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WELCOME TO THE CHAWP WEB SITE
New Players CLICK HERE for Steps to Register with CHAWP!
CHAWP was formed in 1999 as a “Not for Profit” organization to promote the sport of water polo to pre-high school children. CHAWP’s purpose was to provide basic water polo training in the Chino Hills area and prepare athletes for high school water polo. CHAWP has expanded its original purpose and the community we serve to include athletes from throughout the Inland Empire. CHAWP seeks to benefit no particular high school or area over another and our purpose is simple: provide athletes a place to learn and play the game of water polo.
As CHAWP grows, we find that members of the club have diverse levels of ability, from beginners to national team members. Our task is to bring all the differing skill levels and accompanying desires together into a unified program. Our greatest challenge is to provide an environment for learning that is both enjoyable for the newest athlete and challenging enough for our veterans. As our athletes progress we seek to provide ample opportunity for development without pushing our members beyond their ability to enjoy the sport.
CHAWP has established itself as one of the few US Water Polo clubs that competes for National Championships at every age level. We have been true to our mission and our results are evident. We now are prepared to take our mission one step further.
CHAWP’s Mission:
To expose and promote the sport of water polo to athletes of all ages through skills training and team play for the purpose of benefiting the athlete by allowing players to seek the level of competition they desire.Our Desire for CHAWP Athletes: to help players reach their goals
As a club we have goals to place athletes on the development, youth, junior and national teams and ultimately seeing CHAWP players in the Olympics. But we don’t want to ask an athlete for a level of commitment beyond what they are willing to make. So we ask each player what their goals are and help them attain them.
We also realize that we will have players who only want to prepare for high school.
And we have athletes whose goal it is to play in college and beyond. A goal to play beyond high school requires a greater commitment. We want to be a club where an athlete’s chance of being recruited is increased by providing the opportunity to play at higher competitive levels and we want to do this without excluding the high school level athletes.
It is with these goals in mind, that we expanded our program by adding Travel Teams. The travel teams are not exclusive teams as far as talent, but they are exclusive as far as desire and commitment. The athletes who have a desire to play at the highest level of competition, in college and possibly at the national level, are invited to participate. The travel team athletes will not practice differently, just more.
The CHAWP Water Polo Club is divided into 3 levels of play:
Clinics- Ages 6-14 years. CHAWP is open to everyone regardless of skill level. We feel that starting players will develop faster in a clinic type setting with more focused attention to individual development. Players who have developed the basic skills set will be invited to continue their development at the club level.
Club- Club level players work to perfect the fundamentals of the game. Club level athletes have scheduled practice times and will have scrimmages against other clubs. Also available is an optional conditioning practice each week. Club Level athletes compete in 3 major tournaments each year, Southern Pacific Age Group Championships, The San Diego Shore Cup and The John Hale Memorial. Registration fees will cover practices and tournament fees.
Seniors- Ages 19 and over. Senior players will have practices and will compete for CHAWP in the Open and 20s competitions. An additional registration fee will be collected to cover costs.
Why we play Year Round
As with swimming, staying in playing shape is a year round process.
All athletes are encouraged to play year round whether it is socially for personal enjoyment or to compete at the national level. We need to provide opportunities for our players to enhance their strength, ball handling and pool awareness to increase their competitiveness against athletes from other regions. Most athletes cannot maximize their potential by playing periodically.
Fall session- The focus is on player development. We compete in the Southern California Age Group Championships with our non-high school players. We also work to prepare our high school age girls for their season. All athletes work on conditioning, shooting and ball handling drills.
Winter session- Focus is placed on the athlete’s individual talents with clinic type practices. This allows a player to improve on their core skills and increase strength through focused practice on a specific game skill. Our coaching staff dedicates their time assessing each athlete’s potential. Coaches develop the athletes' strengths while identifying areas for improvement.
Spring session- We continue to concentrate on the individual but begin to transition to team development. The athlete is positioned and trained with specified age group in order to develop team skills. We try to identify the athlete’s goal and place them on the appropriate team. CHAWP competes in the San Diego Shore Cup, which gives us a chance to travel as a team.
Summer session- Dedicated to the honing of the individual within the framework of a team. Travel Team athletes will become a part of a championship team, which will compete at the National Championships in late July – early Aug. This benefits our club which in-turn benefits the participant by becoming nationally recognized as top performers in the country. This is the event where our program, including coaches and athletes are tested at the highest level.
Conduct for Players and Parents
CHAWP is One Club:
All our players represent CHAWP, regardless of age. CHAWP should be not be thought of as individual teams, but as one club with new players merging in at various levels. We expect current players and parents to welcome their new teammates and families. We may have various teams competing at given times, but everyone is a member of CHAWP.Encourage ALL CHAWP players and teams:
As Spectators- We ask our players and parents, to be good sports. Cheer and root for CHAWP and refrain from any criticism of opponents, referees or teammates. Any player or parent who is disruptive will be asked to leave. At Practice or Games – Parents please don’t socialize with the coaches on deck before or during practices or games. Please wait until the practice or game is over for discussions.When you have a question:
-Regarding Coaching – Athletes should communicate directly with their coach on deck. If the conversation with the coach doesn’t answer the question the athlete or parents then should email head coach Greg Salvinski, at greg@chawp.com.
-With Other Club Business- Please email kelly@chawp.com any questions or concerns you have regarding club activities.
-Communications to Media-All communications regarding any CHAWP team performances or competition events need to come from the club administration. -
Equipment - How to order
Visit CHAWP Store online-Suits, Caps and Clothing- Order forms are available online and can be given to a coach on deck at Colony HS or mailed to CHAWP. We generally have these items in stock and orders will be filled and handed out on deck.
Parkas & Sweatshirts- Will be ordered periodically, but we will send an email prior to each order. These items take 6-8 weeks to receive.
How Can You Help CHAWP:
Tournaments- We ask all parents and athletes to support CHAWP’s efforts by working tournaments. There is a need for people to run the clocks and to keep score.
Fundraising- CHAWP uses various fundraising avenues to help offset club costs, each fundraiser is easy to do and voluntary.
Final Thoughts
CHAWP will continue to try and fill the needs of each participant by focusing on their individual abilities and desires. We will provide a level in our organization for everyone’s ability. We want to meet the athlete’s current needs and also have a higher level for them to aspire. We want to help our athlete’s set and attain future goals through practice, effort and reinforcement.
Experience and conventional wisdom have shown that the dedicated athletes who work hard year round will reach the goals they have set for themselves. We are proud to have you as part of the club. We want our players to compete in high school and then in college, some with athletic scholarships, we want our players to be part of National Teams and ultimately play in the Olympics.
We have goals of making this club a nationally and internationally known organization. Each year USWP awards the Presidents Cup to the top club based on finishes in National Tournaments, we want to win this award. For our club to reach our overall goal we need to start at the beginning with the basics of hard work, practice and training until we have national caliber athletes. CHAWP will provide this forum.
Our long-term hope is to build a premier aquatics facility in the Inland Empire with CHAWP as the foundation. Water polo is an exciting sport that is growing in stature, CHAWP hopes to be part of a sport that is as big in the United States as it is in Europe. If we could grasp how big the sport is going to be, we would realize we are on the ground floor of a tremendous opportunity.
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