{"id":348785,"date":"2019-01-25T17:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T00:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=348785"},"modified":"2019-01-25T20:23:25","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T03:23:25","slug":"five-questions-for-adam-wright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/five-questions-for-adam-wright\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Questions for Adam Wright, UCLA Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam Wright<\/strong> is one of America’s best coaches, and his approach to his UCLA men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams, as well as the health of the sport in the U.S., is both frank and refreshing.<\/p>\n

\"ucla\"<\/p>\n

Much has been written about his career playing for the U.S. Senior Men\u2019s National Team\u2014participating in three Olympics, and a member of the 2008 squad that made a thrilling run to the gold medal match in the Beijing Games before falling to the dynastic Hungarians.<\/p>\n

What must also be considered is how much of Wright\u2019s legacy is defined by his connection to UCLA<\/a>. A member of back-to-back NCAA champions as a player (1999, 2000), at the conclusion of his playing career he returned to Westwood and joined Adam Krikorian\u2019s<\/strong> staff for what was the last of an impressive five-straight women’s national championships (2005-2009). An assistant to the Bruin men, it was a natural next step for Wright to assume leadership of UCLA in 2009, in the midst of USC\u2019s epic run of six straight men\u2019s titles. Fittingly, it was Wright\u2019s Bruins that ended the Trojan\u2019s reign with a 9-8 victory in 2014\u2014a feat UCLA repeated in 2015 as the culmination of an undefeated season (30-0).<\/p>\n

Following a third championship in four years (2017), Wright became head coach for the UCLA women, the first dual program coach in Westwood since Krikorian. Last season\u2014when the Bruins finished behind USC and Stanford\u2014was a process of re-learning the women\u2019s game and re-affirming core UCLA values.<\/p>\n

Coach Wright recently spoke with Swimming World<\/em> about a return to coaching the Bruin women, the value UCLA puts on being decisive on defense, and a pool of NCAA contenders crowded by Cardinals, Trojans and other MPSF rivals.<\/p>\n

– It\u2019s Year Two for you coaching the Bruin women. What was surprising from last year and what has now become old hat?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2009, my first year back to UCLA, I was an assistant to Adam [Krikorian<\/strong>] for both the men and the women. That year on the women\u2019s side was when they won their fifth straight national championship. What I didn\u2019t remember was the length of the season. Where it differs greatly from the men\u2019s [is] the men\u2019s season is a sprint. From the very first week, a result can be the difference of everything.<\/p>\n

That was a big thing because there\u2019s a limited amount of time in big games on the men\u2019s side to develop your roster. You can develop them throughout the year with trainings but there\u2019s just certain moments where that development phase is gone for certain players. That\u2019s one piece that does exist on the women\u2019s side. You have a chance to really get all your players out there, especially early on in the season, which is important.<\/p>\n

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Everyone in the pool! UCLA wins in 2015. Photo Courtesy: UCLA Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

All athletes are at different levels and you want every athlete in your program to invest to the best of their ability. At the core of it, every athlete wants to play. How the schedule lays out for the women\u2019s season affords that.<\/p>\n

Another big piece is adjustment\u2014we really take great pride in taking care of the physical training and keeping our kids healthy, and who we\u2019re going to have an opportunity to really ramp it up at certain points in the season. That was new. There was a lot of learning through the first season.<\/p>\n

Also mentally, which we\u2019re heavily invested in. In the women\u2019s season they have to go through finals, they have to come back from holiday break, they go through spring break. There\u2019s a lot of different factors where it can be mentally fatiguing, so it\u2019s easy to lose focus.<\/p>\n

For me those were the biggest learning curves that I had forgotten about.<\/p>\n

– Suffocating defense has always been the hallmark of UCLA polo, but your system cannot be implemented over night. How much better prepared will your team be to play your style in 2019?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Every coach is a product of where they played and who they played for. From all of my coaches, we were always told at a young age: what wins championships? Defense. I really believe in that. The Warriors and what they\u2019re doing in basketball is very interesting, but at the core of it when they\u2019re locked in you can see how they play defense.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fundamentally sound defensive team\u2014even if you\u2019re great at offense and it\u2019s your worst offensive day\u2014you\u2019re going to have a chance. And that’s all you want. Now, maybe if you\u2019re not as offensively gifted as your opponents, you have to find ways and make adjustments. But if you get in a high-scoring game, the chances of you being successful are not very good. So you\u2019d better be really damn good at defense.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019re into year two, where we are now as opposed to where we were last year is a completely different place. We\u2019ve been able to establish where we want to go with our culture, how we communicate with each other. The standard with which we train, including little details\u2014all the way down to how many breast kicks you\u2019re supposed to take or where your legs are supposed to be positioned. And that takes time.<\/p>\n

