Moments

Moments

Gentlemen, welcome the Winter Session at Northern Elite. As is tradition in the winter and spring, we will continue with our Leadership Principle initiatives. Today’s discussion is about moments.

Each day we wake up and do our morning routine. We get ready for the day, moment by moment, that is to come and we prepare ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead. How we prepare for each day often times dictates how we handle the situations that come our way. Leadership, however, is not about handling those BIG moments. The ones we tend to gravitate towards thinking about. Everyone imagines themselves making the game winning shot, hitting the winning homerun or making the final save with 10 seconds left. However, those MOMENTS are preceded by a number of meaningful opportunities that often times make a bigger difference than the last moment does itself. Think about you personal life or your academic life. When going in to take a test, it’s important you prepare adequately during the time before the test occurs. Im not talking about the day before or even the week of, but months in advance the preparation should start. When I was in my undergraduate program, I would use 14 of the 16 week semester to study really hard, own the processes that were necessary to fully grasp the concepts being taught and then I would take the final week off before finals from studying. A little brush up here and there was sometimes needed, but nothing to the extent of cramming and trying to memorize like most of my colleagues. The result? The result was acceptance to the National Honor Society, Academic All American Honors, Dean’s List and Honor Roll nearly every semester that I attended college. Were those awards important? They got me into graduate school, they qualified me for scholarships and they got me into doctoral school. Ask yourself this: Am I taking as much advantage of the moments leading up to the test as I am the moment of taking the test itself? What about our personal lives or dating lives?

Have you ever asked a girl out on a date then just shown up without a plan? Do you think she feels important when you show up without a clue what you’re going to do when you were the one who set up the date? What would happen if you planned something? Or took the time to think about something fun to do? Would she feel more special then? Do you think the date would be more fun if she was having fun and felt special? Those moments preceding your date, the planning and effort that goes into it, are meaningful to her and should be meaningful to you as this is a time to get to know yourself as well.

The moments in life that are overlooked are often times more important than any other moments. If we are careless with our ever passing moments, our results will follow suit and be careless too. Leading, as you know, is not about leading when it’s convenient or easiest, it’s about leading all of the time. Those little moments, the ones where we go 10x100 on the 1:20 and you finish in at 1:04 instead of 1:10. It’s the moments of trying to have a perfect passing warm up without a dropped ball. It’s the moments of pushing yourself every second of every practice so that you can perform better every single moment than the one before.

Welcome to Northern Elite. 

Can you think of a moment when you could have done better to prepare? What was it?


How can we be more mindful of the moments we are to encounter on a daily basis?


What do you hope to accomplish this session at Northern Elite?


How do you plan on accomplishing those goals?


What moments do you need to work on in practice? In life?

Northern Elite Wins Silver, Beats Regency but Loses to Shores A

In a game that started out a defensive battle, the Northern Elite Lions fought tooth and nail for every possession and stopped three consecutive 6-5 attempts by Regency in the first 3 minutes. With multiple exclusions called on Trevor Raisch in the first two possessions, the Lions had to switch up their defense to a more dynamic approach which forced Peter Berquist to be prepared for shots from all over. He was ready for them all. With the scored tied 0-0 at the end of the first, Regency was first to strike on a counter attack from the left side that was fired cross cage high that left nothing to be desired. A terrific shot. On the ensuing possession, Brandon Plihal found Jace Blazensky on the cross court pass and Jace mimicked a hesitation shot then buried a skip shot and it was perfectly placed underneath the goalies arm on the near side to even the score 1-1. Almost the exact same shot from the lefty side occurred for Regency two possessions later to put them up 2-1 with a few minutes left in the half. Again, on the very next possession, Berquist threw the ball deep down the lefty flat and Matt Baszucki picked it up and fired across the pool to hit Brandon Plihal on a back door drive and all he had to do was redirect the ball into the open net to even the score again 2-2. The half ended 2-2 and the Lions were beginning to gain momentum. It was not until the start of third that Northern Elite really started to push the defense. With Peter Berquist blocking just about everything coming his way, the Lions were able to press the perimeter and counter out hard which allowed for a multitude of ejections and man advantages for Northern Elite. Led by George Archbold drawing four ejections, on counters and the Lions converting on all but one of them. The nail in the coffin for Regency was when Brandon Plihal posted up inside and manage to flip the ball right over the goalie's head and into the back of the net. From there, the game was close, 5-2, but felt more like 10-2 as Regency stopped countering and their defense seemed to crack. Northern Elite pressed on in the fourth quarter with goals from Jed Rosen and Quinn Vitakis highlighting the depth of the team and their ability to continue to press the issue. The final score ended with a 10-2 victory for the Lions, sending them to the finals against a fierce Shores A team. While Northern Elite kept the game close for a period of time, much closer than any game Shores had encountered yet, but the size, speed and fundamental prowess that Shores displayed proved to be too much for the Northern Elite Lions to handle. Never the less the Lions fought to the very end and showed a lot perseverance to just stay in the game mentally. Could not be more impressed with the results and overall performance of the Northern Elite team. A number of parents and referees alike complimented them on their style, the respectfulness and approach to the game as they wore their uniforms proudly to every match. Go Lions!

