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Chappaqua Resident Aims for Ultimate Goal

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Rauch at the opening ceremony of the WFDF 2016 World Ultimate Championship in London, England

Robert Rauch was an 18-year-old freshman at Williams College in Massachusetts when he began playing Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate was just a decade old at the time, and a classmate had discovered the sport at nearby Hampshire.

Rauch, a Chappaqua resident known in the disc community by the nickname ‘Nob,’ spent the next two decades on the Ultimate field and the last three decades advancing the sport on the administrative side. He’s played in the first Ultimate world championship, met his wife on the field, and twice served as president of the World Flying Disc Federation, the position he holds today. His current mission–which he has made a focus of his current term as WFDF president–is to get the sport into the summer Olympics. “That would be a milestone that I could rest my laurels on,” Rauch tells Inside Press.

Rauch began his career on the Ultimate field in 1976. He had played high school soccer in Connecticut and was looking for a new field sport to try out. With Ultimate, everything clicked; it involved even more running than his former pastime with the added intensity of non-stop action. At the same time, the sport retained a measure of mellow “zaniness,” with referees unnecessary and players making their own calls.

“It is not ‘win at all costs,’” he explains. “You need to respect your opponent. You need to excel within the rules of the game.”

Rauch spent the rest of his college years playing for a club team. After graduating from college, he moved to Chicago for work and played for Windy City, a local team there. In 1982, he played in his first U.S. National Championship.

And then, this: Rauch helped bring Windy City back to the National Championship the following year, this time winning the title. The win qualified the team for the first WFDF World Ultimate Championship Tournaments, held in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Windy City became the tournament’s inaugural world champions.

Rauch went on to win four more world championships and five more national titles, also playing for teams in Boston and New York. In 1994, he won the title as a member of the U.S. All-Star team.

Rauch’s contributions on the administrative side have left a mark on the sport–and in 2006, they earned him induction into the Ultimate Hall of Fame. By the mid-1980s, Rauch believed Ultimate and other disc sports were growing rapidly but the bodies governing the sport had failed to keep up. Rauch, who earned his Master’s degree in finance and international business from Northwestern University and is now partner at $6 billion investment firm Gramercy Financial Group, felt a “sense of duty.”

“The people who were involved were very well-meaning but really didn’t have any business acumen,” Rauch recalls. “I felt that if the organization was going to keep up with the level of competition, it really needed to up its game.”

Rauch was elected as the national director of the Ultimate Players Association in 1987, serving in that position until 1990. He also took over as chair of the Ultimate committee for the World Flying Disc Federation, then as the federation’s president in 1992.

Rauch focused on beefing up the sport’s organizational makeup.

He raised dues at the UPA (now called USA Ultimate), leading revenues to nearly triple. He took a number of additional steps to increase the sport’s legitimacy–he set up an 800 number, for example, and established an insurance program.

“It was was bringing in more enthusiastic people within the infrastructure of the organization,” Rauch says. “It was getting financial resources.”

Already working long hours for his day job, Rauch’s disc-related activities–done without pay–amounted nearly to having a second full-time commitment. After his first of three children was born in 1994, Rauch–whose playing days were largely behind him due to a knee injury–took a break from the sport to focus on his career and his family. In 1995 he moved with his wife–Katie Shields Rauch, whom he first met at the 1989 World Championships–and 1-year-old daughter to Chappaqua.

All In The Family

All three of Rauch’s children graduated from Horace Greeley High School. His oldest daughter, Kristen, graduated from Greeley in 2012 and played Ultimate at the University of Delaware, where she graduated in 2016. Her sister, Gwen, is now the captain of her club team at Penn State after graduating from Greeley in 2015. Rauch’s son and youngest child, Erik, graduated from Greeley last fall and is considering taking up Ultimate at Northeastern.

Olympic Dreams

During his first term as WFDF president, Rauch submitted disc sports as candidates to the International World Games Association. Rauch calls IWGA the ‘minor leagues’ of the Olympics–sports that are popular across the globe but not featured in the Olympics take part in their own quadrennial exhibition. World Games sports range from billiards to lacrosse and sport climbing. In 2001, flying disc was introduced as a World Games sport.

Rauch ran again for president of WFDF in 2011 and has served in the position since. In his current term, he has focused largely on paving the way for disc to become an Olympic sport. In May 2013, the International Olympic Committee provisionally recognized disc as a sport, with the full recognition coming two years later. Disc is now one of 37 sports recognized by the IOC but not featured in the Olympic games.

Until recently, the path to the Olympics was significantly more difficult.

Every summer games featured 28 sports, so in order for a new sport to make it, an established pastime had to get the ax. But starting in 2020, the games will include several “floating” sports, in which new sports will be eligible each year based in part on the host city. “Our view is that our best path is probably through this host city designation,” says Rauch.

With disc sports popular in more than 100 countries from Canada to the Middle East, and Ultimate now featured on ESPN networks, Rauch believes inclusion in the Olympics would be a natural final step in his decades-long quest to bring the sport to the world stage.

