LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. July 17 \u2014 USA Water Polo recently announced it has completed its coaching renegotiations for the year by signing men\u2019s skipper Ratko Rudic to another four years this afternoon in Long Beach, Calif. Women\u2019s coach Guy Baker extended his contract earlier this month, meaning that the U.S. will retain the service of both of its coaches through the Beijing Olympics in 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited to be back with this team for another four years,\u201d said Rudic, who coached teams to three consecutive Olympic golds between 1984 and 1992. \u201cWe need another four years to finish all the work that we\u2019ve started because all of our programs are going so well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Rudic\u2019s hire in 2001, he has helped to develop several new programs to foster the growth of water polo in the United States. His revamped Premier League debuted in 2002, giving players more games against top-level competition each year. 2002 also marked the first year of the American Water Polo League (AWPL), another competitive outlet for the country\u2019s top players and the first try at a legitimate professional league in the U.S. <\/p>\n
But where Rudic\u2019s reach has been most noticeable is at the lower levels. He has invested most of his energies to the water polo youth, where he says medals are won.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be consistently successful, we must focus on the development of the
\nsport at the lower levels,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must ensure that all the players get to play at a very high level from a young age like in Europe. Over there, players get this kind of competition as early as 7 or 8.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recent National Age Group Championships, which took place in Long Beach and in Utah, were Rudic\u2019s brainchild. This second-year water polo
\nextravaganza gives additional championship play to athletes 17-under across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is still more to be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rudic garnered a gold medal as a player for Yugoslavia in 1968, then went on to guide that team to the top of the medal stand in 1984 and 1988, both times ahead of the U.S. In 1992, Rudic coached his way to an unprecedented third straight gold medal, this time with Italy. He helped Italy to bronze in 1996, but his medal streak was snapped with a fifth place finish in
\nSydney in 2000.<\/p>\n
Rudic was hired by the U.S. in January of 2001 to coach the National Team and to head up the advancement of the sport at all levels. Last summer, Rudic steered the U.S. to a gold medal finish at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic and a third place finish at the FINA World League Super Final in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe figured if you can\u2019t beat him, you hire him,\u201d said USA Water Polo
\nPresident Richard Foster, who was instrumental in luring Rudic to U.S.
\nsoil. \u201cWe have the two best coaches in the world and we have every
\nconfidence in the world in what they\u2019re doing for our sport, both
\ndomestically and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rudic currently resides in Long Beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. July 17 \u2014 USA Water Polo recently announced it has completed its coaching renegotiations for the year by signing men\u2019s skipper Ratko Rudic to another four years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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":[],"class_list":["post-7642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n