The Skip Shot

In Water Polo as you advance into higher levels, scoring becomes an art, a talent, a prize. Simply shooting the ball at the goal will not be enough to score, because the goalkeeper will be there, ready to crush dreams. As you advance further into the sports you begin to incorporate new techniques to your shots, one of these is adding a skip. This literally means skipping the ball, if done correctly it will be somewhat unpredictable and more difficult to stop. The trick to the skip shot is rising up high outside of the water and powering the shot into the water at an angle, if done correctly the ball will go with such force that it will bounce(skip) on the water and be launched at the goal. Professionals use this shot when they are taking shots from a distance, they will normally shoot and the ball will skip in front of the goalkeeper, making him think the ball is going straight towards him, but then it skips and flies past his grasp.

SKIP SHOT WATCH

Nolan McConnell- Rising Water Polo star

Nolan McConnel is a junior at Laguna Beach, he is a utility, which means he is a left-hander. He has already earned recogition in the water polo world and he is only 17 years old. He was named First Team All-CIF, throughout his freshman and sophmore seasons which is something unprecedented to say the least. he was his teams leading scorer last year, which once again, as a sophmore is very impressive. He wishes for this year to be different and be able to acquire a big win for his team, he believes they have a chance against the tough competition and is working very hard to be able to acquire this important win.

2010 Turkey Cup Water Polo

This past weekend Gulliver Preparatory school hosted a Water Polo tournament, in a manner of celebration for Thanksgiving. The tournament hosted room for beginners and experienced players alike, incorporating three different divisions, splash ball, for young children. Water Polo 14-U for new players and 16-U for players looking for tougher competition, the Open Division was also hosted to allow top competitive teams to test their skills against the best. South Florida brought a handful of teams to all divisions, 14-U, 16-U, and Open Divisions. One surprise that appeared in the Open Division were the Riptides college team, which the majority of the players are from FIU, which is a top water polo university, BUT they were not able to dominate their competitors. This is because another prestigious team attended, the White Caps, which is a 30+ club, in which everyone playing is well experienced in the art of water polo. They were able to demolish their competition and prove that experience still rules over fitness and youth.

University of Southern California- Water Polo

When it comes to college Water Polo, the No.2 team would be the USC men's water polo. They are known as the Trojans and they have taken down top schools this season, some like crosstown rival Bruins. USC is one of the top Water Polo colleges in the nation, clashing with other top schools like UCLA and Stanford, it is recognized as one of the best.  Last year USC won back-to-back championships which is something unprecedented in college water polo, allowing them to be recognized as one of the top schools out there.In the video below is a link to the NCAA championship between USC and UCLA, which was a very exciting game in which USC took home a victory and a back-to-back memorable championship

Click USC vs UCLA to watch the games highlights

Water Polo Scholarships

Since Water Polo's popularity is still just growing, it is not yet available at every college or university. The best players are highly wanted and even then, it'll be difficult for them to find a full scholarship. In most college teams coaches will split up a handful of scholarships to gather more talented players to form a good cliche, instead of individual stars. Because of all these reasons colleges recommend spending as much time on their academics, as they do in water polo, this is because even though they don't get a full water polo scholarship they can get more scholarship money from being well academically.  Most academic/ sports scholarships of water polo are given to California players, because they are the most talented and experienced ones around. It is rare for someone from the east coast to be granted a full scholarship, this has only occured with the Wigo Twins and Brian Shoemaker, but they were exceptional stars.

Brian Shoemaker

Brian Shoemaker is possibly some of the greatest Water Polo Talent that has emerged from Florida. Playing under SFWP coach Istvan Csendes, he is now one of the top players in the country. He has successfully competed and made the US National team for the last 5 years and has repreented in Europe, Mexico and Canada. In Florida he dominated all throughout highschool, when he broke the still yet to be broken, school record for most goals in a playoff game(13) and most goals per game (4.7). Brian attended Cooper city highschool and was able to win them some very great titles.
For several years Brians goal has been to represent the Us in the 2012 olympics. He is so determined, that during his last year of highschool instead of being with his friends and having a good time, he moved to California, to have newer and tougher competition, as soon as he did, he made a huge impact on California water polo. During games he would be doubled and even triple teamed so he wouldn't be able to score, but somehow, he always found a way to. His abilities granted him some amazing college opportunities, offers from Berkely, UCLA, USC, etc. In the end he went to Univ. of Cal SB training under forme Olympian Wolf Wigo.

South Florida Water Polo

In Florida, one of the most prominent and talented clubs is South Florida Water Polo. With 3 very talented and well rounded coaches, Mike Goldenberg, Istvan Csendes and Laszlo Gyori, each of them with water polo experience from all around the world. Mike Goldenberg is the St. Thomas Water Polo coach and he is credited for their success on the pool, being a former Russian Water Polo star he is a very well-rounded coach. Istvan is the founder of Hungarian Water Polo Schools so he is also very experienced in the art of coaching. Because of these qualified coaches, the club earns something of a reputation, which is, only the best train there. The top players from southern Florida train at this club mostly to see the competition, because anyone that is practicing with them during practice could easily be a tough contender during a school game.

Out of this Club some fantastic stars have emerged, like the Wigo Twins(talked about before on the blog) and Brian Shoemaker, all of these players surely changed the level of competition and raised the bar for Florida Water Polo Players.