Flash Back Friday: CWPA Champions

Flash Back Friday of the 2013-2014 Champions:

Congratulations to all the champions! What a fun year we had and a season to dream about. Undefeated ending with a sudden death victory! I love seeing the friendship, memories and enjoyment the girls show. Then the growth of the sport of water polo. It does not get much better as a coach.

The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) looks back on the teams that won league and National championships during the 2013-14 academic year. St. Francis College Brooklyn (Men's CWPA Championship), the University of California-Santa Cruz (Men's Division III Club Championship), the University of California-Los Angeles (Men's National Collegiate Club Championship), Connecticut College (Women's CWPA Division III Championship), Indiana University (Women's CWPA Championship) and San Diego State University (Women's National Collegiate Club Championship) are featured in the wake of their titles during the past men's and women's seasons.

Women's National Collegiate Water Polo 2014 (Highlight Video)

Just watching this video made my heart race. I still have yet to re-watch the championship game for a few reasons. Awesome to see it end with all my girls smiling faces! 

Reason 1: It will just give me anxiety and stress me out. Even though I know the outcome!

Reason 2: I will be judging myself as a coach. There is always more to learn and watching will show me how I let those amazing young woman down especially in the 4th quarter. I should have called a timeout when Michigan got some momentum. But at the same time we did need those timeouts so the girls could make a few big stops and get us into overtime. Also makes you think back to what you should have taught in practice. Coaching is learning and I can ALWAYS get better!

Reason 3: I just want to go back. Relive those girls true excitement and joy. I have experienced the agony of defeat and the excitement of winning. Not sure anything compared to this win for the girls, myself and the program. What a great weekend, that we will all remember forever!

Huge thanks to the CWPA for putting together this video! 

Pacific Coast Division Awards- Coach of the Year

This season with my water polo team was something special. These girls really enjoyed themselves and showed just another reason why I love coaching. The awards for them just keep coming. Since I worked with such amazing athletes, they really make me look good. The main reason that I was voted "Coach of the Year" within our division.

I am even more excited to say many of my athletes were voted to the All Conference Team.

Pacific Coast Division
Most Valuable Player:		Bailey Wickliffe (San Diego State University)
Coach of the Year:		Jamie Vessey Cassidy (San Diego State University)
First Team
Morgan Klingfus (Goalie)		San Diego State University
Madeline Schwartz		San Diego State University
Bailey Wickliffe		San Diego State University
Leah Ashley		California Polytechnic State University
Sophie Calhoun		California Polytechnic State University
Danika Felix		California Polytechnic State University
Dorit Stein		University of California-Los Angeles
Second Team
Morgan Rollo (Goalie)		California Polytechnic State University
Adison Gosslein		San Diego State University
Kelli Boling		San Diego State University
Nina Escobedo		San Diego State University
Faith Aguirre		University of California-Santa Barbara
Frankie Puerzer		University of California-Santa Barbara
Shelbi Skinner		University of California-Los Angeles

Link to see the entire list

CWPA National Champions

Why I Coach:

Coaching to me has a very different definition than how it would be defined in the Webster Dictionary. I coach so that I can share the knowledge that I have so greatly received from my personal experiences from coaches, athletes, games and situations. I coach to give back to young individuals, help guide then forward in life. I coach to create a place that all feel welcome and that their thoughts and opinions matter with equal weight.

Some individuals coach so that they have complete power. I coach for the opposite, I want to give my athletes power. I get just as much from my athletes as I believe I am giving them. I learn something new constantly from them. My biggest thoughts were during the National Championship game with so much on the line, that my players were still confident in voicing their thoughts on plays and situations. This type of coaching I believe allows for the sharing of constructive information and growth for us all.

This past season was like no other year of coaching. Like anytime coaching there are the good days and bad days. As a coach I have experienced some amazing wins and some very tough losses. This year I was able to rooster and coach two teams an A squad and a B team. This alone created some extremely long days at tournaments coaching 4 games in a day many back to back. Yelling from the bench to my other squad that was supposed to be warming up or cooling down. Or the time we played each other and I was standing near half coaching both sides, I can tell you that game got very confusing.

