GOLDEN JETS ACADEMY HERALDS NEW DIRECTION FOR CLUB

The Golden Jets are proud to announce the creation of its first ever ACADEMY of water polo.
The Academy is a program that will provide for the regular, structured advancement of players.

The Academy will exist on its own merit.  That is, players may join the Academy only.  However, players wishing to get more competitive training opportunities can join the club's competitive program for their age group (ages 5-13) and the Academy will automatically be included for no extra charge.

Here are the details:

INTRODUCTION    

The Toronto Golden Jets is introducing its first ever Water Polo Academy.  The Academy is designed to allow players to systematically follow a progression of skills acquisition over a prescribed period of time.  Players will “graduate” from level to level after they fully complete all the skills at a particular level.

LAUNCH

The program will launch on Saturday, September 12.  It will be open to players ages 7-12.  Exceptions will be made for good swimmers aged 5-6 as well as beginning swimmers aged 13.

PROCESS

Once a player enters the Academy, he/she will receive instruction on a specific set of skills throughout Year 1.  At various points along the way, the players will be tested for proficiency in a group of skills and provided with feedback.  Those meeting the acceptable standard of performance will receive passing grades and move on to the next set of skills.  Any players deficient in one or more skill tests will be given additional instruction and practice in order to pass the tests and move on.  Players will accumulate Golden Jets Level Awards each year.  The early years will focus on individual skills while the latter years (high school) will see the addition of playing strategy and game understanding.

SCHEDULE

The Academy will run on Saturdays from 1:30pm – 3:00pm at the University of Toronto’s beautiful 50m pool.  The first half hour will be devoted to land drills and chalk talks.  The Academy will have its own calendar on the www.torontowaterpolo.com web site.  Players and parents should check the calendar each Friday.  UofT hosts many special events which, from time to time, will cause cancellation of Academy pool time.

INSTRUCTORS

The Academy will be headed up by international water polo authority, Slobodan Stojanovic.  Slobodan gained his vast knowledge of water polo instruction process for age group players under the tutelage of Zoran Gobcevic, Nenad Manojlovic, Petar Kovacevic and Nenad Vasilevski (all national level coaches in the Serbian system).  Slobodan will be joined by several assistant instructors who are all accredited water polo coaches with the Coaching Association of Canada.  Generally these instructors will be players on the University of Toronto and Golden Jets senior teams and will have trained under club Head Coach and two-time Olympian, George Gross, Jr.