“I’m trying to finish the job I started,” he acknowledges.

A Wonderful Chance to Learn from Olympic Swimmer Ariana Kukors!

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By Susan Draper

As parents of a competitive swimmer, we had heard that attending the Olympic Swimming Trials is incredibly exciting because it allows the spectators to see the Olympic team as it is formed.

It was an amazing trip, one beyond our wildest dreams! Because we purchased a special package through the USA Swimming Foundation – partly the cost of the event tickets and partly a donation – we received numerous perks during our trip: We had an opportunity to sit with Rowdy Gaines as he announced events, took a behind the scenes tour of the broadcasting center, enjoyed both a fun swim with some Olympians and a cocktail hour with autograph opportunities, had ever-changing amazing event seats alongside USA Foundation members and/or Olympians plus much more. One day we had the unique opportunity to have lunch with some new Olympians.

IMG_6225Ariana Kukors was the absolute highlight of that lunch– she simply sparkles! She told us the most heartfelt story of the days leading up to her monumental swim, and described the exciting moment when she realized that she made one of the required top two spots to become an Olympian. We made an instant connection with her and, though we’ve only seen her twice since June of 2012, we’ve kept in close contact.

When we met Ariana she was already the world record holder for the 200 IM, set in the 2009 World Aquatic Championships in Rome. In addition to her Gold at that meet, she had also won a silver medal at the World Championships, and, based on her performance, was named the American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. That is pretty amazing, and in that fight for an Olympic team spot in 2012, she candidly told us that part of herself pep talk was to remind herself of the fact that she held the World Record. One of those spots was hers- she just had to swim her best to claim it.

Any age group swimmer knows that swimming your best time or achieving a personal best time can be a daunting task. There are no guarantees. It requires an efficient start, turns that are spot on, swimming one’s best strokes, the proper finish and the mental fortitude to pull it all together. Ariana has won seven medals in major international competition and 22 National Titles, but she isn’t the typical super tall swimmer with height on her side. She has developed some strong strategies and techniques to help make all of her talents – beautiful strokes and execution, along with utter determination and a belief in herself- come together to achieve her dreams.

It has been our dream to have Ariana here for a visit, and help coordinate events for both swimmers and non-swimmers alike. We are thrilled to announce that she will soon spend two days in Westchester, inspiring young athletes to be their very best: On September 26th from 4-6 p.m., Ariana will offer a “Dream Clinic” at the Bristal in Armonk. This event will be for teens from ages 12-18 looking for tips and strategies to make their dreams become realities.

On September 27th Ariana will offer swimming workshops in the pool at the Boys and Girls Club in Mt. Kisco. Because she would like to offer a very “hands on” clinic, there will be multiple timeslots –  Novice swimmers 9-11:30 a.m., Junior level swimmers 12-2:30 p.m. and Senior level swimmers 3:-5:30 p.m.. To sign up for either of these events, please email Arikukors@gmail.com. Registration and payment ($45 for the Armonk/Bristal event, $65 for the Boys/Girls Club Mt. Kisco event) must be completed in advance.

Olympic Gymnast John Orozco: From World Cup to London and Beyond

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All photos courtesy of World Cup Gymnastics
All photos courtesy of World Cup Gymnastics

An Olympic Journey

By Debra Hand

For many children, gymnastics are a fun diversion during the toddler years, transitioning into developmental classes teaching basic skills and building strength, flexibility and agility.   Many eventually drift towards other activities ranging from soccer and baseball to music and art, though some qualify for team gymnastics and compete in meets near and far.  The time commitment is significant, and the pressures to compete at the highest levels while maintaining schoolwork can be substantial.

John Orozco took it even further–all the way to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi behind us, sports enthusiasts now look towards the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro and back towards the last Summer Games in London.  John is more interested than most–after ascending to the pinnacle of his sport but falling short of his goal of an Olympic medal, 2016 represents another chance for glory.

And it all began right here, at World Cup Gymnastics in Chappaqua.

A Prodigy from the Bronx

John’s background and the sacrifices that he and his family made for his gymnastics success were well-documented during the 2012 Olympics by media outlets ranging from the New York Times to Sports Illustrated.  On the Team USA website, John is self-described as an extremely strong child with a black belt at Tae Kwan Do, able to do flips and splits.  His father William, a Department of Sanitation worker, saw a flyer for free gymnastics lessons in Manhattan, and the family began commuting to the city from their home in the Bronx, but John’s mom Damaris quickly saw that John was at a higher level.

In between competitions, Orozco trains and mentors children at World Cup.
In between competitions, Orozco trains and mentors children at World Cup.

“We realized that John needed more,” she said, recalling that they were impressed by the professionalism and facilities of World Cup in Chappaqua, which they had visited for a competition. Then-head coach Carl Schrade took on eight-year-old John immediately during the 2000-2001 season.