Northern Elite A Advances to Top Four on Back of Wayne, Archbold and Berquist

In a day where Northern Elite had to play three games and the most important coming in the later hours of the evening, the Lions showed why they fared well in Winterfest. On the back of Ari Wayne's four goals, including an 8 meter bar down shot which became the game winner, Northern Elite pushed the envelope against a team who had only played one game during that day, which happened to allow them to play their subs the majority of the time. The Lions took on Xtreme with a lackluster first quarter, giving up 3 straight goals. While the defense was somewhat in question, Peter Berquist looked over at the bench and yelled "We're not losing this game!" Shortly after, the team settled down. George Archbold found the back of the net on three straight possessions with a counter attack goal, a beautiful layout goal from set and an absolutely mind blowing backhand that sailed right past the head of the goalie. The first quarter ended 4-3 with the Lions on top. From then on, Northern Elite would not relent, but neither would Xtreme. The Corona based club continued to push the envelope and counter hard after every missed shot that the Lions took, keeping the game within reach until the waning moments of the fourth quarter when Jace Blazensky linked up with Brandon Plihal who in turn flipped an incredibly aware pass to George Archbold who fired and hit the bar only to fall 3 feet from Matt Baszucki who would not miss despite a man on his back as he shifted from left to right hand and found a gap just above the shoulder of the Xtreme goalie. It was Matt's first and only goal of the tournament thus far. With :12 seconds left, the Northern Elite Lions stole the ball and the victory was theirs as was a guaranteed top four finish. While Ari Wayne and George Archbold led the team on the offensive end, it should be well noted that Trevor Raisch, Brandon Plihal, Jed Rosen and Matt Baszucki played tremendous defense to keep their opponents at bay on a number of possessions. Finally, After the three goals were allowed so quickly in the first quarter, Peter Berquist stopped numerous 1 on nobody attacks and even blocked two in the same possession. It took great defense to fuel the offense. Something that Northern Elite truly prides itself on. Northern Elite will face Regency tomorrow morning at 940am to decide who advances to top 2 or 3rd and 4th. Go Lions!

Northern Elite B Drops Shores B on the back of Matt Suever

In a game that started in similar fashion with the Northern Elite Gold team going up 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and up 5-3 at the end of the first half. The Northern Elite Lions were determined to not let fatigue set in and fiercely combatted the San Diego Shores B team in the third quarter. Quickly, the Lions attacked with a high corner shot from Cade Curry that proved that Northern Elite would not go away. Then, with a number of great drives, passes and tremendous defense, Matt Suever showed he was not about to let the Lions stumble late in the game. The Lions went down 8-7 with 2:20 left but had earned a man advantage. The coach called a time out and drew up a play, it didnt work. The shot taken was well off target and bounced well right of the goal. All but one of the players on both teams gave up on the ball and began to counter, but Matt Suever, who was originally out of position, drove ambitiously to the ball and immediately made a cross pass to a rising and aware Luca Pagano who caught and shot a beautiful cross cage, high corner finish, to record his first goal of the game and tournament. Then, after a tremendous stop by Logan Whalen, Matt Suever took off early and received an on point pass, again from Logan, and was able to draw a 5 meter shot with :18 seconds left in the game. He converted the shot with a perfectly placed skip shot into the high corner. The crowd went wild and so did the boys. In a tournament where the Lions B team is playing much larger and more experienced players, their will and desire have kept them in every single game until just after half. The flow of their game, their ability to work hard and make plays despite being oversized and their desire to succeed is overwhelming and they have inspired a ton of people during their trip to San Diego. I could not be more proud of this group.

