Meet Tony Azevedo and Maggie Steffens of 6-8 Sports

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Azevedo and Maggie Steffens. They share their story with us below:

Our mission at 6-8 Sports is to accelerate growth & exposure in developing sports through our revolutionary development system that unites standardized metrics, live-game tracking & advanced data analytics. Who we are: 

#6: Maggie Steffens 

3-time Olympian; 3-time Gold medalist; 3-time NCAA Champion. Named the best female water polo player in the world by FINA. Played professionally in Hungary & Spain. Current Team USA Olympics Captain. Stanford MS & BS 

#8: Tony Azevedo 

5-time Olympian. Silver medalist. 4-time MVP NCAA/Pete Cutino & Stanford Grad. International superstar. Regarded by many as the best water polo player of all time. Former Team USA Captain and key member of professional squads in Italy, Croatia, Montenegro & Brazil 

The 6-8 Sports Story: 

Today, Maggie and Tony have earned #6 and #8 to the point where they are regarded as the top female/male water polo players of their generation. They both love water polo and care deeply about the future of the Sport. In fact, they believe water polo can become one of the next great global sports: at the college, Olympic, and professional league level. 

That’s why they’ve created 6-8: a data-driven approach to evaluating athlete strengths & weaknesses as they develop over time. Data is captured from multiple sources including official combine (6-8 Challenge) assessments and individual/ team game statistics tracking. 

For athletes, the mobile App’s Video Training Program features many of the exact drills and training techniques that helped make Maggie and Tony the champions they are today. The App also collects and displays key game scoring metrics and results from the 6-8 Challenge. Taken together, this data allows athletes to best understand their specific strengths and weaknesses. It also helps them visualize where they stand in comparison to their peers. A low score on any 6-8 metric is not a problem. It’s an opportunity for improvement. 

For teams, clubs & federations, the 6-8 Game Desk App is a multi-athlete scoring platform that allows for streamlined electronic game data collection & athlete profile validation. Using the Game Desk together with the 6-8 Challenge allows coaches, teams & federations to track performance & progress and create more effective training and development strategies. 

The 6-8 System is the first of its kind to unite objective data, consistent testing, and innovative tech to provide a comprehensive and nuanced overall snapshot of athlete & team performance over time. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road! We are doing something that has never existed in water polo before so we have had to deal with skepticism, politics, financial barriers, and a lot more. 

We are a true startup so we had to learn everything along the way, beginning with getting people to believe in our idea and invest in our growth. When we started out four years ago there were only three of us. Now we have a slightly bigger staff but we are still a super small company so we all have to take on various roles. 

Ultimately our two biggest challenges have been politics in the sport and financial constrictions, but we truly believe in what we are doing and have all given our hearts and souls to get our company to where it is today. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about 6-8. Sports Inc.?
The 6-8 system, created by Olympians Tony Azevedo (#8) and Maggie Steffens (#6) empowers individual athletes, coaches & teams by providing the tools to evaluate fundamental skills in a standardized fashion, analyze game data over time and use our high-quality video training resources to improve effectively. 

Contact Info:

• Email: sara@azevedowaterpolo.com
• Website: www.6-8sports.com
• Instagram: @68sports
• Twitter: @68_sports
• Youtube: 6-8 Sports