USAWP Announces Celebrity "Cap Campaign"

Accomplished Water Polo Players Don Caps To Grow The Game "One it's discipline, it's friends, competition, getting focused, it means all those things to me because it gave me all those things." - Sean Paul Recording artist Sean Paul won a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album and played for the Jamaican Water Polo National Team until age 21 before focusing on music.  KT Tape-sponsored USA Water Polo, the National Governing Body for the sport in the United States, this week announced the first ever "Cap Campaign." Unveiled at the 2011 USA Water Polo Hall of Fame Induction Benefit Dinner in downtown Los Angeles, the campaign features a wide variety of accomplished water polo players donning water polo caps to raise awareness of the fast-growing sport. The series of arresting images showcases television stars, Grammy Award winning recording artists, astronauts, surgeons, and more, each with water polo playing experience ranging from high school through the Olympic Games.    "I Am Water Polo" is the headline that anchors the campaign, featuring a star-studded lineup who volunteered their time to once again don the iconic water polo cap. You can check out some of the stars in their quotes and pictures below… “We hope to rally the water polo community here in the US around the defining image of the water polo cap,” said USA Water Polo CMO Jennifer Rottenberg.  “We are grateful to the wonderful members of the water polo community who already have donated their time and their images to define the campaign, and we look forward to seeing what the imaginations of others in the sport have in store!” "I would consider it the greatest experience of my life, it's the experience that made me a man, that taught me so many life lessons that you get from sport, ones that I've been able to pass down. (It was) invaluable, beyond words, got me through school, high school, and college, it was the greatest gift I gave myself." - Ted McGinley Actor Ted McGinley is known for roles on Happy Days, The Love Boat, Married With Children and Hope & Faith among others, over his 30 year career in show business. He was once a member of the USA Men's Junior National Team and earned a water polo scholarship to USC, where he was a two-time team MVP and Captained the team in his junior year.   "Water polo to me was a huge part of my life, eight years, my whole high school and college, something that I was super passionate about and love to encourage other people to play. I've just been in love with the sport since the first time I played it." - Annalaina Marks Actress and model Annalaina Marks has appeared on America's Next Top Model, as well as the tv series Gossip Girl, Blue Bloods and Kings and in the feature film “Maid of Honor,” among others. Marks was a three-time high school water polo All American at McDowell HS in Erie, Pennsylvania. She played water polo collegiately at Mercyhurst College and later for the New York Athletic Club. 
"Water polo in a lot of ways is what has defined me, I was a coach for probably 10 years, all my friends and my wife is a water polo player, it defines me and my friends, it's probably one of the biggest things I've done in my life in terms of dictating who I am and who my friends are and what my life's going to be."  - Jeff Ma Jeff Ma was a member of the MIT Blackjack Team that later served as the basis for the book "Bringing Down the House" and the feature film "21." Now a consultant to the Portland Trailblazers and San Franicso 49ers, Ma played water polo at MIT, served as a zone coach, and remains active in Masters water polo.    "A grueling sport that I don't think many people realize how tough it is until they actually watch a game, it kind of brings the competitive atmosphere out in sport and provides a lot of fun for all the people who watch." - Jayne Appel Jayne Appel, an All-Star for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars was a four year starter at Stanford University and also helped the USA Women's Basketball Team to Gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championships and has her sights set on London 2012. Appel was a three-year varsity athlete in water polo at Carondelet High School. The timeless images of "Cap Campaign" participants will be distributed via print advertisements for magazines nationwide and online public service announcements scheduled to launch in 2012. A website has also launched, featuring the tagline of the campaign, www.IamWaterPolo.org, which will house larger galleries from the "Cap Campaign" photo shoots, interviews, and behind the scenes footage. In addition, USA Water Polo social media will be active in the campaign at a grassroots level offering water polo players the opportunity to submit their own "I Am Water Polo" images to the National Governing Body’s official facebook account (www.facebook.com/usawp) where fans can vote on their favorite images with prizes to be awarded along with recognition in USAWP’s quarterly SkipShot magazine. To learn about the USA Water Polo "cap campaign" or to find out more about spreading the word on water polo, visit www.IamWaterPolo.org or www.facebook.com/usawp. To learn more about USA Water Polo, be sure to visit the official website at www.usawaterpolo.org.    About USA Water Polo   USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters National Championships. With more than 40,000 members, USAWP is also the sanctioning authority for more than 500 Member Clubs and more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport nationwide. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.