{"id":308333,"date":"2018-05-07T11:26:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T18:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=308333"},"modified":"2018-05-07T11:35:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T18:35:29","slug":"2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference: On The Record with Dragan Jovanovic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Editor\u2019s note: For three days (April 26-28) 244 delegates from 100 countries gathered at Budapest\u2019s InterContinental Hotel to discuss<\/a> current and future prospects for water polo, the oldest Olympic team sport. Streaming media of the conference proceedings can be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In what many participants have described as a seminal moment for the sport, after three days of presentations, round-table discussions and communal meals at the 2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference<\/a>, optimism was restored about the future of water polo, the oldest Olympic team sport.<\/p>\n

\"fina-logo\"<\/p>\n

Efforts by Dragan Jovanovic<\/strong> to analyze polo\u2019s current situation and proscribe specific remedies for the sport\u2019s ills are one reason for the positive vibes following FINA\u2019s first water polo conference in four years. President & CEO of\u00a0DJ Global Wave<\/a>\u00a0of Canada as well as Executive Director for the World Water Polo Coaches Association (WWPCA<\/a>), Jovanovic led in-depth panel discussions about promoting polo, making it comprehensible to the average sporting fan, and reforming a sport that appears constrained by outdated rules.<\/p>\n

A former goalkeeper for Yugoslavia and Serbia in the 1990\u2019s, Jovanovic and his family emigrated to Canada in 2001. First as an assistant to and then a head coach of Canada\u2019s Senior Men\u2019s National Team, in 2008 his helmed the squad that captured the country\u2019s first Olympic men\u2019s water polo berth since 1984. Starting in 2015 Jovanovic has organized\u00a0HaBa WaBa North America<\/a>, an annual water polo festival for athletes ages 6 to 13.<\/p>\n

Last week Swimming World<\/em> spoke with Jovanovic about his experience at the conference, the many changes he and his fellow coaches at the WWPA have proposed, how other sports\u2014including basketball\u2014provide useful lessons that water polo coaches and administrators might learn from, and what the future holds.<\/p>\n

– What is the net impact of gathering in Budapest so many folks from all over the world to talk about the sport?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my mind this conference was all about modernizing water polo. To connect the community\u2014I cannot say that was the case before\u2014and to get the ideas and the perspective from the experts. And when I say experts I\u2019m not just talking about the coaches. I\u2019m talking about the officials, the players, marketing people, social media people, because everything is connected to the improvement of water polo. People had the wrong idea that if they change only the rules that everything else will change.<\/p>\n

\"2016

Serbian men celebrate Olympic gold in Rio. Photo Courtesy: Laszlo Balogh<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course the rules have to be modernized. Some of them we don\u2019t need. But we do need to address issues such as too many whistles, too many ordinary fouls. The brutality in the center forward position.<\/p>\n

We need to define what is the foul, and so on. But just doing that will not promote our sport. If we\u2019re going to have more people in the stands it\u2019s going to be because of more media [attention], more television coverage.<\/p>\n

Addressing the rules will help but there\u2019s a whole other part of the sport in the 21st century that needs to be seriously addressed. Improvements and investments need to be made. There\u2019s no business in the world that will make a profit without investments.<\/p>\n

It would be really beneficial for coaches, for referees, for athletes and for FINA to get together and analyze the previous year and make adjustments. I see this [process] as ongoing; I\u2019m hopeful that it will happen that way.<\/p>\n

– The general message out of the Budapest conference is that it was an extremely productive gathering. If and when you all meet again in two to four years what do you think will have been accomplished?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First thing is we still need a strategic plan\u2014where to go from this point. There were great discussions but we need a plan to realize all those strategies in the future. We\u2019ll have a lot of work on that over the next two years.<\/p>\n

The important thing is to collect the data. Statistical analysis needs to be done objectively and subjectively. Statistic can show you some things but it can\u2019t give you a feel for the game.<\/p>\n

Another thing we have to do is talk to spectators and marketing people. And then to present and compare. We\u2019re in April 2018 and we need to look at that [compared with] 2020.<\/p>\n

I see this as an on-going thing, not once in 30 years. If we look at it that way, we may end up in the same boat 30 years from now. So it has to be a constant thing\u2014monitoring, data collection, analysis and discussion.<\/p>\n

– One of the more striking presentations was by the Japanese head coach, <\/strong>Yoji Omoto, who said that\u2014in order to survive\u2014the rules of the sport have to be adapted for athletes who play all over the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I both agree and disagree with that. First of all, I don\u2019t think that any governing body has to make the rules that suit all countries. No one does this in any federation that I know of.<\/p>\n

\"Panel_coaches_FINA\"

Translator, Japan Head Coach Yoji Omoto, US Head Coach Adam Krikorian. Photo Courtesy: FINA<\/p><\/div>\n

