8B °- The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 12, 2001
low they play
lCAA official roles
Each team consists of seven players - one
goalie, and six other players who can be substitut-
ed. A team playing with fewer than seven players,
because of a penalty, has the option of playing with
no goalie.
a A substitute may enter the field of play from any
place, and must be ready to replace the player
immediately.
A game has four seven-minute quarters, and
each team has two one-minute timeouts.
Goals are scored when the ball passes fully over
the goal line, between the goal posts, and under-
neath the cross bar. A goal can be scored by any
part of the body except a clenched fist.
A free throw is taken at the spot of the foul.
In 0omparison .
Water Polo Basketball
Two-meters: sit in
front of the goal and Centers
often receive the ball.
Utilities: diverse play-
ers, offensively and Forwards
defensively.
Fouls: result in free Fouls: result in
throws. free throws.
Water Polo Hockey
Drivers: smaller,
quicker players that Wings
move the ball.
Goalies: spend the
game treading water in Goalies
front of the 10-ft goal.
Penalties: result in Penalties: result
power plays. In power plays.
Polo Lingo
Ball Under: Holding the ball under water while
being held or tackled. Results in a technical foul.
Donut: A goal scored by firing the ball at or
close to the goalie's head.
Greenie: A shot from the outside after quickly
being passed the ball from a two-meter,
attempting to throw the goalie off guard.
Fronting: The defensive player holds position
between the ball and the two-meter.
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
In its first season of varsity status, the Michigan water polo team adds excitement to Canham Natatorium with a mix of veteran club players and standout freshman recruits.
Opportunity arises, Michigan welcomes water poio
By Kristen Rdh
Daily Sports Writer
On March 26 of last year, the fates of two of Michigan's
most prominent club teams turned in the most beneficial
direction. Through the raise in football ticket prices, the
athletic department gained enough flexibility to add two
new varsity sports.
Men's soccer and women's water polo were welcomed to
the Michigan athletic community by a unanimous vote of
the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics.
With its season officially starting this past weekend, the
water polo team and the athletic department are ready for
success.
"You've got another program that will bring attention to
2001 ROSTER
Name Position
Camille Clarendon Goalie
Delia Sonda UT
Stephanie Morse 2M
Chelsea Kay 2M
Sara Kowal 2M
Angela Galardi DR
Abb i Rowe UT
Torye Santucci 2MD
Emily Pelino 2MD
Monica Paz DR
Maribeth Sitkowski 2M
Mandi Hagedorn UT
Christy Lil ley DR
Rachel Burkons DR
Julie Nisbet 2M
Melissa Kadala UT
Nora Schroeder DR
Stephanie Rupp 2MD
Corrie Kenagy 2M
Megan Hayes DR
Kristen Bloomstrom DR
Jeannine Bolhouse 2MD
Katherine Gregg DR
Katie Critchell DR
Jen Crisman DR
2001 UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Date Opponent
Feb. 17 Michigan State
Miami Ohio
Stanford
Feb. 18 Stanford
Indiana
Feb. 22 at Loyola Marymount
Feb. 24 at. Southern California
Feb. 27 at Long Beach State
Feb. 28 at an Sa Diego State
at California-San Diego
March 3-4 at Gannon
March 16 Michigan State
March 24-25 Division Tournament
March 31 at Indiana Tournament
April 7-8 at Division Championship
April 28-29 at Eastern Championship
May 12-13 NCAA Championship
"It was just too good of an opportuni-
ty to pass up," freshman two-meter Julie
Nisbet said. "I had the opportunity to
come to a brand new program and start
off fresh. If you go play water polo at a
school in California, you're looking at
redshirting a year, riding the bench,
maybe waiting until your third or fourth
year to play."
What do the players that aren't from
California think about the newcomers?
Sonda, appointed captain by her team-
mates, thinks she is lucky to play with
the talented freshmen.
"There is this aura that goes along
with California, but once you get in the
pool you realize that we're really at an
equal level," Sonda said. "We didn't
know if they were good, they didn't know
if we were good. You assume that Cali-
fornia players think that you're just horri-
ble, but they don't think you're bad -
the University,' assistant athletic director Megan McCallis-
ter said. "Soon we will be competing nationally. Right now
we are taking the steps and setting the foundations to have a
nationally prominent program in a few years - we are set
up to succeed."
WELCOME FRESHMAN
With the decision made, the athletic department had but
one more quest for the new team - finding a leader.
California native Amber Drury-Pinto fit the bill with the
experience as head coach at Long Beach City College for
two years, as head assistant coach of the United States
Women's National Water Polo Team and as a competitor on
both the 1990 and 1994 World Championship Teams.
"The support here from the administration and all the
way down the line - the trainers, the doctors, our assistant
coaches, our manager - everybody has made it an awe-
some event," said Drury-Pinto on raising the newborn var-
sity team.
Four days after signing with Michigan, Drury-Pinto
named Olympic standout Bernice Orwig her assistant.
Orwig, whose goaltending led the American women's water
polo team to a silver-medal finish at the Sydney Olympics,
is a three-year letter winner from Southern California and
was named the National College Player of the Year in 1999.
"A coaching staff with that experience can teach and train
the student-athletes at a very high level," McCallister said.
"The team will be able to move up as a national competitor
very quickly."