As the season went on my A squad only lost a game that was at the ASU open invitational. My B squad lost a few and won some great games, getting better every time we played. This was the best part of the year, the girls actually wanted to sub they were playing so much. No one was mad about playing time!Everyone became a better player and teammate. 

Pacific Coast Division Championship:

Victory Swim

In order for us to advance to the National Championship tournament we needed to win the Pacific Coast Division championship, this is something that as a program we had never accomplished. The best we had ever done was 2nd in our league, back in 2012. Where we got 5th at the National Championship (in Florida). The programs only other appearance at the National Championship, prior to this year. That year 2nd was good enough to stamp our ticket because CAL Poly (in our league had one the 2011 National Title- granting our division 2 spots).  That said this year we had to win to advance.

This would be the first time our program got to host the Pacific Coast Division Champs, making a bit of extra work for us. In all it worked to our benefit. The  B team would have a great tournament ending with two wins and two loses. Then the A squad would play through the tournament with little trouble. Then playing a great game against Cal Poly to win! I would get to take a great victory swim. Being pushed in by the girls! It was such an exciting time for the girls and our program. Then we started the planning process Nationals was only three weeks out.

Spending a bit of time stressed with the president we managed to get everyone’s plane tickets to Cleveland Ohio. The hotel booked, our rental cars rented and our paperwork turned in. 

Nationals Bound: 

The trip to Ohio would start super early. We had a 6:15am flight. Of course we had a delay out. Which seems to be the only way I travel these days. Once in Ohio we headed straight to the pool to warm up.The girls got to loosen up and start to feel comfortable with the indoor pool. We then headed to grab some dinner and back to the hotel. Which of course had the water being turned off- after a cross country flight, humid pool and then no shower. This was turning out to be an adventure for us.

Friday we would only have to play one game as the 3 seed, we were playing 14th seed, which would be NYC. I was happy with how the starters came out to play setting  us up for a great tournament.We were then able to rest the starters and play our entire squad. It was great to see some of the younger less experienced players get a great amount of time. We would win 13-6. Game Recap. With a good amount of time left in the day we wanted to rest up, we headed to lunch and the movies. Getting the girls in bed early to set us up for another great day.  

Last huddle before the championship game

Saturday we would play two games. I would also have my own cheering section, Nik made the 2-hour drive to Geneva to watch the games. The girls really enjoyed meeting him. The first game of the day was played against Duke. Thanks to some great help from my old teammates and best friend Anna, I had a full scouting report. We would win the game and everyone would get a great amount of playing time once again. We would defeat Duke 9-2. Game Recap. 

After winning this game we were officially in uncharted territory for our program. History was already being made we were into the semifinals of the National Championship tournament. The semifinals would be against ASU. We had played them at the ASU tournament earlier in the season.We had struggled a bit  in March with them, so I was a bit unsure how this game would go.The girls would come out firing away. They really set the pace of the game, allowing for everyone to play. We would defeat ASU 12-4. Game Recap. After beating ASU we were granted our first ever trip into the NATIONAL Championship game.

MVP Morgan

Sunday would be an exciting day for our program. The girls were a little nervous as was I. The game would start out a little slow for us. The girls then started to settle into the game. This would be the first game of the year in which the girls were pushed. The score would go back and forth. Leading into the fourth quarter, both teams had the opportunity to win the game. Yet defense was great on both side and we held them off. Our goalie Morgan was a brick wall down the line, she stopped everything.  With such great defense, it meant overtime. Two quarters- three minutes. No goals were scored. By this point we had not been subbing much, the girls playing were exhausted. We had two starters that had fouled out of the game. After two more quarters it was sudden death till a winner was crowned. With only about 10 seconds left in the first quarter of sudden death- Meghan Harder was able to sneak the ball into the goal. We would win 10-9. Game Recap 

Celebrating our overtime win

I can fully admit to not even seeing Meghan’s goal. I was watching the other side of the pool, hoping that the girls were running the play that we had just discussed in a timeout. At this point the place erupted; I am not sure if I was pushed in or jumped. Honestly I think it was a bit of both. Not sure I had ever swam so fast in my life. I was in the middle of the girls huddle in what seems like an instance. We spent some time celebrating in the middle, before heading to shake hands. It was such a great game all around. 

