YMCA OF GREENWICH WATER POLO TEAM MAKES HISTORY AT NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPICS

Greenwich, CT—August 12, 2013… The YMCA of Greenwich Water Polo made history by doing something that no other water polo team outside of California has ever done.  Their 12U Girls team got 7th Place and their 14U Girls team placed 11th at the National Junior Olympics (JOs) – the highest place any team from outside CA has ever placed in these age-groups.  Additionally, the 12U Boys, 16U Girls and 16U Boys team all received Silver Medals.  As a sport predominantly played in California, the West Coast teams usually dominate all age-groups.  However, this year was different and the YMCA’s Greenwich Aquatics was the only non-California team to do it for not one but two teams.

“We really turned heads this year,” remarked head coach Ulmis Iordache.  “We knew our teams were the strongest in the East Coast but we weren’t sure how we would compare to the California teams.”  It only took a few wins against some of the top teams to get the top California teams and coaches to all be talking about the YMCA’s teams.

Greenwich Aquatics had a total of seven teams participating at these competitions (Boys: 12U, 14U, 16U; Girls: 12U, 14U, 16U & 10U Co-ed).  Earlier this year, the USA Water Olympic Development Committee ranked the YMCA Greenwich Aquatics Club 15th in the USA - one of only two other clubs from outside of California to rank in the top 20.   

This was the first time Greenwich Aquatics sent a 10U team to JOs and it was only one of three teams that came from outside CA.  For their first year and with a very young team, their goal was to get some great game experience as this team had little competition in the East Coast.  The team started off with two tough losses against 680 and Rose Bowl.  However, the team came back the next day in Gold bracket and won their next two games against San Diego (16-5) and Diablo (13-6).  Robert Bergbaum, Gavin Molloy, JP Ohl and Jack Moore stepped up on offense and Luke Apostolides, Colby Goldstein, Jack Holl, Mack Keegan, Joanthan Bergbaum & JO Ohl proved to be tough defenders.  Our sole female on the team, Ursie Wise was the team sprinter.  Day 3 and 4 proved too much for the team and they suffered 3 more losses.  However, the team came away with a lot of great game experience and ready to begin their water polo careers.

The 12U Girls were the underdogs, having big shoes to fill from last year's team that placed 8th place in Platinum (a record last year).  They were also the only non-CA team at the tournament.  However, with the team's great defense lead by Sophia Guo, Charlotte Hallisey, Issy Wise and Kayla Yelensky and speed from Kayla Barone, Kayla Carroll, Julia Merrill & Mindy Pang, the team easily won their first two games to get an automatic spot into the top Platinum bracket.  They had a tough loss against Diablo (who got 2nd at JOs) but came back with wins against Simi Valley (5-3) & Laguna Beach (10-4).  They lost to Northwood and played Rose Bowl in the final game for 7th place.  It was the team’s toughest game, but with 5 goals from Guo and unstoppable defensive with Merrill in field and Wise in goal, the team had their best game of the tournament and pulled out a 11-10 win for 7th place.

The Greenwich 12U boys had a rough start to the tournament, with three tie games that went into shoot-outs.  Unfortunately, all three shoot-outs turned into losses.  Getting pushed into the Gold bracket, the team bounced back and won five consecutive games against Chelsea Piers (formally Greenwich Water Polo) (6-3), American River (12-9), Davis (11-3), International (16-10) & Shores Aquatics (12-8).  Veteran players, Nico Apostolides, Christian Farricker, Charlie Marvin, Christian Ronda, Jack Vecsey and Kyle Yelensky made major impacts on offense and Isaac Bragg Thomas Hoffmeister, Daniel McDermott Eric Osband and Tate Robinson were solid defenders.  The team made it to the Gold medal match and even when they were down by 4 goals in the final quarter, they were able to persevere and get it back to a tie game in the final minute.  They ended up losing by one in the final to get a Silver Medal.  Jackson Chamberlain had an impressive 13 saves in the final game.

The YMCA knew they had a hard-working, talented 14U girl’s team, but it was young.  So this was why it was so exciting that the team won their first two games to get an automatic spot in the Platinum division. Moreover, they beat Commerce (6-5) in the first round – a team that was slotted for a medal.  Ally Furano, Ella Jomo, Meredith Karle, Kate Murray & Borden Wahl all tailed goals in the first games.  While Paige Furano, Lily Holl, Anne Robinson & Larissa Hodzic held the other teams from scoring. The Greenwich Aquatics squad continued their winning streak and upset Rose Bowl (4-3).  However, they had tough losses against United, Foothill and Laguna Beach before beating Diablo (9-6) and then Pacific (4-2) for 11th place.  Lizzy Bradley and Scarlett Horton shared time in the cage.

