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Post by crawdaddy on Mar 23, 2016 16:30:06 GMT -5
I think the Pep model is the right way to do it (for both the beach and indoor programs). Once Stein gets more of these beach-only athletes, the indoor players won't contribute much even if Sealy does let them play. But occasionally, you will get a player who is clearly a stud in both (as Van Winden appears to be) and it might be a recruiting advantage to be able to let them do both (something 'SC isn't doing). I hope Van Winden made playing some beach part of her agreement with Sealy when she committed.Certainly possible. Although I don't know really how committed Van Winden is the the beach game. She declined multiple opportunities to try out for age group beach world championships in order to play indoor club. And I don't count the Four Nations Cup, which was pretty much just a paid spring break vacation to Australia. I hope she does continue to play beach, as she's a real talent. BTW, Mick has backed off his "no indoor players on the beach team" dictum - for the right player or players. Plummer definitely would have been allowed to play both if USC had landed her. It would have to be a pretty special player, though. Interesting. As more and more kids specialize in beach I think the overlap in top programs of kids who can contribute to both the indoor and beach teams will become smaller and smaller. So it really will have to be a special player to do both at 'SC. Smart move by Mick to not preclude this.
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Post by stull90210 on Mar 24, 2016 12:47:32 GMT -5
He doesn't seem to have a problem with Muno, Anderson, Buechler, Chandler, Drolson, etc. playing beach. Why would it be a problem for Van Winden? UCLA wants to follow the current Pepperdine model, which is a roster largely consisting of beach-only players with 1-2 indoor players players added to the mix. They're going to have another 5-6 beach only kids coming into the program in the next few years, but right now they still have to use the indoor roster to fill out the team. That will change. Also, Van Winden - along with Miller, who is also a beach player - are Sealy's meal tickets for the next four years. He wants 'em in the gym, fall and spring. Note that Van Winden is enrolling early specifically to train indoors, even though she's eligible to join the beach team. I'm in no way guaranteeing that either Van Winden or Miller will never join the beach program. But given the big picture, I have doubts. We'll see how it all shakes out. I don't think UCLA is necessarily using the indoor roster to "fill out" the beach team (they have 13 sand only players on the roster, total roster is at 20!) The fact of the matter is that they still aren't really getting higher quality sand only recruits give or take 5, and a good amount of the indoor roster is probably better than a portion of the sand only roster (whether it's because they have past experience at the junior level, or they have been playing on the sand team for several years when it was really just indoor players). Until they get more big time sand only recruits like the McNamara twins, then i think you will still see good all around players on the indoor team join the sand team and compete for/win one of the five pairs spots (etc. Riley Buechler)
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