Tiger Water Polo
Players Experience
the Thrill of
International Play
T
recognition. Athletes have gone on to play collegiate water polo at
a variety of schools, including Bucknell, IUP, Arizona State, George
Washington University and Gannon University, and other players
have been invited to participate in a selection program for the United
States Youth National Teams. In 2014, the club’s 14-year-olds boys
team was the top team in the northeast. In 2009 and 2010, the middle
school’s team finished first and second in the state, respectively.
“The satisfaction of seeing our alumni members becoming great
college students and athletes is heartwarming,” says Malezanov.
“Watching them succeed after they have moved on is definitely one of
my favorite parts of being a coach.”
The Tiger Water Polo Club currently has two programs for
participation: A 10-week recreational program for children ages four
to 10 that is held in the fall, spring and
summer, and a competitive program for
children 10 to 14 that requires training
several days a week throughout the
entire year. For more information or to
sign up, visit tigerwp.aquanite.com. n
he Tiger Water Polo team was invited to train and compete on
an international level this summer, thanks to a relationship the
club has with a coach from Erie who is a native of Greece.
Nearly 60 people, including nearly every high school boy or
girl who is on the fall 2016 roster, attended the trip. The players
trained and played games two times per day for about 17 days, says
Staresinic. Sightseeing and excursion opportunities were planned as
part of the team’s itinerary, allowing them to visit museums, ancient
ruins, Olympic facilities and numerous restaurants and cafes.
“We spent the first part of the trip playing and training across
numerous sites around the Athens coast. From there, we ferried
to Crete, where we trained with two other programs for four
days. From Crete, we had a couple of days off to travel and enjoy
Santorini,” he explains.
While in Crete, the team also completed beach and seas training
in the Aegean Sea.
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Staresinic.
Santorini, he says, was “just raw beauty. The team enjoyed the
many hotspots of the island, but also broke off one day for a cruise
around the island and even found time for some cliff jumping.”
Following Santorini, the team returned to Athens to complete
the training and competitions. The trip gave the team the chance
to play high‑ranking teams and learn the value of hard work and
perseverance, says Staresinic.
“Playing top-level teams day in and day out required incredible
fortitude just to keep up and compete. We watched the kids embrace
this and grow from it as players and as young adults,” he says.
Traveling overseas is one of the best developmental experiences
the club can offer, he adds.
“From a pure cultural experience, it was very beneficial for the
team to thoroughly experience another culture and to see some
of the most significant historical sites the world has to offer,” says
Staresinic. “Greece is a very different place from the suburbs of
America, and gaining this type of perspective is a building block all
of them can apply in some way in their lives.”
North Allegheny | Winter 2016 | icmags.com 21