The 14U team had a very small roster, which hurt them in this tournament.  With a total of 10 players: Jimmy Abi-habib, Ryan Bedell, Jamie Cassidy, Nick Daetwiler, Simon Derby, John Krill, Ale Milewski, Charlie Pang, Will Prout & Thacher Scannell.  The team was able to get a great shoot-out win on the first day against Thunder. Goaltender, Pang blocked an impressive two 5-meter shots that gave Greenwich the win.  They also had a great win against local rival Chelsea Piers on the second day but the rest were losses against South Bay United, Rain City, Pacific and Bakersfield.  The team got 12th in Gold.  

The 16U Girls came into this tournament with a strong group of players including top GHS players Hollis Jomo, Paige Neary & Madison Ellsworth, but with a lack of a bench, the players knew they needed to work extra hard for all their wins.  The team started with a loss to Simi Valley (3-9) but turned the next game around with a win against Rain City (11-1) with five goals from Hollis, four from Neary and two from Ellsworth.  The team needed to play a third game this day to determine if they would make the top Platinum Bracket of go into the bottom 24 Gold Bracket.  It was a tough game against American River but in the end, Greenwich Aquatics lost 2-3 and ended up in the Gold bracket, bottom 24 teams.  The team pushed through their disappointment, and went on a 4-game winning streak against Seattle (twice: 7-3, 7-6), Napa Valley (10-2) & Raider (7-6) with great game performances by Meg Apostolides, Quinn Scannell and goal keeping by Grace Guo.  The Gold medal match was against Raider, a team they beat a day earlier by one goal.  However, it was Raider's day and they pulled out a close 6-5 win. Greenwich got the Silver Medal.

Similar to the 14U Girls, the Greenwich’s 16U boys was a young team with over half the team staying in the 16U age-group next year.  The team started out with an easy win against Del Mar (11-7) with five goals from USA National Youth Team member, Thomas Dunstan, three goals from Ben Green, two goals from Jack Kerwin and one from Sam Varshisky with dominate goal keeping by RJ Quigley and Derek Benison.  The team had a tough loss against SOCAL (who ended up winning JOs) in the second game.   Unfortunately, the team played so hard against SOCAL and with only a 2-hour break between games, they had an unfortunate loss against CDM Blue (5-6).  Although the team felt they deserved to be in the Platinum bracket, the only choice was to get to the final game, which they did by beating Rain City (9-7), Viper Pigeons (10-8), LAWPC (7-5) and South Coast (9-2) in the semi-final game.  Dunstan, Kerwin, Charlie Owens and Cooper primarily handled offense while David Altman, Ryan Olesen and Pat Stefanou used their fast speed to keep goal scoring low. They played Lamorinda in the Gold medal match, who also felt they didn't deserve to be in the Gold Bracket.  It was a battle, but Greenwich lost and got the Silver Medal.  Alex Zim was a force to be reckoned with on defense.    

“We are so proud of all our age-groups,” says Senior Manager of Greenwich Aquatics, Kim Tierney Wang.  “With over 75 Greenwich Aquatics athletes attending   JOs this year, it was the largest showing from any East Coast team with top results to be proud of.  We have shown that we have the facilities and coaches to produce championship teams and elite athletes.  As the premier water polo program in the East, we look forward to developing more players and breaking more records.”

If players are interested in playing water polo this fall, evaluations will be held at the Greenwich YMCA pool are on Thursday, August 29 from 4-6pm for beginners and intermediate players.  Newcomers are always welcome.  Boys and girls interested in making one of our many travel teams, please contact Kim Tierney Wang for an appointment (ktierney@gwymca.org or 646-220-9792).  Please check online for more details (greenwichaquatics.com).

The YMCA of Greenwich was founded more than 96 years ago in 1916.  Today, it is the largest community-based organization in Greenwich with more than 5,000 members dedicated to healthy living, youth development and social responsibility through athletics and life-long learning programs in order to nurture the potential of all in our community. To learn more about the YMCA of Greenwich, membership and its numerous wellness programs, visit: www.greenwichymca.org.

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