After we shook hands, it was award time. We would be presented last with our National Championship plaques. Morgan would be named MVP of the tournament, while Bailey and Kelli were named to 1^st team. The girls were just so excited. A few times I wanted to cry just watching the excitement of the girls. During the game was hard, they had never been tested, the entire year they had just won. So for them to dig deep and stay as a team, was wonderful to see. Many times when a team is in a hard place or struggling it all goes bad when the girls start yelling at each other. My team never did this, they were always so positive with each other. As supportive as they could be. Just wanted one thing to all become National Champions. The girls were just so excited, they had so many amazing things to say to me during awards. This tournament and team is one of my proudest moments.

National Champions

Once the awards were over it was time to shower and get on the road. I had heard about the longest & oldest covered bridge just down the road. As a team we would head to see it. Then it was back to San Diego as National Champions! Only a few girls graduate, so I am hoping to have another amazing season next year.

I want to also thank all the parents of the girls. They were just great this season. To all the people that stepped up and made a donation to the program. You helped these girls create one of the best memories of their lives. One of the best parts of this tournament was the CWPA had set up live streaming of all the games via the internet.It was always amazing to receive text messages from family after a game. After the championship game I had over 100 messages from my family- texting back and forth. The joy and love you all sent for me. That you were 100% behind me coaching. Brennan thanks for all your love and understanding when I freak out. To my siblings for all your texts and tweets, coming to watch me coach. Brooke for helping to coach. My parents for being supportive as always. For Brennan's parents watching the game and not thinking that I am crazy after watching me. I am very blessed with amazing athletes and an even better family. 

The league gave me all the games on DVD. I can officially say that I have not watched any of the games yet. I started the championship game, but within seconds my heart rate was rising and I could not do it. Still just so fresh and exciting. Maybe in a few weeks! 

Longest & oldest covered bridge

If you are interested in reading more in-depth about the games check them out below.

Game 1: SDSU vs NYC

Game 2: SDSU vs Duke

Game 3 (Semi Finals): SDSU vs ASU

Game 4 (Finals) : Championship Game Recap

To see more pictures check out the album on facebook: 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Club Water Polo Wins National Title

SDSU defeated Michigan in sudden death to claim the title.

The team celebrating after the big win.

The San Diego State University Women's Club Water Polo team recently defeated rivals from across the country to become the Collegiate Water Polo Association Club National Champions.

The team played Arizona State University in the semi-final game to advance to the championship game against Michigan. SDSU defeated Michigan 10-9 in sudden death overtime.

“This win not only represents this group of females but also the entire university and San Diego area," said Jamie Cassidy, the team’s head coach. "The team really came together this past year by fundraising to pay for pool time and travel costs, working hard in and out of the pool and by lifting one another up even when things got tough in the championship game.”

Aztec all-stars

The team was led by team MVP Bailey Wickliffe, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter of the championship game.

“The team stepped up and played together in those overtime periods against Michigan, I’m so proud of their hard work all season to be ready for this moment," Cassidy said.

The team played as a unit in the championship game. With Morgan Klingfus— the Collegiate Water Polo Association National Player of the Year — in goal, the team stopped Michigan from scoring in two overtime periods.

After heading to a final sudden death overtime period, Meghan Harder scored the winning goal, making SDSU the 2014 CWPA Club National Champions.

“I’m so proud of my teammates — a club program is a lot of work," said Natalie Parker, club president. "Teammates have to fundraise, do community service for the City of San Diego and represent SDSU. It all came together, winning the championship is a memory I will never forget.”

On the horizon

Cassidy attributes the success of this year's squad to the commitment and dedication of the players.