Northern Elite A Handles Shores C, NE B Shocks Newport A in First Half

Northern Elite A In a game against a home team in a distant pool, you dont typically like seeing the last ref who nearly ejected your entire team in the last tournament show up. However, regardless of who the referee was, the Northern Elite Lions played a maturing first quarter as they were not at their sharpest. Yielding 1 goal to Shores C in the first was enough to put them behind 1-0 at the end of the quarter. However, once the team settled down, found their rhythm and got into their flow in the second quarter, the game quickly turned from 1-0 to 3-1, Northern Elite leading at half. As the game continued to come together, so did their continuity. While Peter Berquist found numerous counter attackers at the far end with perfect passes, a somewhat contrast to the first quarter, the team found ways to finish. Fortunately, Northern Elite proved to be too fast and too much for Shores C and the final rounded out to be 13-3 as the Lions found a way to win. Their next match will be against Shores A, a team that watched the entire game, at 11:20am. Northern Elite B While underdogs would mildy describe what the Lions B team is viewed as, Newport A found them to be grittier than expected. Matt Suever pocketed two early goals to put the Lions on top and Cade Curry added a pair of his own. Logan Whalen played stellar defense in the goal in the first half and the Northern Elite team found a way to play tremendous team defense and put themselves ahead of Newport A 6-4 at halftime. This not only shocked the Newport coach, but the Newport parents as well. As the sun began to set and the night began to creep in, the switch for the lights were nowhere to be found. And, instead of sending a search committee to find them, the referees asked that play continue in the pitch dark. While it was nearly impossible to see the other end of the pool, no less which team each player was on, the players fought valiantly against a continued counter attack and physical defense by the Newport Sailors. Without being able to see the ball, players had trouble finding the open man which ultimately led to a number of strong counter attacks by Newport. In the first instance, Alec Berquist now in goal, came out and stuffed a 1 on Nobody attack and set a strong tone for the rest of the Newport team to keep away from his cage. And they did just that. Newport began taking shots from nearly half and putting them away, using the darkness to their advantage and ultimately taking over the game in deciding fashion. While this game may have been a loss in the score books, the amount of courage and desire the Northern Elite Gold team displayed was truly tremendous to watch and be a part of. The coach of the Newport squad gave a very sincere compliment to the players saying that they were one heck of a team for being mostly younger players. Northern Elite Gold plays tomorrow morning at 10:30am. Take care and Go Lions!

Northern Elite Summer "Man Camp" Session To Begin

Northern Elite Water Polo Club has once again differentiated itself from the pack by initiating a brand new agenda of creating young men.  While a typical water polo club embodies the fundamentals of the game, Northern Elite will, in addition to water polo, combine an elite level of fitness with an in-depth worldly approach  of development for young men who are transitioning from boys, to young adults.

The Northern Elite Man Camp Session begins in late May and will continue through until late July, when Junior Olympics begin.  For registration information, you may visit http://northernelitewaterpoloclub.com or go to http://northerneliteacademy.com for more Man Camp specific information.

Best of luck this summer, Northern Elite!

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Northern Elite Water Polo Club's Academic Initiative

Welcome back to Northern Elite Water Polo Club's Spring Session!

We are thrilled to be starting up another session and very much look forward to the challenges and adventure that awaits us this coming spring.  As is tradition during the Spring Session, we will be having lectures, homework and readings for each of you to take part in.  I have picked eight topics of discussion, for us to cover over the coming 10 weeks session.  While these topics will be in addition to mastering and fine tuning our water polo skills night in and night out, there is much more to this session than just being a good water polo player.

