I hope time proves me wrong but I’m not the only one who thinks USA Water Polo’s decision to hire Jamie Davis (a candidate who knows virtually nothing about water polo) as its new CEO over Rob Solomon, Adam Krikorian, and John Abdou is yet another misstep by the administrators who run USA Water Polo from behind the scenes.
USA Water Polo Selecting Jamie Davis, of USA Volleyball, as CEO (swimmingworldmagazine.com)
This is just another instance of USAWP doing whatever it wants and knowing there isn’t enough political will or cohesion among the membership to say anything about it. It sure seems like you’d want to trumpet the hiring of a new CEO and sell him to the membership, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here as this is the only place I’ve seen anything about it.
Like you, I hope that time proves that this was a good hire and perhaps we should be more appreciative of the experience he brings from volleyball, but it seems like this is just a continuation of Ramsey’s tenure. If you’re someone who agrees that it has been a success then I guess this is something to applaud. However, if you’re someone who has been critical of a lot of what USAWP does and how it operates this is not encouraging.
Seems like he may have known in March based on his comment son this article:
President and CEO Jaime Davis leaving USA Volleyball at year’s end
I don’t know what Jamie Davis does or does not know about water polo, but having run a Group A NGB in Colorado Springs tells me he must know something about international sports and the challenges that minor sports face.
I don’t know if Ramsey did a good, bad or indifferent job, but I know that membership grew, that it has expanded beyond California, if grudgingly so and I don’t know how people judge success or failure in the job. Everyone has their definition of what success would look like. To some it would be the U.S. being a consistent competitor for top honors at the Olympics and World Championships; to others, more growth in membership, clubs, fundraising and television exposure. It is great to have in your Mission Statement that the goal of the organization is to “win gold medals in Olympic, World Championship…”, but getting there isn’t so easy with the headwinds and no serious professional water polo league in the U.S.
I know and like Rob, Adam and John and have known them for years. Maybe one of them was the right person to lead the organization, but honestly, I think it unfair to Davis to pan his selection months before he even starts,
GoBears!,
I said I hope time proves me wrong and I do. If you think USA Water Polo’s Board of Directors has done a good job, you should like this hire because they will continue to make the important decisions. If you think USA Water Polo would benefit from someone with a fresh perspective and someone willing to implement meaningful changes, I think there were better candidates. Moreover, the other reported finalists have a wealth of water polo experience. The person selected knows nothing about water polo.
I thought the 49ers’ decision to hire Mike Singletary was a bad decision and time quickly proved me right. On the other hand, I thought USC’s decision to hire Lincoln Riley was a good one (although they paid him too much) but it looks like I was wrong. I’ve always appreciated writers and commentators who state their opinions before events unfold. It’s easy to second guess someone after the fact.
Anyone got a link to the job description? I don’t know Rob Solomon, but I would think that Krikorian or Abdou would be excellent choices to oversee water polo operations. I have no idea if they have experience running a non-profit and raising funds to support it. As you note, Davis seems to have done this successfully for another NGB.
Rob is a Cal guy, played on the '87 '88 championship teams in Pete’s last year coaching. He was the CEO of GoFundMe and has been involved in a lot of other tech companies. I don’t know if he’d have left his current role to run USA WP, but he would been an interesting choice.
Yeah, the combination of water polo experience, being a CEO, and involvement in on-line marketing and fundraising would have been interesting.