Rose Bowl Water Polo Club (RBWP) celebrated a triple gold medal win at the Florida International Tournament at the Coral Springs Aquatics Center in Coral Springs, Fla. This year was the ninth annual tournament and the competition featured teams from Germany, Canada, Puerto Rico, Hungary, the Caribbean, St. Louis, New York, Florida and California. It is one of the few if not the only club tournament that brings international teams to the U.S. for competition. This year’s 18U bracket consisted of 16 teams, the 16U bracket was 10 teams, and the 14U bracket was nine.

All three teams (boys U14, 16 and 18) went undefeated in their age groups. The 14s, coached by Trevor Clark, beat Greenwich in the final 8-5. The 16s beat South Florida in the final 6-5. And the 18s, coached by Jason Falitz, beat FTC Ferencvaros of Budapest, Hungary in the final in sudden death overtime, 9-8.

“I am very pleased with our results in Florida,” said Daniel Leyson, Rose Bowl Water Polo head coach. “Two things stand out for me about how we played this year: First, all of the final games were won in the second half, when our teams were either tied or down at halftime. This is a testament to our players’ work ethic during workouts and to their dedication to our training program. Secondly, all victories were total team efforts. Specifically, our 18U team won after two very important players were ejected from the game in the third quarter. It was great to see the rest of the players come together and win the game.”

  gold medals, rose bowl, water polo