The United States has become a disposable society. Nothing exemplifies this idea more than water polos’ collective stance toward what should be recognized and cultivated as one of its most important groups – Masters Water Polo.
The recent rescinding of the Atlanta Masters tournament prompted me to take a closer look at what is going on in the world of Masters Water Polo.
In Europe, where they embrace experience and history, Masters players form the very foundation of its organizational structure. These are the players who know the thrill of the game, embrace the love of the sport, and are its most effective ambassadors. They work the table at age group, club, and international events, participate in the management of the clubs, work (or volunteer) as coaches and scrimmage/game referees, attend all important functions, and sign their kids up to play. In addition, many of them have the resources to give back to the sport, financially and otherwise.
To illustrate the importance of Masters here in the US, one need only look to isolated microcosms outside of California where small pockets of age group water polo thrive around the solid infrastructures provided by Masters Clubs. Dallas water polo grew around the Dallas Masters Water Polo Club, Atlanta water polo around the Dynamo Masters Club, and Ohio water polo around the Ohio Master Squirrels. Masters clubs provide critical components for growth and development of age group water polo. The masters clubs provides the local knowledge base of referees, coaches and add to the player base with their own children, financial support, and experience.
At the NCAA level, we know that water polo players excel above all other athletes in academics. It is a simple matter to extrapolate that success to careers when these same players join the workforce. Rather than tap this enormously successful intellectual resource, USA Water Polo has historically chosen to relegate them to third world status neither acknowledging their import nor asking for their help and input… ignoring a well of expertise that has, in many cases, been honed through success in both private industry and the sport.
Masters water polo players represent the largest bolus of net disposable income in the sport yet we in continue to treat them as the red headed stepchild, deserving of no attention other than one annual Masters Tournament, a low-priority event with low-priority staffing. Masters Water Polo offers us the largest base of potential coaches and referees to initiate programs better able to thrive from a higher level of expertise than one organized by less experienced organizers.
USAWP Membership numbers as of September 2009 show that Masters aged players account for about 12% of the total registration of USA Water Polo. This number does not include the unquantifiable number of Masters who no longer bother to register.
The past month has brought the subject of Masters Water Polo to the forefront with the 2011 Masters bid being removed from Atlanta and a stream of emails from USAWP to Masters Athletes across the country apologizing for 5+ years of abuse and neglect.
USA Water Polo is looking for your help to determine how best to expand the range of offerings for Masters in 2011. As a Masters athlete, no one is in a better position to provide input for this expansion of opportunities. As you may know, we have been studying the Masters segment for a long time—perhaps a little too long—to determine how to better serve it.
We are also aware that some in our community question USAWP’s commitment to Masters. At the past Masters National Championships, two common themes emerged. One, the lack of other meaningful competition besides this single annual event. Two, the consistency of referees who officiate Masters Competition.
Some of this criticism stung because we actually care a great deal about the Masters community. We see Masters not only as important in itself but also as a key component to growing our sport. Besides being athletes and competitors, Masters are also coaches, referees, club administrators and Zone Board members. Yet it is fair to say we have been slow to implement new programs and we have struggled to understand how best to address the skepticism some of our Masters athletes have about USA Water Polo’s commitment to them.
Not unlike the way we recently handled concerns about our Junior Olympic tournament, we would like to expand the discussion to all of our Masters members to gain their insights into a larger and more diverse Masters program for 2011. This letter is intended to gain your feedback on some ideas for expansion and any input you have for other meaningful ways to enhance the Masters experience.
The reality of the situation is that after years of neglect, many of the Masters express the fact that they are fed up. They are tired of paying dues with no return, tired of supporting an organization that treats them (many of them former Olympians) as irrelevant and sick of offering their expertise and support only to be rebuffed. A core leadership of experienced, successful Masters has decided that poor customer service and poor treatment is no longer acceptable. Masters Water Polo has reached the same point arrived at by Masters Swimming in the mid 70’s…history that until now, seems to have escaped the current USA Water Polo Board of Directors and staff.
What accounts for this? A brief look at the current USAWP Board of Directors shows that a majority of the Board participate in Masters programs. John Hendrickson (Olympic Club), Jeremy Laster (Newport), Mike Graff, Bill Smith (Greenwich), Sandy Nitta and Richard Esterkin (Tri Valley) are all Masters players. This suggests that the USAWP Board of Directors must support this segment of our sport. According to a core group of Masters Organizers, the problem comes in translating this support from the Board level into daily operations.
A variety of dissatisfied masters cite specific reasons for their dissatisfaction; (1)The Conduct of Champions sets referee compensation for Masters events significantly lower than analogous age group events. In a sport where outcomes are heavily influenced by officiating, Masters events (many of which include former Olympians) are assigned inexperienced or subpar referees. (2) Current USAWP sponsorship agreements prohibit Masters from raising money through their own sponsors due to exclusivity arrangements that benefit only the National teams. (3) Lack of USAWP sanctioned events in return for Masters dues. (4) Lack of website and magazine support for Masters events and information relevant to Masters participants.
A recent email to Masters from the USAWP has promised the addition of more Masters events and better assigning of officials via the new referee organization, USAWPOA. In response to the claim that 30% of the Masters teams will not travel to the 2011 National Championship outside California, USAWP rescinded an awarded bid for the 2011 Masters Nationals from Atlanta. While this may satisfy the 30% of California Masters teams, it has alienated the remaining 49 states who see it as further evidence that those of us outside California are functionally irrelevant at every age group and level of play.
Is this frantic drive on the part of our NGB too little, too late and at too high a cost to the integrity of the bid process?
A group of Masters has initiated a move to secede from USA Water Polo and turn to a new organization who they feel will better meet their needs and give them the service they are willing to pay for… American Water Polo.
Based in Pennsylvania, American Water Polo is well known on the East Coast. Run by the same people who run the CWPA, American Water Polo is the predominant age group organizer on the East Coast, and is also somewhat involved in the Southeast and Midwest. The AWP Commissioner, Dan Sharadin, has a vision of growing the sport from a grassroots operation with a low barrier to entry (low dues) and a professional organization that caters to its membership via great customer service, affordable dues, good insurance, and family friendly events. Dan believes that by eliminating the financial support of a National team, AWP can better concentrate its resources on the growth of the sport via organization, support and customer service.
Clearly, the CWPA expansion of the Collegiate Club system is proof that this philosophy may hold some weight.
The comparison below is the illustration of the benefits of AWP vs USAWP which has been circulating via email for the past year:
