BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Officials Josh Kratz and Danielle Dabbaghian are among the recipients of 2017 USA Water Polo National Awards honoring achievements in the sport. The 2017 National Awards will be presented on May 19 during the USA Water Polo Gala in Del Mar, Calif.
Established in 2010, the annual awards have each been named in honor of a person or persons who have made an extraordinary contribution to the sport of water polo. Winners were chosen through a zone nomination process and then reviewed by a national selection panel.
Dabbaghian will receive the Bret Bernard Distinguished Referee Award. She began her career as a referee in the mid-90s as a way to earn extra money during her playing days. Since then she has risen to become of the top officials in the United States. A veteran of multiple USA Water Polo Junior Olympics and National Championship events, Dabbaghian made history in 2017 becoming the first woman to ever referee a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Championship. She had previously refereed seven NCAA Women’s Championships, including the 2015 final where she joined Amber Drury in becoming the first female duo to referee an NCAA final. No stranger to the international scene, she has been a FINA referee since 2013 and most recently whistled the 2017 FINA Women’s Junior World Championship tournament in Greece.
Kratz will receive the Tom Hermstad Distinguished Referee Award. A former standout water polo player at Johns Hopkins University, he is one of the top young officials on the East Coast. A familiar face at all major Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) men’s and women’s competition, including the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and CWPA Championships, Kratz was a member of the officiating crew at the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championships. On USA Water Polo’s UANA list, Kratz also officiates international competitions featuring National Teams from the Americas.
Background on Award Namesakes:
Bret Bernard and Tom Hermstad took US officiating to unparalleled heights during their time in the whites. As a past president of USA Water Polo, Bernard also whistled the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and was the preeminent collegiate official for many years. Hermstad was a fixture at several Olympic Games whistling the 1972, 1976, 1984, and 1988 Olympic Games in addition to four World Championships and has worked tirelessly on behalf of water polo officials, helping to form the USA Water Polo National Referee Committee.