Do we need to adapt the game so it\u2019s more spectator friendly? Absolutely! Do we need to adapt the game so it has better flow? Absolutely. Do we need to encourage more driving? There is no doubt about that.<\/p>\n

To focus on certain countries and make the rules for them\u2014I\u2019m against that. I really am. I\u2019m looking for a completely neutral side. I don\u2019t think that rules are for that. They are to regulate the game, not to favor one or the other country. That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to get out of.<\/p>\n

When it comes to strength and size, every person in the world has a different opinion. That\u2019s the beauty of the discussion. But I love to work with facts. That\u2019s how I function. I would like for anyone to tell me if there\u2019s one sport in the world that didn\u2019t evolve in the past 30 \u2013 40 years in terms of height, strength and size of the players. I\u2019d love to see a picture of LeBron James and Michael Jordan one beside the others. And to see if basketball didn\u2019t evolve in that way<\/p>\n

If someone can convince me in some sport it\u2019s happening that way and I can see the evidence, then I will be all for that.<\/p>\n

But, I doubt it.<\/p>\n

– Specifically, the proposed rule change to make the center forward move seems like an obvious adjustment that would benefit many styles of play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In regard to the center forward in basketball staying there with their backs to the [hoop], every sport is different. Playing in the water we have advantage and limitation. The three-second rule is not that easy to apply to water. On top of that, we do have one of the proposals that we will test, and we\u2019ll see what the results are.<\/p>\n

But those tests were done 20 years ago\u2014and didn\u2019t work so well. Players figure out in a second what\u2019s happening. They\u2019re putting two players in front of the goal and it\u2019s even more of a mess there. Talking about this is great but you need to see in reality what\u2019s happening\u2014through testing\u2014to analyze [the impact] through facts and statistics.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong; I\u2019m not against that. For all of these 19 proposals, we absolutely need to test \/ know what will happen.<\/p>\n

This is just one rule; the tough part is synchronizing new rules with what exists, and all the other new rules that are proposed and accepted. That\u2019s a science that we can\u2019t do during the game. It\u2019s impossible. Coaches and players need to adopt that, they need to train under those conditions.<\/p>\n

They need to play in conditions that matter [such as] championship games\u2014competition where winning means a lot. And then, before testing everything else in games and analyzing and adapting it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been in water polo for 35 years. I can\u2019t tell you what it will look like. And whoever tells you he does know\u2026I would question that. Because there\u2019s so many rules, and I\u2019m not sure that a combination of [old and new] rules\u2014I\u2019m not sure anybody knows how it will affect the game.<\/p>\n

Are all of these 19 rules [changes] going to go through? I doubt it. I know a couple of them will not work with each other. But we need to start somewhere. And these are not the rules that we accepted for testing in Budapest [in 2017]. These are just ideas. The next step is those ideas have to be defined.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a job for me! That for somebody in a world with expertise for that.<\/p>\n

\"FINA_Video\"

Photo Courtesy: FINA<\/p><\/div>\n

– Among the \u201cguidelines for the future\u201d that you presented was a video review system for referees\u2014which seems like a very practical tool to get calls right.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all it\u2019s about the technology. We know for certain that FINA can do it because of the Olympic years and world championships. Those two competitions are top-notch. If you compare the world championship in Budapest last year with the world championship in basketball in Istanbul\u2014also last year\u2014I will guarantee you that it was way better organized, many more people in the stands, and an atmosphere\u2026 everything overall water polo was better.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the issue; the issue is what\u2019s happening [in tournaments] below that level.<\/p>\n

To get back to technology, it\u2019s not easy. The whole idea of using a game video monitoring system came from a few cases we had in the past where the technology was missed by the referees\u2014I\u2019m not blaming officials at all when things are missed. They cannot see everything. But that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t use 21st century technology for things that officials miss. Why can\u2019t we make things right?<\/p>\n

When I look from the spectator\u2019s perspective it\u2019s better that the game is stopped right away, video is reviewed, the correct decision is made. [That\u2019s better] than seeing brutality two minutes after a game [ends] on Facebook and that brutality wasn\u2019t punished.<\/p>\n

– You are saying that all major moments in the game would be subject to review\u2014not just controversial goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the intention for this rule. It\u2019s about the spectator\u2019s experience. For a person who is not familiar with this sport, if we cannot explain what happened, then we\u2019re in trouble. This video monitoring system is one thing. Another is using underwater cameras. We didn\u2019t discuss that this time but I think this should be put forward. [Synchronized swimming] is using underwater cameras right now, so why wouldn\u2019t we using them? It will help for exposure and for spectator\u2019s overall experience. It will also help for the referee interpretation.<\/p>\n

With all of these rules some of them should have been implemented 30 years ago. At least half of them are really easy changes. None of us needs any testing results to know that they will speed up the game. For example a rule that the foul is where the ball is and not where the foul was called. That rule was implemented in handball 30 years ago. And it sped up the game significantly.<\/p>\n

