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Captain America's opinion, Tony Azevedo: "Is waterpolo still alive? We need to start over"

  Pubblicato il 26 Nov 2120  15:55
He won't be called Steve Rogers but for all of us he will always be Captain America.
Sixteen years of career and five Olympics (silver medal in Beijing 2008): Tony Azevedo was the greatest player in the history of USA waterpolo, without a doubt.
 
Born in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, he began his sports career at university (Stanford) and then landed, at the age of twenty-four, in Italy and more precisely at Baldineti's Bissolati Cremona  where, in the two following years, he won the national Cup. In the first two years in Serie A1 a good haul with 106 goals scored. Then the experience in Croatia between Jug and Primorac Kotor with the victory of several national titles and a second place in the Final Four of the Champions League in Naples behind Pro Recco.
 
Tony Azevedo since he hung the cap on the nail in 2017, has dedicated himself to his company that deals with the promotion of sport and water polo through dedicated events such as tournaments, clinics, challenges and camps.
 
We talked with him about the current moment that international waterpolo is living, also as a consequence of the recent health emergency.
 
How sport, in United States, has adapted at pandemic?
"The sport has not really adapted well in the USA. Since most of the pools we use are public run by schools (and since schools are shut down) water polo has pretty much come to a halt. Unfortunately more and more kids are leaving the sport getting very out of shape that will cost them when they return. There have been some up like Pensilvania finished ther season, Utah and Texas have been open for the most part but the heart of water polo in the USA is SoCal and we have basically come to a halt for the last 8 months".  

Last season many championships stopped. Now many games deleted and some tournaments (like in Germany or Greece) postponed for Corona. What season will it be for water polo, in your opinion?
"In my opinion this could be a very dangerous season with many injuries. You look at other sports like NFL once they came back on a subpar pre season there has been a record number of injuries. The NBA will be the next. I think the most important for our players is to not just play games but get suffecient quality trainings in so that everyone can be their best by summer time".

How much will this situation affect young players?
"I think at the highest level it won't affect the younger players very much but I know in the USA it will leave a lasting toll. In the USA we start our peak development at 16-18 years old. This is where our best players start making the biggest strides and then go on to a top University and continue to improve. These players for their last 2 years in high school have lost the 80 games that would have shown their skills to colleges and also the games that they needed to develop. I have seen many great players lose faith and stop training or losing hope to go to a top university. It will show for us at the college level in 4 years".

Many glorious old players says that this is the lowest point for waterpolo. Do you agree?
"I would agree for sure. Manuel Estiarte said water polo will not die but I would argue if it is really still alive? This pandemic made us realize that we have no power when it comes to usage of our pools since they are run by cities. We also need to take a real look at the sport and see if we are invested in the long term or short term of the sport? To me I see teams playing games, then stopping then playing and while that might justifly paying the players or keeping the presidents happy maybe now is a time to create a new format, one where we all are putting money into analytics, technology, cameras, and things that after this pandemic can take water polo to another level. Imagine fantasy water polo leagues? Imagine games played on ESPN out here. I have always said why don't we play some of the champions league games in South America, Asia and USA? These are the countries with the numbers that can turn around and put water polo on the map. RIght now we are all very separated there is europe then the rest. It's sad and is one of the reasons I started 68 sports. We have partnerships in Australia, USA, South Africa, Colombia, Brasil and keep growing to help these areas grow". 

Olympics topic. Do you think that the Olympic Games will be played in July?
"Yes I do think the olympics will go on. As you are seeing many sports are being played now. Keeping people inside of a bubble, more and more test availability will allow the games to go on. People in the stands may not happen but there is enough investment in the games to allow for a safe Olympics. I will debut as a broadcaster for NBC which will be fun as well".  

The stop for several months in this last year, for players, how will it engrave in the Olympic competition?
"I actually think this could be the strangest of all the olympics. In a way it leveled the playing field for many. I am preaching here this could be the best time ever for the USA if they spend the next 7 months alone training harder than everyone else in a remote place. I think Australia that has been open longer and has beaches to swim if pools shut down may be the biggest suprise of the games. Japan is another team that can surprise. I think many teams won't be in peak shape like usual and chemistry and will bost important trait for a succcessful games". 

Let's talk about USA national male team. What team will we see in Tokyo if the games are played?
"Well that is the problem with the USA team. We never know. We have not proven to be a consistent team playing a certain style of water polo and with all that is going on we for sure won't know until Tokyo. That being said we can be a very dangerous team for anyone to play against. We will always be phsically on par with the best in the world and difficult to match up with and with guys like Bowen, Hallock and Cupido if those 3 have a great game then we are capable of beating anyone in the world. For me this is a great opportunity for those guys it is up to the coaches to help build a mentally strong group that plays unselfishly. If they do that I think they could end up being a huge surprise". 

When the pandemic will end, where we will have to start again and what needs to be improved?
"This pandemic will end but in my opinion we need to start over. Outside of Europe we need to go back to a fundmental approach so that everyone is learning the core principals of our sport before just playing games and in Europe they need to invest in a long term answer. Federations need to come together and help create stars for the youth to look up to (recco has done a great job of this and I see some other teams doing that as well) we need to have these players seen by US players, Aus players it is not enough to finish a champions league in europe and say good job if 30,000 usa fans didn't watch. There is such a market here that wants to help but so far it is too difficult. my focus since retiring has been the youth and technology. I think in a couple years we will be able to start talking about a pro league in the US which will be a big step for our sport and TV etc. Problem is to make this happen we will need support from Euroope and the world which has proven a problem in a small sport. Everyone wants to keep their little power instead of giving up a little for the better of the sport".
 
Gianluca Leo

 

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