{"id":245747,"date":"2017-03-11T13:26:39","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T20:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=245747"},"modified":"2017-03-11T13:26:39","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T20:26:39","slug":"polo-finds-foothold-in-the-dominican-republic-thanks-to-expat-amado-mejia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/polo-finds-foothold-in-the-dominican-republic-thanks-to-expat-amado-mejia\/","title":{"rendered":"Polo Finds Foothold in The Dominican Republic Thanks to Expat Amado Mejia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the calculus of where water polo might thrive, the Dominican Republic presents contrasting arguments regarding the sport\u2019s potential. Despite minimal infrastructure and an athletic system dominated by baseball, the Caribbean island\u2019s temperate climate, strong foundation of aquatic sports, and history of competition\u2014albeit brief\u2014suggest a brighter future for polo competition in the region\u2019s second largest country.<\/p>\n

That, plus one man\u2019s passion for the sport he loves.<\/p>\n

To honor one of his country\u2019s water polo pioneers, Amado Mejia<\/strong>\u2014a Dominican expat living in the U.S.\u2014organized an international masters tournament last January at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center in Santo Domingo. The inaugural Jose Tavares Masters Water Polo Tournament featured two American squads\u2014Greenwich Aquatics of Connecticut and the Wetskins from Washington, DC\u2014one from the University of Loyola in Puerto Rico and two teams from the Dominican Republic: Los Vikingos from Santo Domingo and the Santiago Knights of Santiago de Santiago.<\/p>\n

The Puerto Rican team took gold with a 12-6 victory over Greenwich in the championship final on January 29th. The Santiago Knights beat Los Vikingo 8-6 for third place.<\/p>\n

The tournament not only honored Tavares, who died tragically in 2007 at the age of 40, but also sought to revive a sport that select Dominicans revere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love water polo, it\u2019s in my heart,\u201d Mejia said, then added: \u201csomebody had to do something\u201d to help polo flourish in his homeland.<\/p>\n

That someone was him.<\/p>\n

A New Yorker since 1989, Mejia maintains a strong connection to the sport of his youth. A one-time member of the New York Athletic Club\u2019s team, he now competes for Greenwich Aquatics. He is also a referee for NCAA varsity men\u2019s and women\u2019s matches and at youth tournaments.<\/p>\n

Even though he was living abroad, Mejia remained in contact with Tavares\u2014\u201cmy best friend\u201d\u2014who represented Dominican water polo as a player, FINA referee and member of Federaci\u00f3n de Nataci\u00f3n Amateur, a local aquatics association.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Jose passed away, nobody cared about water polo,\u201d Mejia said about the sport\u2019s decline relatively soon after it\u2019s high point in popularity. In 2003, when the Dominican Republic hosted the Pan American Games, Mejia was a member of a Dominican team competing against squads from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S.<\/p>\n

With many former Dominican players living in Miami, California and New York, he saw an opportunity to both honor his friend and restart polo in his native country. Networking through both Dominican and American connections Mejia planned a polo tournament 1,500 miles from his adopted home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no money to put the [Dominican] team out of the country,\u201d he reasoned. \u201cSo why don\u2019t we bring people to the country and play water polo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"wetskins-sd-2017\"

Photo Courtesy: Washington Wetskins<\/p><\/div>\n

James Allen of the Washington Wetskins, who traveled to Santo Domingo with his wife, was complimentary of the competition as well as the warm welcome afforded visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe organizers, volunteers, participants and spectators could not have been more welcoming and friendly,\u201d Allen wrote in an email.\u00a0\u201cThe level of competition was high as was the level of sportsmanship. We brought a relatively strong team for our club and went 1 and 3.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the balmy Caribbean weather, all games were played outdoors, a feature that Allen relished.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tournament venue was excellent,\u201d he said. \u201cI had not had a chance to compete outdoors in a long time and that was refreshing, even when it rained.\u201d<\/p>\n

To reciprocate for hospitality received, the Wetskins have invited a Dominican team to participate in their Annual Fall Invitational, next October in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

\"tavares-03-mar-17\"

Photo Courtesy: Greenwich Aquatics<\/p><\/div>\n

His team may have taken silver, but for Greenwich\u2019s Ulmis Iordache, the real winner was polo in Santo Domingo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had a big crowd supporting the two local teams,\u201d he said. “Their families were there [as well as] people involved in [Dominican] water polo in the past and the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contrasting the Northeast\u2019s sub-freezing temperatures with the Caribbean\u2019s trademark balmy weather, Iordache added: \u201cIn New York it was 20\u00ba and when we got there it was sunny and warm. Outdoor 50 meter pool, a huge facility\u2026. It\u2019s a good place for water polo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already there is renewed interest in fielding a Dominican team to compete internationally, including at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, to be held in Barranquilla, Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just took a risk,”\u00a0Mejia admitted “I was scared at the beginning because I didn\u2019t know if it would work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Iordache, it has\u2014all because of a Dominican who came back.<\/p>\n

“This tournament is trying to bring water polo back to life, and Amado is key to that. He was amazing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor. In the calculus of where water polo might thrive, the Dominican Republic presents contrasting arguments regarding the sport\u2019s potential. Despite minimal infrastructure and an<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":245751,"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":[12],"tags":[60713,60720,60709,60721,3666,13168,60187,60711,60710,60192,6460,60674,60712],"class_list":["post-245747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-polo","tag-2003-pan-american-games","tag-2018-central-american-and-caribbean-games","tag-amado-mejia","tag-barranquilla","tag-colombia","tag-dominican-republic","tag-greenwich-aquatics","tag-jose-tavares","tag-juan-pablo-duarte-olympic-center","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-new-york-athletic-club","tag-ulmis-iordache","tag-washington-wetskins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nPolo Finds Foothold in The Dominican Republic Thanks to Expat Amado Mejia - 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