The goal of this program is to develop and own each topic in our daily lives that exist outside of the pool.  Each of us lives each day to the best of our ability but often times we are not cognitive of our actions or aware of our surroundings.  Much like we must be intent when we deliver a pass or defend against a drive, our approach to our family life, school work and social relationships should be thought of with the same care and delicacy that a cross court pass to a tip in must require.  How we pass, the placement of the ball when we throw and how we finish can all be translated to how we approach, speak to and relate to our family, friends and teachers.  We simply cannot throw an errant pass or be disrespectful to our parents and expect to score a goal or not to be grounded.  I look forward to our further discussions on these topics and having an open forum to discuss any breakthroughs or challenges we may be facing.

If you have questions regarding the topics or the homework, my email address is listed below and you may contact me at any time to discuss and I will be sure to respond readily.  If there is something in particular you would like to be discussed in our lectures, don't hesitate to ask as we are open to ideas and thoughts alike.

I look forward to our continued success and enthusiasm in the pool this session.

Take care and Go Lions!

Wesley

Northern Elite Lions Rally Before Game

Northern Elite preps for their opening match vs Commerce at Huntington Beach High School on Friday night.

Northern Elite Lions take 3rd at Winterfest, win Bronze Medal

The Northern Elite Lions finished 3rd in this year's Winterfest Tournament in Orange County, California. The Lions finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, their only loss coming to the eventual champion Anteaters on Saturday night.

After their loss to the Anteaters, the Lions came back with vengeance against a strong Costa Mesa team who tallied a number of goals early on.  However, the speed of Northern Elite proved to be too much for Costa Mesa to handle late in the game as the Lions ran away with the game in the middle of the 3rd quarter.  A similar swan song occurred in the consolation game against ORCA.

A talented, and well sized, ORCA team came to play in the first quarter as the only goal was scored by Jace Blazensky early on despite multiple opportunities for Northern Elite to take the lead.  However, just as soon as Northern Elite won the second quarter sprint, the game was quickly 3-0.  Jace Blazensky factoring in on all of the first three goals, scoring two and assisting Brandon Plihal with a poeticly justified  feather pass across the middle after setting the goalie and beating a middle defender with perfect placement.  But, Northern Elite wasnt finished.

Jed Rosen once again led the team on the defensive end earning Defensive MVP for the Lions and factoring in on numerous counter attacks by stealing the ball from ORCA a number of times.  The defense displayed was stingy and difficult to break as the only goal that would come for ORCA was an outside shot that managed to squeeze past Berquist, the eventual MVP of the team, and hit the side bar and trickle in.

At half, Northern Elite led 7-0 but the highlight was not the score, it was the passing.  Brandon Plihal found George Archbold, the eventual Offensive MVP for the Lions, on a cross pass to tap in.  The pass sailed perfectly to the stretched arm of Archbold who finished neatly and left the goalie helpless.  Another moment of sheer brilliance was displayed as Brandon Plihal was on the receiving end of a pass coming from Nick Reed who fired from the half tank mark across the entire pool to place the ball perfectly to the rising Plihal who just had to tap it in for the goal.  Northern Elite represented northern California water polo well with a 11-1 final.  The continued great passing and aggressive defense, coupled with the strength of their counter attack earned the Northern Elite Lions compliments from the head UCI coach and a number of the opposing team fans.  A truly remarkable performance from a team of individuals who have so much room to grow.

Northern Elite dropped by Anteaters, Fights for Third

Under the ominous southern California skies and a drizzling rain that only added to the atmosphere, Northern Elite started off the game strong with a quick steal by Jed Rosen. Almost no less than 2 seconds later a phantom turnover was called and Anteaters would not waste the opportunity as they quickly scored. This would set the tone for the remainder of the game. It was not more than five minutes in the game before Kading was awarded a yellow card for disputing a call after watching Brandon Plihal get submerged while guarding set and was then ejected. While Northern Elite fought back hard and were the faster of the two teams, mistakes with the ball cost them on the offensive end. Each player contributed, had on the mark passes and played terrific defense, overcoming 16 ejections calls proved to be too much for them to withstand. It was not until middle of the third that the first of 3 total ejections were awarded in favor of tittle Northern Elite Lions. The Lions will represent northern California against the host, Los Alamitos today at 1210pm to an effort to earn a place in the top 4. After the game the team headed to south Orange County for dinner at the coaches house to continue the tradition of Mrs Kading's famous pasta and some ice cream pie. A bonding experience that they will all remember as they all attempted to fit into the smallest room of the house, pictures to follow, and began singing. Words can't express the uniqueness of this group. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Kading for opening up their home and providing us with a home cooked meal while on the road.