We need forward to simplify the game; the simplicity of the game is beautiful. That\u2019s something that we need.<\/p>\n

Six objectives were created; the criteria are that every rule that we propose has to meet these at least one of those objectives. There was a clear process; we didn\u2019t just come up with these ideas.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud to be part of that but also, I\u2019m incredibly excited to see the huge\u2014as one of my colleagues at the conference said\u2014historic support in Budapest.<\/p>\n

– How do you protect the decisions by referees when the rules they\u2019re supposed to enforce lack clarity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m demanding that the referees are included in this process. I\u2019m also compare this [water polo\u2019s situation] with all the other sports. If you can tell me one sport where the coach is happy with the referee I will not talk about water polo ever again.<\/p>\n

In regard to officials, a water polo school has to be approved. Another thing is an official\u2019s ranking [procedure] has to be created. And clear evaluation of the referees.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure how this is done; I\u2019m not a referee. I gather this is an evaluation but what I was told [it\u2019s on a minimal level].<\/p>\n

Joint discussions between coaches, referees and FINA people are necessary and incredibly important. This should happen after the season, not before the summer season starts. Multiple pairs of eyes are better to see things from different angles. At the round-table discussion in Budapest, Boris Margeta<\/strong> saw something in the rule proposals that we hadn\u2019t seen in three months working on them.<\/p>\n

– One reality is\u2014whatever new rules are installed\u2014the coaches will try to exploit them for their team\u2019s benefit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every coach will do the same. That\u2019s normal. Those coaches are winners. If you ask Greg Popovich<\/strong> about this I guarantee you he\u2019ll give you the same answer.<\/p>\n

After playing for 25 years on the highest possible level, then coaching for the next 10 \u2013 15 years, I can say for myself that I wouldn\u2019t be able to evaluate referees. That\u2019s not my expertise. Even though I\u2019ve been so involved in the game, I am not someone who could evaluate the officials. So, we need to choose the right people who can do that job.<\/p>\n

– Given your vast experience with water polo all over the world, yours may be a unique perspective on the future of the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know the European side but I also know the North American side. And I have learned that one size doesn\u2019t fit all. We absolutely have to adapt to different circumstances, environment and problems. Things that are working in Serbia will not work in Canada, Australia, the United States or China. It\u2019s a different mentality, different cultures and different issues that countries are facing.<\/p>\n

We need overall guidelines that are adaptable to the circumstances in each continent or country. That\u2019s what I believe.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why I think I have an advantage. I lived in Serbia and Europe but I\u2019ve also spent a number of years in North America and Canada. And I know the transition from one culture to another. I do have that experience and I\u2019m trying to use it in the best possible way for water polo.<\/p>\n

\"FINA-Maglione-MAY18\"

FINA President Julio Maglione. Photo Courtesy: FINA<\/p><\/div>\n

– You talked about the need to invest in the business of water polo. Do you believe that FINA is prepared to make all the investment necessary to really improve polo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t answer that. I\u2019m not part of FINA, I\u2019m providing my ideas and expertise. I can only say that I do hope that is going to be the case. There were promises made at the conference, so we\u2019ll have to see if they will be met. I will say that FINA President Julio Maglione<\/strong> from July 2017 said that a water polo conference would happen as soon as possible. He kept that promise and I\u2019m confident that he will keep promises in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Coordinator Editor\u2019s note: For three days (April 26-28) 244 delegates from 100 countries gathered at Budapest\u2019s InterContinental Hotel to discuss current and future prospects for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":308335,"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":[3,12],"tags":[53330,67655,60381,184,67653,26866,30707,9787,60192,67501],"class_list":["post-308333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-2016-rio-olympics","tag-2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference","tag-dragan-jovanovic","tag-fina","tag-greg-popovich","tag-julio-maglione","tag-lebron-james","tag-michael-jordan","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-yoji-omoto"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference: On The Record with Dragan Jovanovic - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference: On The Record with Dragan Jovanovic\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Coordinator Editor\u2019s note: For three days (April 26-28) 244 delegates from 100 countries gathered at Budapest\u2019s InterContinental Hotel to discuss current and future prospects for\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-07T18:26:18+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-07T18:35:29+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Dragan-FINA-APR18.jpeg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1077\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\"},\"headline\":\"2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference: On The Record with Dragan Jovanovic\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-07T18:26:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-07T18:35:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\"},\"wordCount\":2657,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Dragan-FINA-APR18.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"2016 Rio Olympics\",\"2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference\",\"Dragan Jovanovic\",\"FINA\",\"Greg Popovich\",\"Julio Maglione\",\"Lebron James\",\"Michael Jordan\",\"Michael Randazzo\",\"Yoji Omoto\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Water Polo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-fina-budapest-water-polo-conference-on-the-record-with-dragan-jovanovic\/\",\"name\":\"2018 FINA Budapest Water Polo Conference: On The Record with Dragan Jovanovic - 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