LOS ALAMITOS, CA, October 19. TOP American Olympic, national team and college polo talent will converge on this southern California town for the 3rd Annual Speedo Top 40 Festival on November 5-7 at the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center. <\/p>\n
USA Water Polo has announced the third installment of this growing tournament, which will feature yet another new twist: a 12-team, 24-game girls open tournament that will run in conjunction with the Top 40 tournament games.<\/p>\n
The Top 40 Festival, started in 2002, brings together dozens of elite female water polo players for a three-day event, jam packed with high-level competition, music, spectator contests, silent auctions and much more. Last year\u2019s tournament featured the whole of the World Champion U.S. women\u2019s team, all 13 of them dispersed among four Top 40 teams. <\/p>\n
This year\u2019s tourney will also feature four teams, including the No. 2 ranked U.S. junior women\u2019s squad, which will take its full squad of 14 athletes against the other three teams of 10. The junior team coaching staff will be using this tournament not only as a competitive tune-up, but as an evaluation tool as it moves closer to the selection of its final roster for the 2005 FINA Junior World Championships in Perth, Australia, this coming January.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year's Top 40 will be extremely beneficial for the junior team because we will be playing as our own team, not a mixed team,\u201d said U.S. junior team head coach Kyle Utsumi. \u201cAt that point, we will have 12 field players and must narrow the team down to the 11 who will compete in Perth. We are carrying 18 players right now and will go to 14
\nin late October. It is a strong group with competition at all positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. National Team head coach Guy Baker is excited to get the juniors in the water against some good competition. A draft for the other three teams will be held in the coming weeks. These three teams will be guided by youth-level (18-under) zone coaches still to be announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to try to put together three really good teams that will help the junior girls prepare for World Championships,\u201d said Baker. \u201cThis will be good for them to get game experience, but more importantly, they\u2019ll be able to play together. They don\u2019t get a whole lot of opportunities to play together as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the mix with the 44 athletes that will be competing that weekend are 2004 Olympic bronze medalists Natalie Golda (La Habra, CA\/UCLA\/New York AC), Kelly Rulon (San Diego, CA\/UCLA) and Thalia Munro (Santa Barbara, CA\/UCLA), Heather Moody (Green River, WY\/San Diego State\/New York AC), Nicolle Payne (Cerritos, CA\/UCLA\/New York AC) and Jackie Frank (Long Beach, CA\/Stanford). Three athletes\u2014Moody, Payne and Gubba Sheehy\u2014competed on the silver medal-winning 2000 Olympic Team, with all three slated to play for New York for the open tournament. <\/p>\n
This year, a girls open tournament will bring 12 more teams into the waters of the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center. The teams were accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and can carry up to 15 athletes. The goal is to give more athletes exposure to the National Team environment while setting the games in a festival-type atmosphere. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the Top 40 Festival to keep growing,\u201d said Baker. \u201cThe idea is to make it a fun event for people to come to where they can see some great water polo and have a great time doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the activities planned for the weekend are a radar gun station, a weight room circuit, some children\u2019s entertainment and a dunk-tank, where fans will get the opportunity to put Baker in the drink. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf people want to pay more money for us to take the cage down for their throw, that\u2019s fine,\u201d said a good-humored Baker, suspecting he\u2019ll be a pretty popular victim in the tank. \u201cThey\u2019ll just have to back up a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The games will also serve as a tool for Baker and his staff to evaluate players as they look ahead to their own roster selections for the 2005 World Championships in Canada and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good way for us to check in with some players to see where we are with things,\u201d said Baker. \u201cAnd maybe to get a look at some people we haven\u2019t had the chance to look at as much before.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on the Top 40 Festival or the open tournament, contact the Women\u2019s Programs Office at 562-799-8506. <\/p>\n
Namesakes
\nFor the tournament, each team will be named after a particular Speedo swimsuit. Those names have yet to be determined. Each team\u2019s goalkeeper will wear her team\u2019s namesake suit during competition for the duration of the tournament. <\/p>\n
Open Tournament \u2013 Teams and Brackets
\nGroup A\tGroup B\tGroup C\tGroup D
\nNew York AC\tSan Diego Shores\tSoCal\tGolden West
\nTRAP\tCorona del Mar (CdM)\tCommerce\tCoronado
\nCHAWP\tRiverside\tKAI Polo\tLos Angeles WPC<\/p>\n
2004 Top 40 Festival and Open Tournament Schedule \u2013 November 5-7
\nDate\tTime\tTeam\tvs\tTeam
\nFriday, November 5\t11:00 a.m.\tNew York AC (A1)\tvs\tCHAWP (A3)
\n\t12:00 p.m.\tGolden West (D1)\tvs\tLos Angeles WPC (D3)
\n\t1:00 p.m.\tSan Diego Shores (B1)\tvs\tRiverside (B3)
\n\t2:00 p.m.\tSoCal (C1)\tvs\tKAI Polo (C3)
\n\t3:00 p.m.\tTRAP (A2)\tvs\tCHAWP (A3)
\n\t4:00 p.m.\tCoronado (D2)\tvs\tLos Angeles WPC (D3)
\n\t5:00 p.m.\tCdM (B2)\tvs\tRiverside (B3)
\n\t6:00 p.m.\tCommerce (C2)\tvs\tKAI Polo (C3)
\n\t7:00 p.m.\tTop 40 Practice
\n\t8:00 p.m. \tTop 40 Practice
\nSaturday, November 6\t7:00 a.m.\tNew York AC (A1)\tvs\tTRAP (A2)
\n\t8:00 a.m.\tGolden West (D1)\tvs\tCoronado (D2)
\n\t9:00 a.m.\tSan Diego Shores (B1)\tvs\tCdM (B2)
\n\t10:00 a.m.\tSoCal (C1)\tvs\tCommerce (C2)
\n\t11:00 a.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team A\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Team B
\n\t12:15 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team C\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Junior National Team
\n\t1:30 p.m.\tCHAWP (A3)\tvs\tLos Angeles WPC (D3)
\n\t2:30 p.m.\tRiverside (B3)\tvs\tKAI Polo (C3)
\n\t3:30 p.m.\tTRAP (A2)\tvs\tCoronado (D2)
\n\t4:30 p.m.\tCdM (B2)\tvs\tKAI Polo (C2)
\n\t5:30 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team B\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Junior National Team
\n\t6:45 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team A\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Team C
\n\t8:00 p.m.\tNew York AC (A1) \tvs\tGolden West (D1)
\n\t9:00 p.m.\tSan Diego Shores (B1)\tvs\tSoCal (C1)
\nSunday, November 7\t8:00 a.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 11th Place Game
\n\t9:00 a.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 9th Place Game
\n\t10:00 a.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 7th Place Game
\n\t11:00 a.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team A\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Junior National Team
\n\t12:15 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 Team B\tvs\tTop 40 \u2013 Team C
\n\t1:30 p.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 5th Place Game
\n\t2:30 p.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 3rd Place Game
\n\t3:30 p.m.\tOpen Tournament \u2013 1st Place Game
\n\t5:00 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 3rd Place Game
\n\t6:15 p.m.\tTop 40 \u2013 1st Place Game
\nBOLD indicates Top 40 Festival games or practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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