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Program Philosophy Regarding the Hungary Trip
First and foremost, this is an intense water polo training trip. While one goal is to experience the Hungarian culture and, thus, interact with the Hungarian people, the primary motive for this trip is to have our athletes train at a level of competition that can not be simulated here. This trip will be physically demanding and strenuous for the athletes. Hungary is generally considered to be the water polo capital of the world and the level of competition is almost impossible to comprehend until the athletes have experienced it first-hand.
With that said, the athletes that are representing Sacramento Water Polo on this trip must be amongst the elite within our club program. The coaching staff will have the final say on whether an athlete will travel to Hungary with the team. Our athletes will be training at an extremely high level for approximately 5 hours during two sessions each day.
IDEALLY; THE ROSTER WIIL BE LIMITED TO 18 FIELD PLAYERS AND TWO GOALIES.
Consider the following: If an athlete does not swim the 100 yard freestyle in a time of 57 seconds or faster, this trip is not suitable. If an athlete was not invited by the coaching staff to represent the Sacramento Water Polo club in the Premier League, this trip is not suitable. Goalies are an obvious exception to the time standard.
Because the Hungarians play at such an outstanding level, the water polo should be especially rewarding and educational for those athletes that are representing Sacramento Water Polo. Therefore; please keep in mind the following when considering whether this trip is appropriate for your son:
1) Any athlete that is interested in going on the Hungary trip must have been a member of Sacramento Water Polo during the summer of 2008.
2) Prior to the Hungary trip, athletes must be available to play in the Central California Premier League (Winter / Spring Session) as members of
Sacramento Water Polo, be available to play in the Central California Water Polo Junior Olympic Qualifying Tournament (late June of Summer
Session), and be available to play in and travel to Los Angeles for the Commerce International 20U Tournament (mid-July Summer Session).
3) Finally, if you have specific questions about whether your son should consider this trip, please contact Coach Hastie directly.
Parent Chaperones: This is an exhausting "working" trip for the coaching staff. Four parent chaperones are needed to assist the coaching staff. Chaperones would travel with the team on the team flights, eat meals with the team, and stay at the team hotel. Chaperones would pay their own expenses. Chaperones would assist the coaching staff in supervising the athletes when the athletes are not training. Exampes would be: While in Eger the chaperones would take the athletes to the castle, escort them during after-dinner walks in the downtown area, etc. While in Budapest the chaperones would take the athletes to the House of Terror Museum, the Royal Castle district, etc. Sacramento Water Polo athletes will not be allowed to travel anywhere without a coach or parent chaperone present.
Parents on the trip: Parents that are not Sacramento Water Polo chaperones are welcome to come watch the team train, go with the team to Lake Balaton, take their son on cultural excursions when the team is not training or in competition, join us at the Gellert Spa, etc. However; these parents will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements and hotel reservations. These parents will not stay at the team hotel nor join the team for meals.
NEXT TRIP: SUMMER OF 2009
Tentative Departure Date: July 25, 2009
Tentative cost per athlete: Based upon the 2005 and 2007 trips; guessing somewhere between $2600 - $2800. This total cost includes round-trip airfare, hotel room, three meals per day. It obviously does not include excursions taken during the trip (Lake Balaton, Budapest river cruise, museums, miscellaneous).
Tentative Itinerary: We will go to Budapest, Hungary and the trip will be very similar to what is described in the 2007 trip recap below.
2005 Trip Recap In July of 2005, Sacramento Water Polo traveled to Budapest, Hungary for the first time. Fourteen athletes spent twelve days immersed in the Hungarian culture - - training twice a day in the water polo capital of the world. The athletes trained and scrimmaged with the infamous BVSC club in Budapest and also traveled to Eger in order to train and participate in an international tournament that featured teams from Germany, Qatar, Hungary, and the USA. The athletes representing SWP were Jack Adamson, Brad Aills, Watson Barry, Zack Cook, Bobby Fleming, Keller Higbee, Mike Ishiura, Mike Joyce, Spencer Livingston, Mike Oetken, Mike Reynolds, Blaine Scully, Chris Vega, and Matt Ward. A genuine thank you to the adventurous athletes and parents who paved the way for the SWP athletes that will follow in their footsteps. A special thank you to Bob Oetken and Dick Ward for their work as team managers and organizing the trip.
2007 Trip Recap
Flying out of SFO on July 22nd, 28 athletes representing Sacramento Water Polo flew to Budapest. The team then boarded a bus and traveled to Eger in order to begin training. After four days of training in Eger the team returned to Budapest for one day of training before taking the weekend off in order to spend a day at Lake Balaton - - followed by a day of visiting Hero's Square, parliament, the royal castle district, the House of Terror museum, the Gellert Spa, the Chain Bridge, and various other sights in Budapest. The team then had an opportunity to train for one session at Margarit Island. The remainder of the training sessions were with the BVSC Water Polo Club and teams from Kuwait. One of the highlights of the trip was when US Ambassador April Foley hosted Sacramento Water Polo and our Hungarian counterparts for a reception at her private residence. The athletes representing SWP were Cody Ankrim, Spencer Applegate, Watson Barry, Anthony Costa, Danny Dalton, Sam Deterding, Nick Deis, Matt Ference, Peter Ferguson, Chris Fitsos, Joe Frech, Mike Giancanelli, Neil Hagen, Zach Heinzer, Jon Leopold, Kevin McGuire, Chris McMonagle, Brogan Miller, Taylor Moore, Matt Murbach, Kyle O'Connor, Sean Patterson, Joe Pesa, Jamie Savant, Kipp Slachman, Ryan Stevens, Chad Veirgever, and Matt Vowell. The team returned to the USA August 3rd. A special thank you to Mike Ankrim for his work as team manager and organizing the trip. |
