Colorado Springs, CO\u2014U.S. women\u2019s water polo coach Guy Baker has been selected as the 2000 United Airlines\/U.S. Water Polo Coach of the Year and will be honored, along with Developmental Coach of the Year, Randy DiMicali, at the USWP awards luncheon in January.<\/p>\n
For Baker, this will be his second reign as the top coach in the sport. Baker was also named Coach of the Year as a National Team rookie coach in 1998. This year, however, Baker led the members of the U.S. women\u2019s team from \u201clast ditch qualifier\u201d status to the proud owners of 13 silver medals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really fortunate to have been named as the Coach of the Year,\u201d said Baker, who also coaches at UCLA. \u201cI\u2019ve always said that coaches get too much
\nof the credit, or too much of the blame. But I\u2019d rather be on the \u2018too much credit side\u2019. This is a great team and they\u2019ve had a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe U.S., after missing out on an early Olympic qualification last year, secured its entitlement to an appearance in Sydney in late April with a win over Hungary at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Palermo, Sicily.<\/p>\n
\tAfter that, Baker and company scripted a storyline fit for Hollywood.<\/p>\n
Team USA, who had now locked in its spot to compete at the first Olympics to include women\u2019s water polo as a team sport, went on a tear over the next few months, most notably at the Holiday Cup in July. The Baker-led Stars and Stripers went undefeated against the whole of the Olympic field, winning six straight en route to the tournament crown. The U.S. managed to dispatch gold medal favorites Australia and Holland in the process, and consequently threw itself into the medal mix, no longer just a \u201clast ditch qualifier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBaker then led the team up against the world at the 2000 Olympic Games, its only two losses coming to Australia, once in the preliminaries, and once in
\nthe gold medal game. A new element had gripped women\u2019s water polo\u2026the crowd of 17,500 at the final match had vehemently declared the arrival of the sport on the spectator map. The largest crowd to ever take in a women\u2019s water polo contest watched as the world\u2019s two best teams battled down to the wire for the sport\u2019s first-ever gold medal. And even though \u201cBaker\u2019s Dozen\u201d
\ndidn\u2019t walk away with the gold, he had taken them further than anyone had imagined only a few short months earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see this as a great honor, not just for myself, but for this team,\u201d he said. \u201cThe players, the staff, the parents\u2026everyone. So many factors go into success. This has been a great ride, and everyone\u2019s pitched in.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego Shores Skipper Named USWP Developmental Coach of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n
Colorado Springs, CO\u2014For his accomplishments with San Diego Shores, Randy DiMicali has been named as the 2000 United Airlines\/U.S. Water Polo Developmental Coach of the Year. DiMicali will be formally recognized at the USWP Awards Luncheon in January along with UA\/USWP Coach of the Year, Guy
\nBaker.<\/p>\n
This is DiMicali\u2019s first time being named as the Developmental Coach of the Year in over a decade of service and dedication to the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am stoked,\u201d he said, the Southern Californian in him shining through.
\n\u201cIt definitely is an honor to be in the company of previous winners. I
\ndidn\u2019t even expect this, primarily because there are so many deserving
\ncoaches out there. I guess we must be doing something right, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSufficed to say.<\/p>\n
Over the last year, DiMicali and San Diego Shores have consistently demonstrated excellence in the sport.<\/p>\n
For the second consecutive year, San Diego Shores took home gold from the men\u2019s junior nationals, while the junior women won their first medal of any kind at the national level. Shores also took home the club title for the second year in a row at the National Junior Olympics, with a third straight gold going to the 16-under boys. Shores dominated the JO\u2019s, with a team in
\nthe final four of each age group\u2026men and women included.<\/p>\n
\tDiMicali has also been instrumental in bringing age group water polo to the forefront in the San Diego area. He helped establish the Grommet League, which runs in both the fall and the spring. The league, which started with six teams in 1993, has since blossomed to include 28 teams in 2000. DiMicali
\nalso had his hand in starting the County Cup, which is held every spring. The 1993 County Cup featured 12 teams. The 2000 field included over 115
\nteams.<\/p>\n
But DiMicali refuses to take all the credit for the rapid emergence of San Diego as a water polo Mecca on the west coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to share this award with Doug Peabody,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has played an instrumental role in the development of this club, since we started it in 1992, as a coach, player, friend and business partner.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colorado Springs, CO\u2014U.S. women\u2019s water polo coach Guy Baker has been selected as the 2000 United Airlines\/U.S. Water Polo Coach of the Year and will be honored, along with Developmental<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,185,2832,1055,1053,7954,7952,7949,1756,141,7501,7956,282,124,102,5688,411,7955,7950,283,7953,1089,45,50,6169,7951,61,2473,62,1754,1629],"class_list":["post-1877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-australia","tag-coach","tag-coach-of-the-year","tag-coaches-of-the-year-colorado-springs","tag-developmental-coach","tag-doug-peabody","tag-friend-and-business-partner","tag-grommet-league","tag-guy-baker","tag-hungary","tag-last-ditch-qualifier","tag-mecca","tag-national-team","tag-netherlands","tag-olympics","tag-palermo","tag-player","tag-randy-dimicali","tag-rookie-coach","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-shores-skipper-named-uswp-developmental-coach","tag-sicily","tag-sydney","tag-the-2000-olympic-games","tag-the-olympic-qualification-tournament","tag-uauswp-coach","tag-ucla","tag-united-airlines","tag-united-states","tag-water-polo-coach","tag-west-coast"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n