First Year Experiencing ODP

Hi, I am Max Rosenfeld and I play water polo in Illinois.  This season is finishing my second full season playing water polo and my first year with the ODP program. I had a blast! My dad pushed me to swim since I was a little boy and I did not love swimming and I pushed to try water polo and have found a sport I really love. My Dad and Vaughn Sr are very good friends so when I didn't want to do swimming my dad said Vaughn's kids play water polo, so I gave water polo a chance and I enjoyed it. The first tournament I went to was in honor of Grier and Vaughn Jr. It was the first year that the Vaughn Jr award was awarded!  

The ODP program has had me travel to some cool places to play. The Zone Championships for the Midwest Zone was in Greensboro, North Carolina. I met people from all over the east coast, southeastern US and midwest.  I then advanced to ODP Nationals in Riverside, CA. There I met people from all over the US. It has been a great experience for me. California was the biggest tournament I have been to and it was my first time playing with many of the regions. I have learned alot about other people in general. Playing with kids with a higher skill set has taught me more about the game and goals I can set for myself. A big part of my team's weekend was finding out where we fit in for our positions and making  friendships. Another thing I really enjoyed was playing the game! 

A big reason I love water polo is that I get to meet kids who I will be playing with through high school. My club team feeds into the local high school I will attend. The ODP program makes it so I get to play with the best kids from my region and other regions. The ODP program puts me on a team with kids that play differently than the kids at home. It challenges me in the sport. It also helps me bring home a new viewpoint of the game and builds my skills. The experience was awesome.

Written by Max Rosenfeld