Mercado at the World University Games: Blog No. 3: Weather, Food, and Pool Play
7/9/2019 10:27:00 AM | Men's Water Polo, Women's Water Polo
Brown University men's and women's water polo head coach Felix Mercado is serving as an assistant coach with USA Women's Water Polo for the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy. Competition at the tournament is slated for July 2-13, and during his time in Italy, Mercado will provide blog updates.
Hello again from Napoli, Italy. We have finished pool play, and while it didn't go according to our plans, now we get a fresh start and a new tournament with a better understanding of our team and our capabilities. We believe this team is good enough to win it all, but we need to start putting away our opportunities. There is a very good chance that all five teams in our group will be in the quarterfinals. We start the elimination tournament with a play-in game today (July 9) at 1:30 p.m. ET vs. Czech Republic. If we are successful, we will play Canada in the quarterfinals tomorrow (July 10).
Weather: To say that it has been hot is an understatement, and I am confident that I am an expert on what hot feels like (I grew up in Miami, Florida). Not only is it in the 90s, there is a lot of humidity and not a cloud in the sky. It might rain tomorrow, and I am looking forward to that!
Food: In coming to Italy, the one thing everyone told me that I should look forward to besides great water polo is the food. Obviously being in Italy you can only imagine the carbs that are available each day. While we have been stuck in our hotel for all our meals, the hotel staff has mixed it up with different meats, fish, and of course vegetables. There has been a lot of pasta and some great desserts. The one thing that everyone always bragged about was the pizza. Going into this tournament my thoughts were 'pizza is pizza' – I can tell you for a FACT, pizza is NOT pizza. My pizza experience here was undeniably the most delicious food I think I have ever eaten. It literally melted in your mouth. So, if you are ever in Napoli – trust me, try the pizza!
Game vs. China (Win, 14-11): This was our best game to date. We came out firing and led 5-0 after the first quarter. China was no pushover and battled back, but we were able to make enough plays offensively and defensively to hold on for a 14-11 victory. This game showed us what we are capable of offensively and raised the bar for the coaching staff on what we are able to do when we hit our shots.
Game vs. Australia (Loss, 11-9): So, on the topic of hitting our shots, we could not buy a goal early on and saw Australia jump on us 3-0. While we outscored them 9-8 the rest of the way, we dug ourselves too deep a hole against a very talented Australia team. The good news about this loss is it reminded the coaching staff and the athletes that we are not good enough to just show up and expect things to fall into place. We know that in order to achieve the main goal we came here with – win a gold medal – we will have to play with more grit and assertiveness.
What's Next: We play in a crossover play-in game today (July 9) vs. the Czech Republic at 1:30 p.m. ET. The winner advances to the quarterfinals on July 10, and the loser will play the loser of China vs. France for ninth place on July 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Let's go USA!
Team USA Women's Water Polo Schedule
July 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Russia | Game 3 (Group Stage) | Loss, 10-9
July 4 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Italy | Game 8 (Group Stage) | Loss, 8-6
July 7 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. China | Game 15 (Group Stage) | Win, 14-11
July 8 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Australia | Game 19 (Group Stage) | Loss, 11-9
July 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Vs. Czech Republic | Game 22 (First Round)
(All Times Local Time)
Hello again from Napoli, Italy. We have finished pool play, and while it didn't go according to our plans, now we get a fresh start and a new tournament with a better understanding of our team and our capabilities. We believe this team is good enough to win it all, but we need to start putting away our opportunities. There is a very good chance that all five teams in our group will be in the quarterfinals. We start the elimination tournament with a play-in game today (July 9) at 1:30 p.m. ET vs. Czech Republic. If we are successful, we will play Canada in the quarterfinals tomorrow (July 10).
Weather: To say that it has been hot is an understatement, and I am confident that I am an expert on what hot feels like (I grew up in Miami, Florida). Not only is it in the 90s, there is a lot of humidity and not a cloud in the sky. It might rain tomorrow, and I am looking forward to that!
Food: In coming to Italy, the one thing everyone told me that I should look forward to besides great water polo is the food. Obviously being in Italy you can only imagine the carbs that are available each day. While we have been stuck in our hotel for all our meals, the hotel staff has mixed it up with different meats, fish, and of course vegetables. There has been a lot of pasta and some great desserts. The one thing that everyone always bragged about was the pizza. Going into this tournament my thoughts were 'pizza is pizza' – I can tell you for a FACT, pizza is NOT pizza. My pizza experience here was undeniably the most delicious food I think I have ever eaten. It literally melted in your mouth. So, if you are ever in Napoli – trust me, try the pizza!
Game vs. China (Win, 14-11): This was our best game to date. We came out firing and led 5-0 after the first quarter. China was no pushover and battled back, but we were able to make enough plays offensively and defensively to hold on for a 14-11 victory. This game showed us what we are capable of offensively and raised the bar for the coaching staff on what we are able to do when we hit our shots.
Game vs. Australia (Loss, 11-9): So, on the topic of hitting our shots, we could not buy a goal early on and saw Australia jump on us 3-0. While we outscored them 9-8 the rest of the way, we dug ourselves too deep a hole against a very talented Australia team. The good news about this loss is it reminded the coaching staff and the athletes that we are not good enough to just show up and expect things to fall into place. We know that in order to achieve the main goal we came here with – win a gold medal – we will have to play with more grit and assertiveness.
What's Next: We play in a crossover play-in game today (July 9) vs. the Czech Republic at 1:30 p.m. ET. The winner advances to the quarterfinals on July 10, and the loser will play the loser of China vs. France for ninth place on July 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Let's go USA!
Team USA Women's Water Polo Schedule
July 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Russia | Game 3 (Group Stage) | Loss, 10-9
July 4 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Italy | Game 8 (Group Stage) | Loss, 8-6
July 7 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. China | Game 15 (Group Stage) | Win, 14-11
July 8 | 5:30 p.m. | Vs. Australia | Game 19 (Group Stage) | Loss, 11-9
July 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Vs. Czech Republic | Game 22 (First Round)
(All Times Local Time)
Brown University 50th Anniversary Event Recap
Friday, April 11
Women’s Water Polo highlights vs Bucknell
Saturday, March 01
Brown Athletics 2024 Happy Holidays Video
Friday, December 20
Keira Heggie
Friday, November 08
