LAMO EAST PILOT PROGRAM LAUNCHED WITH BRENTWOOD SEAWOLVES
From Lamorinda Water Polo Club Executive Director, Guy Baker:
I am pleased to announce that the Lamorinda Water Polo Club, working with the Brentwood Seawolves on a pilot program basis, is establishing the LAMO East satellite program.
LAMO East will be a pilot program administered by and through LWPC for the 2017 Summer Season. LAMO East will offer a LAMO-branded summer water polo program to existing Brentwood Seawolves athletes and other athletes in the Brentwood area. LAMO East will field its own teams, comprised of Brentwood-area athletes, under the LAMO brand. All LAMO East practices will take place in Brentwood pools, thereby not impacting our local (Lamorinda) pool space. LAMO East will hire existing Brentwood Seawolves coaches as LAMO East coaches, who will follow the LAMO Way Athlete Development Program. Joe Born and I will attend and lead one LAMO East practice each week during their 8-week Summer Season, which will not conflict with our LAMO practices.
Depending upon availability other LAMO Coaches may attend limited LAMO East practice sessions. LAMO EAST athlete registration revenue will be used to pay all LAMO East expenses, including pool time, equipment, tournament/game fees, LAMO EAST coaches, and LAMO coach time and travel. LWPC will not subsidize the satellite program. At the conclusion of the pilot program, both LWPC and the Brentwood Seawolves will evaluate the program to determine whether it is mutually beneficial.
Why is this good for LAMO?
This program achieves a measure of Club growth without negatively impacting our limited local (Lamorinda) pool space and coach/player ratio. We expect that this program will potentially add 45-50 athletes to our club, as all LAMO East athletes will be affiliated with LWPC under USA Water Polo.
Water polo in the Bay Area is a sport that must be nurtured and grown. The development of our athletes depends on the existence of competitive local teams, as we are only able to travel to Southern California for competition a limited number of times each year.
Collaborating with the Brentwood Seawolves provides their athletes with the opportunity to train in their home town instead of traveling distances to seek space at competing clubs.
The development of our athletes also depends on having opportunities to play in games and tournaments. Having a satellite group of LAMO East players, who are trained in the LAMO Way, will allow us to pull together a combined LAMO/LAMO East to form a team where the numbers would otherwise be insufficient to field an additional LAMO team.
This program also creates additional earning opportunities for LAMO coaches, an important factor in our ability to recruit and retain the best coaches in the Bay Area.
We view this as an exciting and low risk opportunity – conducted on a trial basis -- to expand our club geographically, to out flank our neighboring competitor clubs, to further grow our LAMO brand, and at the same time to serve the cause of youth water polo in the community. We also believe we have the coaching staff and administrative infrastructure in place to integrate this new program offering into our Club seamlessly, and without disruption.
Guy Baker, Executive Director