"This year we had enough girls to have both an A and B squad," she said. "There was a lot more competition and a lot of talent, and that really raised the level of play."

Fortunately for the squad, only three seniors will be leaving, meaning the majority of the team will return for the next season. 

"There is a lot of great chemistry between the girls," Cassidy said. "They have so much respect for each other and they all play so well together. It definitely showed this season."

About SDSU club sports

The Women’s Club Water Polo team is housed within the SDSU Sport Club program.

SDSU Sports Clubs consist of 19 competitive teams. Each club team is developed, organized and managed by students with guidance from the Intramural and Sport Club Coordinator and the Intramural and Sport Club Supervisor.

Each club team's success is determined by the collective efforts and organization of the student athletes. Sport clubs enable students to enhance their collegiate experience and serve an excellent setting for the development of athletic skills, student leadership and social outlets

Coach of the Year

I have always loved the game of water polo. I have always been a student of the game.  I was told even as a young player that I was always one play ahead. That I controlled the pace of the game. That I did a good job directing my teammates. These are all traits that I translated into coaching.

I never coached for the glory. In coaching the SDSU Club Water Polo team I did it for multiple reasons. Mostly I love the game and had really missed it. 

While coaching with the help of my sister Brooke we noticed right away a lack of female coaches.  I think in our division there is maybe one other team with a female coach. Well you all know that I am competitive so I will be honest Brooke and I wanted to do nothing more than show them up. It was obvious  some of these coaches thought playing us would be a walk in the park. They missed the memo of who was coaching. Always great fun to make adjustments during the game that they had no idea how to overcome. 

When we played at Nationals it was much the same. Very few female coaches. Maybe two other teams.  During the tournament I was asked by a few coaches for tips, scouting reports. One coach even asked me to explain different plays I had run because they had never seen it before. I took all of this as a compliment. But it also made me realize just how much many coaches have no clue about.

I told you this because I was extremely honored a few days ago when I was named by the College Water Polo Association and the Pacific Coast Division as Coach of the Year. I found out via facebook like all things- a girl I played with in high school Sharon Dyer who plays for UCI’s club team congratulated me. She was so sweet saying how I deserved it. I was proud to say I nominated her for 1^st team and she was selected and receiving a great honor as well.

Receiving the coach of the year honor was a first for me. I have never received any type of honor like this before. It was also the first time in the club programs history to receive coach of the year, MVP of the league, a player on 1^st team, and two players on 2^nd team. Basically all of this was a program first. I was also honored to receive multiple nominations for Coach of the Year for the entire College Water Polo Association. 

I didn’t coach for the glory and it’s not like I got a ton for being named coach of the year. The school did not even recognize the team making it to nationals. But it sure feels good to get some recognition for the girls and myself. Honestly just feels damn good to beat out the boys. Water polo is no longer a man’s game- watch out the Vessey sisters are coming!!!

Here is the article: http://collegiatewaterpolo.org/news/2011-12/052112ClubWomenAllConference

Nationals Bound

Athletics have given me the opportunity to do a lot of traveling.  I find visiting new places exciting even if I am just there to compete. Much like adults who travel for work- they may not see much of the place they are staying.  I had great coaches that made an effort for us to get to experience the place we were visiting for competition.  We always got to at least see something and always got at least a mini tour of the University. I found driving or walking through different universities so exciting.  I absolutely love the idea of college that it is their own little city.  You can walk onto a campus and truly feel the spirit of it. I am excited to say as a coach I will get to give this experience to the 14 girls playing on my club water polo team.  

I am in my second season coaching the San Diego State University Club Water Polo team.  I like to think so far in my young coaching career I have had great success.  Shoot I have had great success with athletics in general at San Diego State. I am proud to say that I was apart of making program history with the water polo team, the swim team & now with the club water polo team.  Last year in my first season we placed 4^th in the conference.  It was a great accomplishment for the girls & the young program.  This year the team had the same goals try to qualify for nationals.  Well I am proud to announce that we will be playing in the CWPA National Championship tournament in Tallahasse Florida on the campus of Florida State in two weeks.  (May 3-7) I have never been to Florida State so I am looking forward to sharing the experience with my players.

