Symposium Comments, Day 3

I had some bad feelings at this years leadership symposium. It was, in fact, not about leadership and only 1 national coach was present. No Men's coaches even though they had just been to an historic Olympic Games, no Junior Team coaches even though club coaches were there to hear their plans. Pretty much a wash out in that respect.

There were plenty of contradictions presented to us as well. The big push in years to come is to concentrate efforts in what is referred to as MMA's (major metropolitan areas), specifically -  Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The women's program is actually only focusing on Toronto to Montreal, nothing to the west. No mention of water polo support for the prairies or the maritimes at any level. That is consistent with past history so at least now it is being talked about openly. The funny/sad part is that there is some sort of illusion that water polo will be added to the Canada Games in future. That is odd since Water Polo Canada is shrinking the base, the provincial support, and killing all domestic competition beyond Cadet age.

I am thinking of writing a large blog on national team centralization and how it is killing women's domestic water polo while leading to slumping national team performance. That effort will take some time though since I am busy with club registration right now and getting 2008-09 going for the players who I can actually help.

Leadership Summit, Day 1

Hmmm, not sure how this is going to roll out. I had a few chances to raise points tonight, to get dialogue going in a specific direction, and that was positive.

I keep bringing up the topics of partnerships, dialogue and responsibility. It remains to be seen if this resonates with more than the few people who thanked me after the meeting for raising the points I did.

This is a very big group of people, 105 in total. Maybe 25 or so are young BC coaches so it is not a genuine cross section from Canada. But it is a good start. We'll see how Saturday goes before I have specific observations about the dialogue.

Daily Blogs Coming Soon

Hotel I will be at this weekend

As I get back into the swing of things I am starting to have meaningful things to say. Soon I will return to blogging on a daily basis. Topics I may cover are; the new designation of elite training with Bushido as the High Performance Centre; rosters and philosophy for 2008-09; why no Neptune girls will train at a high performance level; what the CSL is and how it has influenced domestic play.

This weekend I will be at a national water polo leadership summit in BC. At first I was under the impression this was to be a sharing of ideas and a coming together of ideas from all corners of the sport. I was excited by that possibility and the chance that the philosophy behind the old "Leadership Symposium" might be returning. Sadly though, I now have the agenda for the weekend and it is a not good sign. We have 2 days of meetings, much of it around Long Term Athlete Development, the NCCP and new theories in athlete development and coaching. Oddly the summit will not follow the theories underlying the NCCP and instead we will be sitting down for the whole time as people "tell us things". We won't be sharing much, just hearing what others have already decided on and want us to "rubber stamp".

You can be pretty sure I will have some things to say about the weekend. I'll have my laptop with me (as always) and may even do a blog from there if my mind is blown by something unexpected.

Back in the Saddle

It was a pretty long summer of very limited internet access so there was not much Blog activity. That will end now as I am back in Winnipeg planning the 2008-09 season.

I was very happy to see a Canadian referee that I know and respect get chosen to do the Olympic men's gold medal match. Gaetan is a great ambassador for the sport and his having been a Manitoba coach at one time is an interesting curiosity.

This week I am meeting with coaching candidates to sort out roles for the coming season. There will be some radical changes in staffing and in practice structure. All the juggling of people and resources will be sorted out soon and seasonal plans outlined for everyone.

Good News

Today Water Polo Canada named its Junior Team for the Junior Pan Am Games later this summer. Of course, Breda and Shae are both on the squad. This wasn't a surprise but it's always good to have the details confirmed by an official selection so everyone can relax and get focused on serious final prep. Congratulations girls!

Sorry that I am not blogging more regularly this summer. It's a down time from coaching, recovery is the focus, and we are also very busy moving right now. That means there is not a lot of water polo news to blog about and my energy is low for manufacturing topics. Don't worry, it will be back to normal soon enough.

Clinic by Bushido Experts in Ontario

Here are Breda and Shae in front of an important landmark in Kingston Ontario. They were visiting clinicians on Saturday June 21st as we ran an intro clinic to help kick-start club water polo in the area. There were over 30 people present, half kids 14 and under and half adults. The adults will start a weekly rec league at Queens in the fall after a few more summer sessions. The younger players will have a basic club program if we can find some weekly pool time for them in the fall.

The girls were here at my request to give a media boost to this effort. I am in the area for most of the summer and will live around here eventually so it makes sense for me to lend support. Hopefully in a few days I will have some of the photos from the clinic and will post them here after my next chance to get to a wireless connection.

For those of you who have been waiting for the land strength program for the summer it is now ready. You can find it by following the link to Mike Reid's website that is listed on the left of this page.

Page Turned

Tonight was the genuine conclusion to the 2007-08 season as we held our awards party. It was a low key affair, only about 60 people, but enough of a cross section to be interesting. This was also the last Bushido party on Dorchester as we are moving in July, there will still be lots of room for parties though.


Sorry this picture is not great but here are the 3 award winners from 2008, Breda, Callum and Hanika. Callum was Most Improved, going from uncertain field player to authentic goalie with recognizable skills - that is no easy task. Hanika had the honor of being recognized as Most Promising and that reflects how coaches noticed her personality and work ethic ahead of any game skills (even though those are solid). Breda isn't a huge surprise as Athlete of the Year because she is so talented and works so hard at practice. But above all else, she is a decent person that helps everyone and all coaches enjoy coaching, even when we have to bash heads with each other now and then. Congratulations to all of you.

Breda and Shae will soon leave for Montreal as part of a summer National Team centralization; this will prepare them for the July Pan Am Junior Championships. This will be a stressful training environment after a crazy season and it will be nice for them to get a break in August after a long 11 months.