March 27th at Johansen H.S. question and answer  and general information from 9 to 11

March 30th Actual sign ups at Johansen from 6 yo 7

April 17th at Johansen H.S. question and answer and general information from 9 to 11

April 24th continued sign ups at Johansen from 10 to 11

PRE-High School will be the emphasis during the spring.  Practices will be Tues. and Wed. at Johansen from 5:00 to 6:30.  Cost for the program will be $100

More information will be posted in the newsletter section and for past member info will be sent via email. Sing ups can be taken on the deck

Winter water polo is off and running with 120 kids signing up the first week. At this time we are almost evenly represented by pre high school - 30 - high school girls - 50 - and high school boys with 40. If you would go to Modesto-Stanislaus Water Polo you will find a list of tournaments, etc.

               3:30 to 5:15 Tuesday and Thursday for pre high school age boys and girls

              4:00 to 6:00 Tuesday and Thursday for girls high school age

• Cost:      $75 for the winter season that will go from November 16th to the end of February
• Purpose:   Preparation for Olympic Development Programs / Basic skills / Give the children

                     an experience with different coaches with different players from throughout our

                     area

• Competitions:  These will be set up soon with games between area clubs from the Stockton     areas as well as the East Bay and Sacramento.  Again to give the players a more

                               well rounded set of competitions with those they do not normally play against

• Coaches:   There will be coaches from Turlock, Modesto, Merced and Oakdale all involved with  improving the athletes that attend our group
• Registration:   This will take place on the pool deck the first week of practice.  If you have

                               additional questions please contact:  Brent Bohlender   Bbrentpolo@aol.com

The 2009 high school season has concluded and below are the rankings of the top five area teams.  These rankings are based upon records / head to head contact / section presentation.   The furthest area team to advance was Johansen girls who made it to the semi-finals.  On the boys side only Oakdale made it to the final 8.  The MMC all league teams are posted under the MMC water polo section

Top Five Boys Teams:

Oakdale - Sonora - Golden Valley - Turlock - Merced

Top Five Girls Teams:

Johansen - Oakdale - Modesto - Los Banos - Merced

When:   12 to 2

Where:  Johansen H.S.

This is open to all pre high school age kids who want to play and learn water polo.  The goal is to have ALL those interested attend the first session on the 13th, we would like around 40 kids there so we can begin the formation of teams to have league play every Sunday.  We encourage current kids, and their friends to all attend the 13th.  The cost is free to all current members of Modesto-Stanislaus - - - - if we have NEW kids, the cost will be $50.

Parents are encourage to come out and become a part of this and help coach their kids in this program.  The breakdown would be:

12:00 to 12:45   Teams get together with their coaches and work on certain skills/drills/situations, etc

12:45 to 1:15     Controlled scrimmages

1:15 to 2:00      League play

We encourage all to become involved in this program - - -if you have any questions please email me   Bbrentpolo@aol.com

See you all on the 13th

The swimming and water polo community lost a beloved friend and coach with the passing of Kirk on June 10th.  Although the newspapers focus on his many accomplishments as a businessman and local activist, I saw a much different individual.  I still remember when Kirk first appeared on the coaching scene, most coaches first comments were things like, “who is that guy?”  Here was a loud, self-confident individual who came out of nowhere to coach the Beyer water polo team.  I remember fellow coaches at the time commenting on how “physical” the Beyer boys were in their polo game, as a fellow coach I took it upon myself to confront this new coach about the style that his boys were playing.  Kirk just looked at me and laughed.  What an introduction to a guy who would later on become one of my best friends in the aquatic world.  Kirk always had a way about himself that let you know exactly where you stood with him, it wasn’t just his voice, but it was also with his mannerisms.  On another occasion, Kirk sold a used family Astrovan to our family.  No sooner than we took it home that the air conditioner broke.  Taking it back to Kirk and saying that the air conditioner had broken, etc., were were shocked when Kirk just looked at us and laughed (I guess that is when I first learned about buyer beware).

As the years passed it became very evident to me that Kirk enjoyed enormously the world of coaching.  We spoke often on how part of why we got along was that I was always curious about his “world” of business, and he was about my world of “coaching.”  Coaches soon saw in Kirk his sincere interest in kids and in coaching; he was affectionately called by his fellow coaches “Lexus Kirk.”  He once traveled to Colorado Springs for a Christmas water polo camp for young kids.  I told him that he would be treated as a “rookie” coach and have to carry the balls, caps, etc.  Kirk quickly responded that he didn’t care, he just wanted to learn.  When we would hold coaches clinics in Modesto from the national team, Kirk would always sign up and attend the classes; always wanting to learn more.  During the off season of water polo and swimming I would periodically get calls from Kirk wanting to know how everything was going in the aquatics world.  Whenever the Beyer pool was needed to help out in hosting tournaments in Modesto, you could always count on Kirk to volunteer the pool to provide  game space for visiting teams.  But it wasn’t just water polo, during swim season at the section championships Kirk for a number of years would always be there to be the “voice” of our championships.  Many people would comment that he was the “voice of God” for the event.

But in all of his involvement he was a true friend.  He was not tolerant of coaches who were short sighted, and tended to be to focused on their own particular world, and he let others know that. He always professed that it was the big picture of what we were trying to build in the kids that was the most important thing that we do.  Kirk was a great friend, and he will be so sorely missed by all who had the opportunity to have gotten to know him.  To us in the aquatic world he was not a businessman, nor activist, he was one of us - - - - - and will always be remembered

With love

Brent