He is a polo player who was raised in Patras, in the “hive” of the historic NOP team, but in recent years, living in America, he opened his “wings” and has a coaching career at a high level.
The reason for his father, Apostolos Karagiannis, who in a few months completes ten years of life in Chicago, where alongside his professional obligations he is a federal coach.
“Peloponnisos” spoke with the former NOP polo player regarding the operating model of polo in the USA, what would change if he returned to our country and comments on the course of the NOP and the NEP in this year’s championships…
– You have been absent from Patras for ten years. When you left was it in your mind to become a polo coach?
“I started in the small pool of Agia, when I was 4 years old. First as a swimmer until the age of 16 and then in the children’s polo section of the NOP, in the dreamy 90s. I experienced the great team of Lolos and the flooded stand. I had the great fortune to experience it from the inside for two years, from 1998 to 2000, as a player. I also had the honor of playing for all the teams of Patras that played in A2 from 2000 to 2008 (Triumvos, OPATHA and NOP). From 2008 to 2013 I competed in regional teams in A2 and B National (Kalamata, Corfu and Lamia). A life in the pools and the chlorine, with fellow travelers top coaches and teammates from the cream of water polo. So what might happen more often than to get stuck for good with the “chloride germ” of training. With the mentors of Dimitris Athymaritis (the first professional with all the meaning of the word coach that I worked with in my sports career), Kakoulidis and Giannouri, the bases and stimuli had prepared the ground properly so that following my move to the other side of the Atlantic, I would work from the edge of the pool with the sport I love.”
-What are the differences in the operating model compared to Greece?
“Priority in America is lessons and the goal of students’ participation in school championships is the cultivation and formation of character. The championship, especially in polo, for the Chicago area involves very few athletes and especially those who want to play at the collegiate level. In the USA there is no professional polo league for either women or men. But there is a developed production process of athletes through school sports. Students are required to play at least 2 different sports during the school year. If they want kids to commit to a sport, polo in our case, then they turn to clubs, like the team I work with, New Trier Aquatics. The responsibility of the clubs lies with the relevant federation (USA Water Polo). The federation is responsible for the creation of national teams and organizes at least 20 tournaments annually, of all age categories. The athlete’s/pole player’s main goal is to get good enough to play in college and get a scholarship. Of course, being just a good player is not enough. You must also have excellent grades, otherwise the University rejects you. The best University players are also the ones who make up the US National Teams.”
-For the last few years you have been in charge of academies at the New Trier Aquatics team, based in Winnetka, a suburb north of Chicago, What is your goal?
“We started six years ago from scratch, together with the technical director Laszlo Hruza. He from Hungary, I from Greece, with a vision to offer any athlete who wants the basics to play at the highest level. To encourage athletes to play polo all year round and not only during the school championship. We wanted to change the prevailing mindset in our district and set professional standards in the operation of water polo academies. To bring the European standards of running a water polo academy, which we have both served, to Chicago. The results speak for themselves and the teamwork of all the coaches of the academy has established the club among the top in America. We already have the scepters in our District as well as our boys and girls have won the regional championships in both 18K and 16K. We have also placed high, top 8, in the Junior Olympics, the biggest polo tournament in America.
A personal goal is to someday join the US National Team coaching staff, at any age group or leaf. In other words, to participate with the National Team in a major international event. I am already a member of the American Federation having been hired as the 18U Boys Regional Coach for the Midwest States. With a little luck and a lot of work, maybe I’ll succeed.”
-With the experience you have gained in America, what would change in the Pole if you went back?
“One thing I would change would be to make training more fun. I believe that training in Greece, especially in the younger age groups, is very monotonous. Children, especially at 13K and not only in polo, lose interest quickly. I think the joy of the game is being lost since chasing the result from a young age focuses on tactics and strategies rather than developing the athlete’s talent and the beauty of the game. Space must be given to the athlete to make mistakes and lose, victory should not be an end in itself. We must be interested in the overall development of the child, first as a person and then as an athlete.”
-A comment on the course of the NOP in the A1 National and the NEP in the A2 National?
“The NOP in A1 Eniki will have a difficult task to stay, but the good thing is that it invests in the talent of the children from its academies, as well as in the Greek element. I know first hand that the management is going above and beyond to keep the team in A1 and may their efforts pay off in the end. The NEP, on the other hand, they also invest in Patrinopoulas rich in talent for the men’s team. I believe that if they are in their best form in the play offs they will have a great chance of getting promoted to the big division. But the question is, can Patra withstand 2 men’s teams in A1? History has proven not. I think it’s time to put aside pettiness, petty interests and egos if we want to do something big, with a vision for Patraiko polo. Both in men and women. I believe the key would be to find a leader to rally the healthy forces of seafaring and open the clubs to the success-hungry Patraic society. To set a plan for the return of all the people from Patra who play in Athens teams in A1 and with the addition of three quality foreigners to hit the 3rd place, we have done it before and we can easily do it once more”.
-What does the fact that many native Poles have been feeding the national bands in recent years mean to you?
“It confirms that we can produce athletes like Patras in the best way! All we need is incentives to keep them. Whether these are financial or simpler, see Prometheus Academies.
For both men and women, the work of the father coaches is rewarded with medals and placings in the top positions of the age championships! They are doing something right, there is no other way!
-How is the lifestyle in Chicago? What do you miss from Greece?
“The first years were quite difficult. Adaptation was a difficult and time-consuming process. Fortunately, me and my wife make it on time. I am very proud that my partner Katerina is studying at one of the best Art Academies in the world, the School of Art Institute of Chicago.
The truth is that we really miss our people, our family and our friends, but Chicago is a modern metropolis and the options are many.
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