“During his first tryout, he showed us that he was a powerful tumbler. We could see he had so much raw talent from the day he stepped into the gym,” said current World Cup Gymnastics Director/Boys’ Head Coach Jason Hebert. “The more difficult the skill was, the more he aspired to learn it.”

John, now 21, recalls that splitting his time between the Bronx and Chappaqua was initially disconcerting; he was, in his own words, “used to a different demographic,” and the clientele at World Cup was out of his comfort zone. He is, however, very glad that his family chose World Cup: aside from the obvious benefits of training, “being exposed to the two different types of atmospheres opened my eyes up to the world,” he said.

“Training at World Cup was an escape from the real world,” John recalled. “Going to practice was what I looked forward to all day.”

Damaris drove John an hour or so every day to and from the Bronx, sitting in a folding chair to watch him practice from the upper level balcony; she notes that to this day, she has trouble watching him actually compete.  When finances became an issue and an impediment to John’s future at World Cup, the gym, recognizing his potential, waived the costs of gym time and lessons.  Damaris said that Carl and the former gym owner assured that John would be “taken care of,” and the financial accommodations enabled the family to afford sending and accompanying young John to meets, often in their mattress-equipped van to save money. Damaris would volunteer at the gym however possible, mending mats, shopping for and preparing food for meets, and stapling meet programs. John himself found time to work World Cup birthday parties in between training sessions.

A Meteoric Rise

john-orozco10According to Hebert, 10-year old John joined the USA Gymnastics Future Stars Program geared towards the development of potential members of the U.S. Junior National Development Team. Head Coach Schrade trained John two or three mornings, in addition to his regular workouts six to seven afternoons, every week, each workout lasting four hours.

“The extra morning training helped John with the core foundation which Carl was a master at teaching,” said Hebert, who then worked with John evenings on “high risk” skills.  John agrees that the coaching combination of Carl and Jason was “key to him becoming an elite gymnast.”

“Carl took me under his wing and helped me establish all of the fundamentals [in technique and form] that I have today, and Jason pushed me to perfect higher-level skills,” he said.

John’s natural ability and intense work resulted in a 2004 Future Stars National Championship at the age of 12. As one of the top 14 gymnasts in the country, John qualified for the Junior National Team and attended training camps at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs several times a year.

In 2006, Hebert became John’s primary coach, both at World Cup and for his Team USA competitions. The hard work paid off: John won the USA National Championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Last Year at World Cup Interrupted

With a fourth consecutive national title in his sights in 2010–and the lure of the 2012 Olympics beyond–during his senior year in high school, John suffered a serious setback when he ruptured his Achilles tendon during the USA Championships.

To no one’s surprise, John refused to give up, opting for reconstructive surgery on his ankle and permanently relocating to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to have access to the best rehabilitation and training services available.

To London and Beyond

“John’s new coach was a former Olympic champion [Ukranian Vitaly Marinitch], so we knew he would be in good hands,” said Hebert. Indeed, John qualified for the 2011 World Championships, won a bronze medal with Team USA and placed fifth in the all-around. Only one year later, he regained the USA Championship and qualified for the 2012 Olympics.

In July of 2012, John’s World Cup colleagues eagerly watched the boy they had seen develop into the best in the country compete on his sport’s largest stage: the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London. Unfortunate errors on the pommel horse caused him to fall to fifth place in the artistic team all-around and eighth place in the individual all-around, dashing his hopes for a medal.

In October 2012, John suffered another serious injury, tearing his ACL and meniscus. Out of action for 10 months, John rebounded later in 2013, when he was the U.S. parallel bars and high bar silver medalist and won the bronze for the parallel bars at the World Championships.

Still Looking For Gold

John has had a good start to 2014, winning the all-around at the Houston National Invitational after placing first in the parallel bars and pommel horse, and gearing up to compete in the Winter Cup in Las Vegas and American Cup in North Carolina in late February and early March.  While he said he has many goals in the near future, he admitted, “every day at practice [the 2016 Summer Olympics] are in the back of my mind.”

His family and World Cup coaches are incredibly proud of what John has accomplished, and are confident that he will return to the next Summer Olympic Games in two years. He continues to work hard, and according to Damaris, in between his own training and competitions, earns money by training younger children at the facility. Damaris is especially proud of the kind and caring young man that her son has become.

“He has a big heart,” she said, describing John’s desire to give back, visit hospitalized children and donate his time. Scheduling and financial constraints only enable him to make it home to the Bronx once or twice a year, and he cannot always fit in a visit to Chappaqua. He does speak with his former coaches, however, and even saw Carl Schrade at the recent competition in Houston.

“John’s goal is to become an Olympic champion in 2016 and beyond,” said Hebert, “but even though he is a gymnastics celebrity throughout the world, he still calls World Cup his home.”

Read more about John Orozco and his accomplishments at  www.usagym.org. For more information about World Cup Gymnastics and its programs, visit  www.worldcupgymnastics.com.

Debra Hand is a longtime contributor and editor for Inside Chappaqua.