In our first tournament of the season we beat the 5 time National Champion Cal Poly by a goal.  This early season game ended up being extremely important in our ranking for the entire season.  In our conference the CWPA Socal Region we held the number 1 seed.  Going through the rest of the season with only our early season lost to UCSD.  Cal Poly would only have 1 loss against us in the first weekend.  As the season went on we held a number #1 seed in our conference and a top 5 national ranking.  This was very exciting for our program that previously had never gotten better than 4^th in conference and never held a national ranking.

From the start of this semester I had asked Brooke since she was a college grad to help me out, when she had free time.  Brooke has a ton of coaching experience & I knew that our coaching styles would complement each other. Turns out we make a damn good pair!  If the stars aligned I think we would make great college coaches. Me as the Head Coach of course J .  In our first tournament this became evident that I needed Brooke to help me so that I could manage all these girls and the pace of the game.  After the game Brooke was speaking to the ref.  This ref had seen us play our whole career. Turns out the next weekend he was refeeing Mikayla’s game day and was speaking to my parents.  He was like saw your other daughters last weekend I see they just can’t get away from the sport. My mom just laughed. He told her that we were doing a great job with those girls. "Their team played very well.  They have so much potential”.  I laughed when my mom told us but it also made me feel good.

As the season went on Brooke came to every game with us.  She has become a part of the team and I am so thankful for all her help.  I understand the game at what I think is a high level but Brooke see’s the  game like very few people. I am sure this is because she watched film over & over through high school & college. Plus she sits on the deck for hours during tournaments watching & learning. I am so appreciative for this. Plus I take a bit more of a layed back approach when coaching these girls & Brooke is there to really get after them.  Basically during a game I do all the subbing, yelling & then some coaching of course.  Brooke’s job as my assistant holds a good amount of power.  She watches the flow of the game & what the other team is doing,  this way I can be coaching the specific play at that moment. Because Brooke is watching the entire game & taking the notes so that we can make the correct adjustments.  During all time outs & breaks between quarters Brooke then jumps into action telling the girls what adjustments need to be made.  She draws up the plays.  Brooke also coaches the girls when I sub them & answers any questions.  As I write this I am starting to think Brooke has a much harder job than mine. I promise I am also coaching.  Oh I can’t forget since Brooke is watching the flow of the game she also tells me when to take my timeouts.  I think great coaching duo’s work because there is no ego involved. We also trust each other. Brooke and I are competitive. I am sure you had no idea.  Since we just want to win our system works expectionally well. Don’t get me wrong at times we may disagree but it is rare.  Also I trust Brooke with my life so her telling me to call a timeout is like the word from the water polo gods!

(Brooke coaching)

With a coaching duo that hates to lose & seems to have a good grasp on everything it made the season very successful.  Don’t get me wrong I think we had a few coaches (cough, cough male) that were not thrilled by having girls outcoach them.  I think we may actually be the only female coaches in our league.  I actually at one point got an email from one coach (who we will not name) that gave me a scouting report.   The email may have come from a good place but needless to say it fired up Brooke & myself.  Within the email he gave me a scouting report that was not very good- Brooke does a much better job.  I laughed especially hard when he was not using actual water polo terms.  Plus my team had totally crushed his.  Needless to say I took the lesson my mom taught me when I was younger if you have nothing good to say don’t say anything at all.  I did not send him an email in response.   Then at the conference tournament Brooke & I walked by a set of parents on the way to the bench and they missed the lesson from their parents in not saying anything nice.  One mom clearly said “ you have to be kidding me, those are the San Diego State coaches! They are real coaches. I had heard SDSU was a good team. Must just have great players or a lot of luck.”  Well needless to say my team went on to bet her daughter's team.  Sorry everyone we are the real coaches.

