Happy New Year, everyone.
We end 2021 as our busiest and most successful ever with definite aims at making 2022 even better. We kick off the new year with several items, some more current, others more down-the-road.
Parent Meeting
On January 13 at 7:30 PM we will have a parent meeting via Zoom for all AquaTex Waterpolo families. We’ll send an invite to you via email and/or GroupMe. Plans are to cover the coming spring season (more below), partnering with Longhorn, Junior Olympics, goals for the club, and much more. We have many new families (happily) so please to take the time to join in and learn more about what we’re trying to do, and share any questions or issues you’d like. Contact Coach James if you have anything you’d like covered during the meeting.
ODP West Region Championships
Kendall Strauss, Aaron Gordon, and Tristan Chamas are headed to Utah this weekend to take part in the ODP West Region Championships. Here are the rosters and the game schedules for everyone to follow. We’re also excited that our friends from Longhorn are making their marks too: Greyson, Axel, Owen, Thomas, Kelly, and Zeke. Make Central Texas proud, and congratulations to all of them for their selection.
Roster Calls
As always, contact me for the link to our Google commitment sheet to update your athletes’ plans.
Dare to Dream
This tournament is held simultaneously in California and Texas making it the (unofficial) national 10u and 12u championships! All our young AquaTex athletes should plan to play. And keep in mind, the “age as of” date is August 1, 2021, so it’s the last chance for many of us to compete at that 12u level against players the same age. The deadline to commit is quickly approaching so let us know.
South Texas Championships
Now that Joe Linehan is running things in the Alamo Heights area we can expect to have many more chances to compete somewhere relatively close to us for not-so-much money. Here’s the next one: a one-day Winter championship tournament for all ages on January 30. Our high school athletes have very few chances remaining to compete prior to the prep season. This is a good one, and each team gets two games within a few hours, so no extended stay in the bleachers (unless you play for multiple rosters!). Sign up!
High School
It’s January which means that the high school swim season is coming to its peak with District Championships on January 28, Regional Championships on February 4-5, and for the fastest of the fast, UIL Championships on February 18-19. As always, we’re rooting for all our swimmers to shatter some personal bests and make waves against their Texas competitors. For those who’ve taken a break from polo we look forward to having you back at practice after your last meet if not sooner.
The high school water polo season comes quickly with the first possible tournament on February 25-26 followed soon after by our own Spring Festival at Micki on March 4-5. Our spring season training schedule will not change and high school athletes are expected to attend AquaTex practices, especially since it is unclear whether they will be able to continue club practices during the UIL season in the fall. Nothing makes AquaTex coaches happier than seeing our athletes perform well with or against fellow AquaTex athletes for their high school teams. #BeYourBest
Middle School
With the high schoolers occupied between March and May we get to place our USA Water Polo focus on our middle school and younger athletes! The spring will have several tournaments throughout Texas geared for those age 14 and under, which is great news for our growing group of youngsters.
Other Stuff
- A reminder to renew your USA Water Polo membership for 2022 if you haven’t already. A current membership is required to practice and compete for AquaTex or any other club.
- Another reminder that athletes are required to wear an AquaTex suit and have at least one AquaTex tee-shirt for any USA Water Polo competition.
- An athlete’s tournament fees will now be drawn automatically via families’ AquaTex Team Unify accounts instead of via Venmo.
See you on the deck.