In addition to the staff's new faces, the team has com-
bined veteran club players with seven sought-after, fresh-
man recruits. Coming from California where water polo is a
major sport, all the newcomers enjoy being bricklayers in a
new chapter of Michigan history.
SPICING UP CANHAM
"Right now, we are trying to sell (water polo) as hockey
in the water," Drury-Pinto said. "Where I come from, water
polo is huge, and hockey is huge here."
Water polo, to many Michigan students, is just another
California-type of recreation. But, it is an entertaining
sport, and the staff is confident that a strong fanbase is in
the near future.
"There is already such a huge base with Ann Arbor's
high schools being so strong in water polo and having won
state championships," Drury-Pinto said.
The Michigan team has already established a rivalry..
Unlike the usual ferocious competition with Michigan State
or Ohio State, Indiana is the only other team in the Big Ten
to have a varsity water polo team.
"When the girls were club, the rivalry was already there,
and the girls have carried it over," Drury-Pinto said.
"Everyone knows that you have to beat Indiana. That is
something that they have to be up* for, and the freshman
understand that just as much as the players returning."
Enthusiasm for the new team flows through Canham
Natatorium as even veteran Michigan coaches are welcom-
TITLE IX: STILL A DETERMINING FACTOR
The much-debated Title IX of the Educational Amend-
ments of 1972 was expanded to athletics in 1975, ensuring
women a well-deserved opportunity.
At first, progress was slow for Michigan. But in the late
1980s, then-University President James Duderstadt, athletic
directors Jack Weidenbach and Bo Schembechler and asso-
ciate athletic director Peggy Bradley-Doppes took matters
into their own hands.
They allotted the budgetary resources needed and hired
full-time coaches. Facilities, equipment and scholarships
were then available for the anxious female student-athletes.
"That is exactly what Title IX was created for, McCallis-
ter said, "to create opportunities and equal participation."
Michigan has been in compliance with the proportionali-
ty section of the amendment since the addition of women's
crew to varsity status in the 1996-97 season.
The expansion of water polo, though not a groundbreak-
ing achievement in women's rights, was a direct result of
Title IX.
Michigan's athletic department wanted men's soccer at
varsity status. Water polo would not have made the
advancement without the amendment.
"There has been some changes and an increase in
women's sports, but I don't think about it any more because
we finally are where we should be;' women's tennis coach
Bitsy Ritt said."I look forward to the day when we don't
talk about it and it's not an issue. Then we will be in the
right place."
TITLE IX, EXPANDED TO ATHLETICS IN 1975 *
No Person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of
sex 'e excluded om articipation in, or
denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any educational program
or activity receiving federal aid.
The total amount of athletics aid must be substantial-
ly proportionate to the ratio of male to female athletes.
The selection of sports and the level of abilities must
effectively accommodate the students' interests and
abilities.
All benefits, opportunities and treatments are to be
equivalent, but not identical, to all sports participants
including areas of equipment, facility usage, travel
allowances, medical assistance, academic support and
publicity.
ing the change.
"It's nice to see some excitement around the pool with
polo," men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek said. "The
team is a tremendous asset in lifting up the aquatics pro-
gram here at Michigan. It is most pleasurable to see such a
rise in women's athletics."
It is true that water polo was elevated to help satisfy
Michigan's Title IX proportionality compliance, but is the
addition actually noteworthy for women's opportunities?
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Coach Amber Drury-Pinto explains defensive strategies to her new varsity team.
POLO
Continued from Page 1B
Don't assume that water polo is a non-
contact sport just because it's played in a
natatorium. Drury-Pinto, who played
and coached on the United States
Women's National Water Polo Team,
knows about the extremely physical
nature of the game.
"You get a little bit of everything -
suits get grabbed, at least two or three
(suits) get ripped per game," Drury-
Pinto said. "There are times when you
can be held underwater for about five
seconds. I think people will be surprised
- broken noses, cuts on faces."
To prepare her team for the abuse,
Drury-Pinto has had the team on an
extensive weight-training program. The
players must have large amounts of
of pressing, one-on-one and matchup.
I'm looking for our transition game to
be a big strength"
Drury-Pinto has an endless list of
accomplishments in the water polo
world, such as playing in two world
championships, working as an assistant
coach on the women's national team,
and being on the coaching staff at San
Diego State in her home state of Cali-
fornia. This experience has helped her
earn the respect of her players.
"They know (I've) played on a high
level. I think the players like that a lot,"
Drury-Pinto said. "Also, I know that I
can help further them beyond where
they've been"
Drury-Pinto and assistant coach Ber-
nice Orwig, a fellow Californian, have
combined to corral a top freshman class
comprised of seven players from their
home state.
Leadino epack
Captain: Delia Sonda
Year: Junior
Hometown: Ann Arbor (Huron HS)
Position: Utility
Drury-Pinto's thoughts: "When you want a
leader by example, it's Delia - in and out of
the water. She is the first to get here and the
last to leave."
Coach Amber
Drury-Pinto
came to
Michigan after
spending four
seasons as
head assistant
coach of the
United States
Women's
National Water
Polo team.
"The support here Fromthe
administration and all the
wa down the line has
mace it an awesome event."
Michigan water polo coach
Amber Drury-Pinto
"A coaching staff with that
experience can teach and
train the student-athletes
Captain: Christy Lilley
Year: Senior
Hometown: Ann Arbor (Pioneer HS)
Position: Driver
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