smarter long-term investment.
A 2011 graduate of the Miami Country Day School, Kappos recently took over leadership of 813 Water Polo in Tampa and he has been one of the main organizers for the UANA tournament, which has attracted the attention of local media as well as spectators eager to experience high level polo competition.
Swimming World spoke yesterday with Kappos about his experience with local polo, the importance of playing under 49er Head Coach Gavin Arroyo, the crush of attention surrounding this UANA competition and how local polo is on the rise in South Florida.
– How did you first get involved with Florida water polo?
I was actually born in Toronto and my parents moved down to Florida when I was younger. My first year at Miami Country Day School (2007) they started up a water polo team and I was one of eight guys interested in playing.
It was all so new; I was in the same shoes as a lot of kids are in when I tell them: Hey, I’m interested in starting a water polo team. They look at me and say: “What’s that?!”
It was jumping into something I didn’t know and excited about trying something new. As I grew up, I became more comfortable in the water than I was on land. I loved doing what I was doing. I was training as much as I could in high school, I was on a club team and we were competing as much as we could.
I was a goalie in high school but was recruited by Gavin Arroyo to be a field player at Long Beach State. He taught me everything I know playing the field, how to be think through the game and [polo] fundamentals.
It was really rewarding for me to get all that.
Zak Kappos. Photo Courtesy: Long Beach State Athletics
– You played at one of the top polo programs in the country. How does your experience translate back home in Florida?
I love that I got to play at Long Beach State, where I learned the fundamentals. I needed to understand how to work, why to do certain things, and how to move through the water. Being comfortable doing what I’m doing came from my experiences in college.
I take not only the coaching experience I got from Coach Arroyo but also from every coach that I’ve had and to translate that into something that kids can understand. The same information that elite athletes learn is also available for those just starting—why you’re doing this drill, how fundamentals help you in the long term. The things that you need in college that gets you to become a successful and prominent water polo player I’m able to get this to kids earlier so they can progress a lot faster.
– There appears to be a tremendous buzz about polo in your part of the country.
Oh, absolutely! When I was growing up there were a handful of club teams that we were lucky to be a part of, local, based in Miami. We really didn’t have too many choices besides Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. Since I came back and moved out to Tampa, there’s been a huge growth in water polo out in Gainesville and in the Tampa Bay area completely.
We’ve seen some places in West Florida like Sarasota, while the places where it was prior—Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale—are now exploding [with players]. There’s more than a handful of teams competing against each other and helping to raise the level of play. And that’s exactly what the state needs.
– Ashleigh Johnson—a Miami native—is one of the most recognizable water polo players in the world. How much impact does she have on polo in Florida?
A great impact. I played with Ashleigh on the same club team for a brief amount of time. Having someone like that in the water and in the goal not only raises the level of play for whatever team she’s on but helps spur interest among other athletes who come from similar backgrounds.
There’s a lot of people, especially in the Tampa area, who are creating an inner-city water polo team that will specifically target African-American, Mexican and Latino communities and give access to the sport to people who normally wouldn’t have it.
We started doing free clinics here two weeks ago with Aquamelon and have been developing interest in those communities. That’s helped us get a handful of sponsors to keep costs down and build inner city water polo teams. The goal isn’t to build a sport that’s only played by a those who can afford to pay for it, but make it [accessible] like basketball, football and so on.
Photo Courtesy: USA Water Polo
– There’s a concerted effort in the Tampa area to grow the sport, including the work of Beth and Jeff Bailey and the Southwest Florida Water Polo Foundation.
Well you can’t play water polo without having competition. Having Sarasota water polo start to take off means we have another team that’s not far away that we can compete against.
It’s even nicer to have the support of John Abdou and USA Water Polo. The UANA Cup has helped bring equipment and interest specifically to our community so that we can start creating programming for all of these kids. We now have seven pools with goals and gear in them, whereas as three years ago there were only two. This has all happened with me only being in town for three weeks.
We’re very interested in building all of this as much as we can.
– How has the high level of competition at the UANA Tournament sparked local interest?
It has brought more than just interest. We have summer camp kids who are coming out left and right to watch the sport because it’s something they’ve never seen before. And it’s provided access to the sport where normally it wouldn’t have happened.
Because [this tournament] is here, we’ve been able to show people what play looks like at the highest levels—and spark even more interest. The UANA Cup shows what the sport can grow into and how the game works instead of just seeing a basic, fundamental part of the game. Starting up from the bottom and learning how to egg-beater and know exactly what you’re doing, it’s difficult to be motivated to do more.
– One great storyline this week is Paola Dominguez-Castro, a local player who is enjoying success at this tournament. How has does her play reflect what’s happening for polo in South Florida?
Not just [Paola] but for any athlete looking to get to the next level as far as playing in college or on the national team or being a better club player. Having seen that someone has already been successful—and the exact same feedback I got when I was growing up is you get kids that look to you as a role model because you [been successful] and they want to do exactly what you’ve done.
It’s not just that she’s been successful; Paola is creating a path for other athletes from Florida to succeed as well.
Photo Courtesy: Zak Kappos
– This tournament is a monumental endeavor; how has it gone so far?
Not only is the UANA Cup being run fantastically well, people from our community are contributing to this grand tournament. We have local club kids who are helping man the tables and making sure there are line judges… people don’t realize how difficult it was to make this all come together.
And it’s not just that this tournament is going so smoothly—it blazes a path for future tournaments in Florida. The Long Center is a top-notch, indoor facility given that in Florida it rains every day at 3 p.m., not being rained out regularly is important. Having a state-of-the-art facility with a 50-meter pool that can host all the teams at the same time is incredible.
The community in Florida as well as the athletes who are part of 813 Polo Club as well as Clear Water Polo—we’ve taken a lot of interest in doing this because it helps not only shows our kids see what it looks like when you get really good and it’s also helped spark the next generation of polo players in our area.