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Wright hoisting hardware in 2017. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/p><\/div>\n

The reality is, that stuff is starting to be set in stone. The nice part is that, over time, it starts to organically grow within the team. The team is enforcing it by the way everybody trains. Meaning, you see your teammates doing it a certain way, you\u2019d better do it that way. Otherwise, you\u2019re going to stick out.<\/p>\n

Of course, we have to hold a standard. But it doesn\u2019t have to come from me or the other coaches all the time. That\u2019s the evolution that we need.<\/p>\n

I will say, we have a long ways to go. But to have a foundation in place, for the team to understand just how important it is to be fundamentally sound from a body position standpoint to an awareness standpoint for defense\u2026. We have come a long ways. And it\u2019s going to serve us well as we move into the future.<\/p>\n

– Maddie Musselman was injured just when your team needed her most\u2014for MPSF and NCAAs. What\u2019s her status and what might be expected after almost a year off from playing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

She has been out for an extended period. She\u2019s playing now\u2014she played today (UCLA win last Saturday over UC Irvine). Maddie\u2019s back and she\u2019s put in the work. Obviously, there\u2019s a progression any time you\u2019re out of the water for an extended period.<\/p>\n

Are we better served with Maddie in the water for us? Absolutely! Her experiences with the national team, she does so many little things that people don\u2019t know about; releasing, getting live balls to the center. She\u2019s demonstrated she can be one of the top scorers in the world. But the small things that she does on the defensive end as well as the offensive end are what change our team.<\/p>\n

You have to understand a player who was the youngest on the national team in her first Olympic Games, surrounded by such great players. Then on to UCLA where\u00a0two years ago we obviously had a really strong team with a large graduation group. Then a coaching change.<\/p>\n

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Maddie Musselman back to doing what she does best. Photo Courtesy: Richard Quinton<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s times when she\u2019s completely open but the ball won\u2019t arrive\u2014those are things that are frustrating. [But] she doesn\u2019t change the way she trains or her attitude. It\u2019s a big test\u2014both mental and physical\u2014when you\u2019ve been out of the water as she was. The nice part is she\u2019s had a great progression back, she played her first game against Irvine, she\u2019s going in a good way. And a lot of times a break can serve an athlete [well]. It can allow you to recharge and work on some deficiencies that you may have physically. I believe this is a case of that. it\u2019s a reminder to everyone that a sporting career can be over quickly\u2014even at a young age.<\/p>\n

Somebody\u2019s health is my top priority\u2014over success. She truly is a special player, she was special before she got to UCLA. She\u2019s going to keep evolving [and] we\u2019re lucky to have her. My goal is to continue to surround her with players who have the same level of commitment to the team, to training\u2014and we\u2019re doing that. We have a great young core of girls in here, we have a returning group.<\/p>\n

Last year was tough\u2014and I\u2019m not na\u00efve. It was difficult for all those girls. They worked their butts off, and I believe they maximized their time together. We fell short but it wasn\u2019t for a lack of effort. Sometimes for athletes who have been playing at a high level, that can be challenging and frustrating. The biggest testament is that she stayed true to it.<\/p>\n

– Given that Stanford and the defending NCAA champions Trojans return very strong teams, how do you see the season evolving for the Bruins?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I don’t think there\u2019s any secret that those two programs over the course of the last nine \u2013 ten years have had a stronghold (on NCAA titles). And both those teams have reloaded again. They have a lot of experience\u2014and experience is really important.<\/p>\n

We have a great opportunity; our ceiling to grow is maybe higher than theirs, in certain ways. Not in experience; not the same level of players from top to bottom or the same number of positional players.<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge for UCLA women\u2019s water polo is on us. If we don\u2019t create the right environment at UCLA every day for training, then we aren\u2019t going to arrive at the team that we ultimately need to be. You\u2019ve got to be ready to go every day. Hopefully we can create an environment similar to the challenge we face with [Stanford and USC]; but that’s difficult. We have a lot of young players, we don\u2019t have that same experience at crunch time.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to have to find some ways from a playing standpoint to find more offense and we\u2019re going to have to be damn good on defense. These are things as I coach that I know we can sit here and say it\u2019s a long season, but we can\u2019t afford to let days go by.<\/p>\n

