Seven players from Santa Barbara Water Polo Club’s (SBWPC) 16 & Under Boy’s water polo team have earned spots in the United States Water Polo’s (USAWP) Olympic Development Program (ODP) 10th Grade Coastal Zone.
The Coastal Zone encompasses Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and is historically one of the top zones in the nation. Tryouts for ODP began in early December. Players earning spots amongst the Zone’s teams are:
- Miles Cole – 9th Grader – San Marcos High School
- Jake Ehrhardt – 8th Grader – Mesa Union Junior High/Camarillo
- Dylan Elliott – 9th Grader – Dos Pueblos High School
- Chris Gaffney – 9th Grader – Santa Barbara High School
- Jake Griffin – 10th Grader – Dos Pueblos High School
- Taylor Gustason – 9th Grader – Dos Pueblos High School
- Spencer Wood – 9th Grader – San Marcos High School
Cole, Ehrhardt, Griffin and Gustason were chosen by Head Coach of the Zone’s 10th Grade team Rich Grigouli to be on his top-level “Red” team. Elliott and Wood will be on the “White” team while Gaffney will represent the “Blue” team.
SBWPC’s 16 & Under Head Coach Kevin Kuga who says, “I’m proud of all my guys. We’ve got an excellent program at Santa Barbara. It’s a testament to the hard work the boys put-in and the level of coaching the program has. It’s definitely impressive.”
The boy’s showing shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The USAWP website shows a ranking of the top water polo clubs in the country. Santa Barbara is ranked as the #2 Club in the nation. Rankings are based on the cumulative results across all age groups for both boys and girls.
The purpose of the ODP Program is to serve as the feeder system for USAWP’s National Teams. The foundation of the program is a systematic approach to athlete and development through a training program that stresses the importance of being physically fit with a strong overall technical base that inter-connects with tactical components of the game.
Next up for the boys is the Pacific Coast Championships held March 7th-9th in Orange County.
