By Theresa-Marie Wilson~
An Arroyo Grande summer club water polo team brought home a gold medal in the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, the largest club water polo tournament in the world.
“The win is a big accomplishment for the group and shows how coming together for a summer can have big benefits in the end,” said Steven Allen, who coaches the club and Arroyo Grande High School teams. “We are looking forward to the winter high school season and will continue to play together this fall to be ready.”
The competition, held in San Jose, brings between 48 and 60 teams for every age group including 18, 16, 14, 12, and 10 and under who battle it out in hopes of taking the title in their bracket. The A.G. girls, comprised of upcoming high school water polo team members, were in the 18 and under Challenge Tournament consisting of 24 teams. The Challenge is the second tier version of the tournament and the girls placed in the Bronze division.
“This is the second time we have won the Bronze tournament,” said Allen. “I didn’t have any 18 and under team members either. We had a group of girls from 14 to 17-years-old. We had to qualify in late June for the tournament beating out some good high-quality clubs.”
The club is no stranger to the Junior Olympics. In 2014, assistant coach Brad Hamer and the team brought home a win while Allen was on leave taking care of a newborn baby. This, however, is the first time Allen coached for the big win.
“The tournament is a great accomplishment and there is probably less than two to three high school club teams in the club tournament event,” said Allen.
For information about joining future club teams, visit www.teamunify.com.
