USA Water Polo Senior National Teams Announced 2011 Domestic Competition
Corona del Mar, Calif. – April 25, 2011 – The USA Water Polo Senior National Teams have announced their 2011 domestic schedules with both squads hosting the FINA World League Prelims in Orange County, California this May. The Men’s Senior National Team will play host to Canada on May 13 and May 15 at Costa Mesa High School in Costa Mesa, California. The reigning World Champion Women’s Senior National Team will also host Canada on May 20 and 21 at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, CA. In addition several members of the Men’s National Team will compete with their club teams in the 3rd Annual Fisher Cup slated for May 21-22 at the University of California-San Diego in San Diego, California. Tickets are on sale for both prelim events and can be purchased by clicking here. Tickets for the Fisher cup will be available on site.
“The World League prelims is our kick off for the summer,” said USA Men’s Head Coach Terry Schroeder. “Canada continues to improve and it is great for us to be able to host them and play them in this two game series. It is also exciting as some of our guys who play in Europe begin arriving back home and settling in with Team USA. It is going to be a busy and very competitive summer and we hope to get back to the podium in more than one tournament.”
The Men’s Senior National Team is coming off another competitive year that saw them vie for medals at all the major championships while taking home fifth place at the FINA World League Super Final and fourth place at the FINA World Cup. The FINA World League Prelim is the beginning of a host of competition for the men including the FINA World League Super Final this June in Italy and the FINA World Championship this July in China, both of which present opportunities to earn a berth to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“We are always excited to play on our home turf and since these will be the only two days that it will happen in 2011, it is extra special,” said USA Women’s Head Coach Adam Krikorian. “It is a great way to start out a busy summer and fall for our team as we lead into the World Championships and Pan American Games.”
For the Women’s Senior National Team they will try and top yet another stellar year. The group took home Gold at both the FINA World League Super Final and FINA World Cup, the latter of which was the first World Cup Gold in 31 years. The two game series with Canada will be a strong appetizer leading up to the World League Super Final in China, along with the FINA World Championships also held in China. While the women can’t use either of these events to qualify for London it will serve as strong preparation for their first qualification attempt this fall at the Pan American Games in Mexico.
2011 USA Water Polo National Teams Domestic Schedule (all times PST)
May 13 – Men’s National Team vs. Canada – Costa Mesa, CA 7:00pm
May 15 – Men’s National Team vs. Canada – Costa Mesa, CA 12:00pm
May 20 – Women’s National Team vs. Canada – Newport Beach, CA 6:00pm
May 21 – Women’s National Team vs. Canada – Newport Beach, CA 4:00pm
May 21-22 – Fisher Cup (Men’s Club Water Polo) – San Diego, CA
For more information on all of these events or to buy tickets click here. For more information on the USA National Teams click here.
About USA Water Polo
USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters National Championships. With more than 40,000 members, USAWP is also the sanctioning authority for more than 500 Member Clubs and more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport nationwide. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.