Northern Elite deflates Yucaipa before the game begins

Its said that those who come prepared often times show the best.  With the boys opting to show up in uniforms for a second straight game, their presence was felt immediately.  Guided by team captains Jace Blazensky and Jed Rosen, their stretching and warm up was focused and attentive to detail.  When finishing their swim set with our traditional kick on wall to sprint session, the Yucaipa players stopped what they were doing and watched.  Mentally, Northern Elite had already gained an advantage.  Then, the game started.

With 6 steals and 2 goals in the opening 7 minutes, Jed Rosen set the pace on both the defensive and offensive ends.  Contributions were made by all on the offensive end of the pool but it was the defense that fueled the unparalleled success that was made in transition.

Northern Elite quickly scored 4 goals in the opening minutes and went on to lead 9-0 at half and never looked back.  While this game appeared to be comfortable, the focus that was displayed on the Northern Elite side was palpable and difficult to mimic as Yucaipa began going through the motions early on.

Northern Elite will next represent northern California water polo against a difficult Anteaters team at 640pm at UCI.  The Anteaters will be playing in their home pool and recently polished off West Valley 20-2.

Please check back for further updates, photos and videos of our games.

Northern Elite Water Polo Club defeats Commerce, moves on to Yucaipa

With a difficult first draw of playing Commerce, the most recent Hawaii Invitational champion, Northern Elite water polo club found a way to stop numerous rally attempts and strategic counter attacks in a 14-10 victory on Friday night.

Northern California water polo is known to be quite a bit different in their style and approach.  However, the Northern Elite squad handled the change in referee style as well aggressive playing style of Commerce with poise and confidence.

Two moments of sheer brilliance occurred in the 14-10 to show what Northern Elite was capable of.  In the first quarter, Northern Elite took a 5-3 on Jed Rosen's perfectly timed rise out of the water to accept an under pressure pass from Luca Pagano and fire across the cage to hit the upper corner bar and bury the ball in the back of the net.  A picture perfect example of what good passing will do for a team.

Another display of critical passing came in the middle of the fourth quarter when Alex Laird and Matt Baszucki linked up with a give and go as Laird created separation and hit Baszucki on the overpass after a superb drive.  Baszucki did well to finish intelligently as he immediately noticed the goalie's position and opted for the cross cage lob which feathered nicely into the side of the net.  The play left Commerce nothing more to be desired as this deflated their hard perimeter press and Northern Elite when on to represent northern California water polo with an opening win.

The next match will be played at UC Irvine against Yucaipa at 11:20am PST.  Winner of this match will take home 1st place in their group and move on to the top bracket in the tournament as playoffs begin late Saturday night.

Northern California Water Polo represented at Winterfest

Winterfest begins tonight @ 720pm!  Be sure to follow us on twitter.com/northernelitewp and our website @ www.northernelitewpc.com

We have put in the work and are thrilled to have this experience in southern California.

Northern California water polo will be well represented

Please review this video and be ready to share what you see, think and understand on Tuesday:

Attention to detail

Great attention to detail last night. Our movement was well calculated and our approach was one that we will need to have and improve upon as tournament time draws near.

See you Tuesday!

Northern Elite Water Polo Club Spring Session

Spring Session information due out soon.
The dates, however, are set:
Week of March 5th until the week of May 7th with a tournament from the 11th to 13th in San Diego.
Also, we will be taking off 2 weeks in April for Spring Break.

GAME DAY

Game today vs Menlo School @ 130pm.

Be sure to be mentally prepared, I want to see everyone push themselves.  Menlo is ready to beat you.

New suits look INCREDIBLE.  Thanks to Gio and ZUMO for supplying some of the best looking suits Ive ever seen!!!! Practice details for tonight to follow.

New suits are in!!!!! Will have them at practice tonight as well as tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing these represented.

Welcome to Northern Elite Water Polo Club

Welcome to Northern Elite!
Practice tonight promises to be a challenge so be prepared for a solid conditioning set and an intense focus on positioning and awareness.