\"wright-lee-bruins-jan19\"

Adam Wright, Chris Lee. Photo Courtesy: Minette Rubin<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s pure honesty and the same that I told our team. And I feel it is important to know how the we treat things when we\u2019re together\u2014whether we\u2019re on the road here in Santa Barbara or when we\u2019re together at home. Because that is the absolute only way we have a chance to win. Those are damn good teams and we want to be competitive with them all the time.<\/p>\n

I really like this team [and] I like where we\u2019re going off of last year\u2019s team. We have great new additions and a motivated group. We have a long way to go but a great opportunity to grow. That\u2019s a fact. But we have to maximize those opportunities. If we don\u2019t then it will be really tough.<\/p>\n

– Indiana has taken the bold step of changing conferences to join the MPSF\u2014arguably the world\u2019s strongest women\u2019s league. What do you think of the Hoosiers\u2019 decision?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m only into year two, and I can only reflect back to 2009 from a women\u2019s side standpoint. [The year] the NCAA championship was at Maryland. It\u2019s a shame that program is gone [eliminated in 2012]. What a great facility they have!<\/p>\n

What I do remember most being back for a year, it\u2019s really incredible how many institutions have water polo. You have to understand, prior to last year I\u2019m looking at it exclusively from a men\u2019s coaching standpoint. Something interesting there is, I always wondered why the Indiana’s and the Michigan\u2019s don\u2019t have a men\u2019s water polo team, but it\u2019s women\u2019s water polo that has traversed our country. To have a university like Indiana have women\u2019s water polo and support it the way they do.<\/p>\n

What a great opportunity to open more doors for more women players. And we need that. There\u2019s so many people playing water polo, especially young women. And what a special opportunity to attend a university like Indiana.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I\u2019m sure it was a big decision and a big jump, because for us selfishly it really helps our conference. We\u2019re adding another team to strengthen our numbers.<\/p>\n

Ryan and Indiana had to take a real look at it because they could probably challenge for the East [if they stayed in the CWPA]. What I understand is he felt this would give more exposure to Indiana water polo. And look, they\u2019re out here in Santa Barbara on the first weekend.<\/p>\n

\"indiana-water-polo-cheer\"

Head Coach Ryan Castle and his Hoosiers. Photo Courtesy: Indiana Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s a lot of girls playing and there\u2019s only so many spots at so many schools. If Ryan starts getting some of these girls [to Indiana] then it was a brilliant move [because] it opens the door for his recruiting world.<\/p>\n

Is it going to challenging? Of course. You gotta ride it out, because they clearly had a real reason to do this. They\u2019re going to get more exposure to high-level games. They\u2019re going to be a part of the strongest tournament every year\u2014even more so than maybe the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always risk when you make change. But at the same time, I expect it was a well thought out decision. Let\u2019s see over the next three \u2013 four years how it effects their recruiting, but also the experience their teams are getting, and how that plays out with the teams [in the East].<\/p>\n

That could change things. You see all these new conferences being formed\u2014be it football or water polo\u2014and teams jumping conference to conference. Say they become very strong in the next three \u2013 four years, with players looking to go to Indiana. Maybe they make a [conference change] and they\u2019re the team to beat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Wright is one of America’s best coaches, and his approach to his UCLA men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams, as well as the health of the sport in the U.S., is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":348797,"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":[58097,3384,383,65801,37598,60192,60623,1168,61248,58023,60272,73598,61959,63503],"class_list":["post-348785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-2008-beijing-olympics","tag-adam-krikorian","tag-adam-wright","tag-indiana-water-polo","tag-maddie-musselman","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-michigan-water-polo","tag-mountain-pacific-sports-federation","tag-mpsf","tag-ryan-castle","tag-stanford-water-polo","tag-u-s-senior-mens-national-water-polo-team","tag-ucla-water-polo","tag-usc-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nFive Questions for Adam Wright, UCLA Men's and Women's Water Polo Coach - 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