USA Water Polo Names Amber Drury-Pinto as Women’s Junior Coach

Los Alamitos, Calif. – USA Water Polo announced the hiring of Amber Drury-Pinto as head coach for the women's junior national team.

Drury-Pinto, a senior national team player from 1984-1994, is currently the head coach for the women's team at the University of Michigan. She has also served as head swimming and water polo coach at Long Beach City College in Southern California (1999-2000).

USA women's water polo head coach and national teams director Guy Baker sees Drury-Pinto as a welcome addition.

"I am very excited to be working with Amber," he said. "She will be an excellent addition to our staff and will, no doubt, have a very positive impact on our junior program."

Drury-Pinto was a part of FINA World Championship teams in 1991 and 1994. Back then, the World Championships were the pinnacle of achievement in women's water polo, which was included in the Olympics for the first time in 2000.

Drury-Pinto's first order of business, competition-wise, will be to prepare the team for the 2002 Junior Pan American Games. The Pan Am Games will serve as the qualification tournament for the 2003 World Championships.

The women's junior national team won the FINA Junior World Championships with a victory over Australia in 2001, but Drury-Pinto is not daunted in the slightest.

"I'm actually looking forward to coaching this team," she said. "With a lot of spots opening up on the Olympic team after Athens (2004), most of these girls will be IT in 2008. I couldn't be happier."

Courtesy of United States Water Polo, Inc.

(Posted by Michael Collins)

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