The team before the championship tournament started

At the championship tournament we had received the number #1 seed which gave us a great advantage to make it into the championship game.  Win or lose in the championship game Sunday you get to go to Nationals.  To get to that point we had to win our two games on Saturday.  First we beat UCSD who had beaten us previously in the semester by a goal.  We had a great opening game won 10-4.  Our second game would be against UCI.  We had beaten them two times previously in the season but they had a good team.  Plus they have this lefty named Sharon Dyer.  Brooke and I have played with Sharon & her sister for years on a club team and in high school. While playing UCI our focus for the game was to make sure we limited her look with the deadly lob that she shots.  At the end of the game she made a great move but the goal was taken away.  We won 6-2.  While shaking hands we hugged & I reminded her to be a shooter. Then I told her how great her last move was great to score that goal. By beating UCI Saturday evening, we had clenched the program’s first trip every to the National Championship tournament!!

Going into Sunday’s game against Cal Poly, Brooke and I worried if we would come out flat.  The team had been extremely flat against UCI the evening before.   Our worries did not last much past the first sprint when we went & scored.  We jumped to an early lead of 2 goals.  The girls did a great job defensively.  They stuck to the plan that Brooke and I had drafted.  Plus we played to our strengths.  Cal Poly practices 6 days a week usually doing double.  While our team has 4 hours of pool time a week.  And we do very little conditioning.  I am going to be honest we hardly practice at all and I am usually lucky if I have 5 players all together.  Our game plan was to stay on offense as much as possible stopping them from the ability to counter us.  The girls did great with this.  As the game went back and forth late in the 3^rd we looked to tie the game up.  We had a great goal with no time left on the shot clock.  All of a sudden the shot clocks were no longer working.  The ref’s originally called the goal.  Then after a complaint from someone they decided to hold up the game.  After about 10 minutes of deliberating and Jamie getting very pissed off in a ref’s face they took the goal away.  This was the change in momentum that we could not handle.  We would end up losing by 2 goals.  No matter this game showed us just how great we played, and with a little more practice & dedication to getting into shape that is a team we can beat.

After the game we were presented with a 2nd place plaque.  The girls were excited to at least receive something for such a great effort.  Plus they were shocked at my ability to “get pissed” they called it.  What that Ref did not know was how lucky he was that I kept Brooke from really getting mad.  Surprisingly I did not get a yellow card which was well deserved for my outburst.  I feel I did not get it due to the fact that they knew they were wrong.  No matter I showed the girls how much I cared.  While Brooke did the same by showing her disgust by almost breaking my clip board but also coaching the girls while I was arguing. No matter the loss the girls were ecstatic to have made program history.

There is my team- happy after getting 2nd!!

This being a student run club a few girls spend hours a week taking care of all the paperwork to allow the other girls to compete.  Once the excitement of getting second and playing a great game to Cal Poly who is 5 time National Champion, we realized now we have to plan our first really big travel trip to Florida. This has been a bit stressful due largely in part to our lack of funds.  The school has no ability to help so the girls are working overtime in trying to raise enough funds so that everyone can make the trip and they do not have to pay out of pocket.  The worst part is due to our lack of funds Brooke will most likely be unable to attend with us.  I am hoping we raise a ton of money which will allow Brooke to come. If not the girls have appreciated all she has done to help them and I will miss my handy dandy Assistant during the most important tournament of the year. Hopefully she has taught me enough to help guide the team to a great appearance at the national stage.  Plus we will get another crack at Cal Poly if we win our first few games.

It is an exciting time for the club in that we will get to play for a National Championship.  The girls are working hard & doing a ton of conditioning. If we can get our conditioning up and then practice all togheter a little more I have a feeling we are going to have a great time in Florida.  We just have to play our game and enjoy the experience.

I apologize for the long winded blog here just so much to talk about.

If you would like to donate to the San Diego State University Club Women’s Water polo club you can contact me directly or mail your check to:

C/o Women's Club Water Polo

Aztec Recreation Center

55th Street SDSU San Diego Ca 92182