Salem to Host Pacific Northwest Zone Girl’s Junior Olympic Qualifier

Travel Salem has secured the 2015 Pacific Northwest Zone Girl’s Junior Olympic Qualifier hosted by the Willamette Valley Water Polo Club. The tournament will be hosted at The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Croc Corps Community Center on May 1-3, 2015.

The 2015 Pacific Northwest Zone Girl’s Junior Olympic Qualifier will be the first time that Salem will host a girls only water polo Olympic qualifier. Last year, Salem hosted the Men’s Junior Olympic National Qualifier and have hosted both Men and Women’s combined tournaments in previous years.

“Willamette Valley Water Polo club is very excited to host the 2015 Pacific Northwest Zone Girl’s Junior Olympics’ qualifying tournament,” said tournament director Steve Sessa. Water Polo is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation and achieved a 16% growth rate last year in the Pacific Northwest alone. “Last year’s tournament, which was held in Tacoma, Washington, was the largest girl’s qualifying tournament in zone history. We hope we can build on that this year,” added Sessa.

The Willamette Valley Water Polo club has serviced the Willamette Valley since 2002 and has established itself as one of the largest water polo clubs in Oregon. The club attracts players from all over the Willamette Valley including Salem, Albany, Corvallis and many other smaller towns. In addition to the National Junior Olympic Qualifier, the Willamette Valley Water Polo Club will host a Nike Open Water Tournament, which will be the first full course open water tournament held in the United States. The Nike Open Water Tournament will be held at Foster Lake, and is slated for July 13-15

The teams that qualify during the 2015 Pacific Northwest Zone Girls Junior Olympic Qualifier will continue to Irvine CA, where the 2015 USA Water Polo Junior Olympic Tournament which will take place July 25-28 and July 30 - August 2.