Stankevitch, Ajuz & Fish Honored as CWPA Announces 2009 Officiating Awards

BRIDGEPORT, Pa.  -- Alex Stankevitch, Eddie Ajuz and Erin Fish were honored as the Referee of the Year, Most Improved Referee and Rookie of the Year, respectively, by their fellow officials as the 2009 Collegiate Water Polo Association Officiating Awards were announced by CWPA Director of Officials Thomas Tracey.

A 1998 graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara, Stankevitch picked up his third Referee of the Year award as he previously received the honor in 2003 and 2008.

It caps off a season in which he was selected to six championship referee crews as Stankevitch was picked for the CWPA Southern, CWPA Eastern and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships during the 2008 men's season before taking on assignments at the Southern, Eastern and NCAA Championships during the 2009 women's season.  During the women's season, he earned a place as a referee during the 2009 NCAA Championship game between USC and UCLA.

The award ties Stankevitch with Michael Goldenberg (2000, 2002, 2005) for the second most Referee of the Year awards, one better than Mark Koganov (2004, 2007) and Loren Bertocci (1999, 2001).

Overall, the award marks Stankevitch's fourth CWPA honor as he received the 2001 Most Improved Referee Award and moves him into a tie with Koganov, who received the 2000 and 2002 Most Improved Referee awards, as being the most decorated officials in conference history.  Further, Koganov and Stankevitch are the only officials in league history to receive both the Most Improved and Referee of the Year awards.

"Mark, Michael and I are very good friends inside and outside the pool," adds Stankevitch in regards to his place among the all-time leaders in CWPA officiating awards. 

"Michael was already a top referee from the ex-USSR, while Mark and I started out at the same level and moved up together.  Now, all three of us are FINA international referees and talk about the game and our experiences in and outside the country on various refereeing trips.  We try to share this collective experience with other referees, as well."

Ajuz garnered his second Most Improved Referee honor as he previously garnered the award last year.

A 2002 graduate of the University of Central Florida, Ajuz worked the CWPA Northern, Eastern and ECAC Championships during the men's season, before earning a place on the officiating crews at the Elite 6, NCAA, CWPA Southern and Eastern Championships during the women's season.

Born in Los Angles, California and a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ajuz grew up in Pembroke Pines, Florida and attended Cooper City High School where he played water polo for four years.  While at UCF from 2000-2002, Ajuz played two years of club water polo in the Collegiate Water Polo Association. 

Following college, he worked internationally as a financial analyst first in Brazil (2004) and later Spain (2005) before moving to Southern Florida where he changed careers and became a high school teacher and full-time referee. 

A resident of San Francisco, California, Fish worked the men's Rocky Mountain Division and women's Sierra Pacific Division Championships this year.

"I feel honored to have been selected by my peers and colleagues as the CWPA Rookie of the Year," notes Fish. 

A native of Westlake Village, California and a graduate of Agoura Hills High School, where he played at two-meter defense, Fish continued his playing at LA Valley College for two years under head coach Bill Kraus where he received his first experience as an official.

"Once in a while, Coach would let me take the flags and referee scrimmages in my Speedo.  A white Speedo, of course."

Following his time at LA Valley, he transferred bo UC-Santa Barbara in 1995 where he became a high school official and started the inter-mural water polo referee's club.  In 1998, he stopped serving as a referee to pursue a teaching career before returning to the deck in 2006.

In addition to officiating, he founded, owns and operates the renowned EMF Insurance Agency, which offers individual and family health insurance policies, travel insurance (for trip takers, US citizens & students living abroad) and group health insurance.

"Being an official is the most rewarding way for me to be involved with the game these days. I most enjoy the learning I do by officiating higher levels, and the opportunity that officiating the lower levels offers me to do a bit of instruction. I believe that in order to stay current and keep our games and minds sharp, we officials need to take time to get in the water and play, do some coaching, and watch games that we are not refereeing - keeping a keen eye on the actions and behaviors of the players, coaches, and officials. This will afford us the wisdom of continuing to see the game from all perspectives."

The largest single sport collegiate conference in the country, the Collegiate Water Polo Association is comprised of over 250 member institutions which compete for division, conference and national titles on either the club or varsity level in men's and women's competition.