Announcement

2022AlamoClassic16u

Alamo Success, Girls Training, TAGS, and more

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Alamo Classic

The 18u boys went 4-0 and the 16u boys, featuring several very new 14u athletes, played three very close games versus good opponents this past weekend. I call that a success.

Congratulations to all those who participated and to Coaches Alon and Matt (first timer!) for leading the team to such a positive outcome. And, as always, thanks to our great parents for repping, cheering, and helping the athletes get ready for a  weekend of a lot of water polo

Find final results here and ping me if you want a link to a gallery of great photos from the event.

Parent Meeting

Thank you to all of you who attended and participated in my online parent meeting last Thursday. Much of what follows here will be related to the things we talked about in the meeting. We’ll plan on re-convening likely in January or February to start laying down dates for Junior Olympics 2023.

Programming

We’ve arrived at a point where our training is often too crowded. This is a problem we’ve been hoping to have ever since the club started. So, we are working on new weeknight arrangements so we can keep our training manageable.

First, our aim is to start girls-only practices on Thursdays starting December 1. Coach Babs is taking the lead in training all our girls (we expect y’all back, you know who I’m talking about!) with help from the other coaches when necessary. You can expect to participate at the Cowtown Stampede under Coach Babs, and then start getting prepared for 2023.

If Monday/Wednesday numbers remain high you can expect us to add training on Tuesdays, perhaps for high school athletes only. We’re still working on that.

Weekend practices will remain the same. Since we can use the entire pool on weekends then we can still effectively keep training groups separate if necessary.

And, a reminder that all HS athletes should have a notebook at practice. Plans are to have chalk talks and video review session on Mondays. BUT those sessions could get postponed or changed so have your notebook with you regardless of day.

Player of the Month

We only just formed our new Novice Waterpolo group and already one of our superstars has earned the coaches’ attention. Ilay Lev is the AquaTex Waterpolo October Player of the Month! Congratulations to him.

Communications and TeamUnify

I’ve been contacting some of you about making sure your TeamUnify profile is up to date, that you’re registered for the correct group, that your contact info is correct, etc. As I increasingly use TeamUnify for email and SMS communications it’s important we have all those things up to date. As our numbers have grown (happily) it has become easier to use the TeamUnify platform for these purposes.

Right now it appears that nearly everyone is registered for “Waterpolo,” “Novice Waterpolo,” “Swim2Score,” “Masters Waterpolo,” or “Swim/Polo.” If not, let me know and we’ll ask Coach Mark to switch you to the correct billing/roster group. It definitely matters for communications, billing, and rostering.

Please also check that the email addresses you have added to your TeamUnify accounts are “Verified.” It appears that if they are not verified you may not receive communications from me. Here are instructions.

You keeping your profile up to date is extremely helpful so I appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Roster Calls

  • TAGS for 8th, 6th, and 5th grade and under teams takes place in just a couple weekends. The location has changed to Garland ISD Natatorium instead of SMU. We’ll be working with Longhorn to create rosters for the tourney.
  • The Cowtown Stampede is the last club tourney of the calendar year. We expect to have a pretty large presence with 18u boys, 18u girls, 16u boys, 14u mixed, and hopefully 12u and/or 10 teams as well (could be with Longhorn). Danny Dixon is looking for hotel blocks so make sure you’re monitoring GroupMe for that info, and sign up via TeamUnify.

Team Suits

As I’ve been harping, it’s required for all members to have a team suit. For any of our boys who need to buy a suit I have a fitting kit with me at practice. Make sure you try on one (or more) of the sample briefs to find your proper size. (We don’t ask for fitting kits for jammers because they are so much more forgiving with stretch).

For girls, we are soon going to discontinue the “old” design in favor of the new suit, which is a brand new RYTE product. The suit, I’ve heard, better resembles the fit and stretch of other water polo suits. I’ve heard that’s a good thing.

The suit is so new that RYTE does not have a fitting kit for us. So, you can order one (or more) of the new suits, try it on, and return it if it’s not the right fit. I encourage you to do that prior to Cowtown.

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Ilay Lev, October Player of the Month

One of our first ever Novice Waterpolo athletes, Ilay has made some serious progress in an very short time. A team leader in attendance, an eager learner and competitor, and one who doesn’t shy away from training with much older athletes, he’s earned the attention of all of AquaTex’s coaches, who have selected him as the club’s October Player of the Month.

Congratulations, Ilay! Keep up the hard work.

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The First UIL Season, Plans for HS Athletes

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We catch up with things with a very high school-centric note.

The High School Season

I start with massive congratulations to all our athletes who took part in the first-ever UIL high school season. You made your AquaTex coaches proud. Your first season was special with teams like Vista Ridge playing for the first time ever, while the Round Rock girls went undefeated until their Regional Semi-final loss on Saturday. What a tremendous season for all our athletes (including some newcomers we hope will join in the coming days!) and all the high school teams for which you stood out; and you did stand out.

It may go without saying but we want to leverage all that enthusiasm we saw among our high school athletes toward a successful summer of 2023.

One of the great benefits of UIL sponsorship of water polo this fall is that it makes the season more like those elsewhere in the USA. And yes, I mean California. There, you find that as soon as the fall high school season ends, planning and training for Junior Olympics, which take place the end of July each summer, begins. And now that’s our plan too. And to be very clear, that preparation leads DIRECTLY to being prepared for your high school season. That’s very true in California and we plan on making it so here.

So if you want to excel in the fall of 2023 for your high school team, we’re going to help you get there if you’re willing to put in the work.

So yes: genuine, hearty congratulations to you all. You’ve completed an historic season and did so with skill, class, and pride.

Now, let’s get to work.

Registration

Many of you have come to me eager about getting back in to training. I’m stoked! All lapsed members need to re-register with AquaTex if you have not already. I suggest doing so today. You will not be billed until Nov. 1 so you have over a week of free training. And as soon as you’re re-registered I’m able to use TeamUnify to communicate with you much more efficiently.

Tournaments

Alamo Classic

We are targeting the Alamo Classic as a big-time tournament return for our 18u and 16u athletes. It takes place November 5-6 at Alamo Heights. Follow that link to see who has already committed to play. And we need girls to sign up! We want that 18u girls team.

Coaches, including Longhorn’s, are talking about how we want our rosters to be. As of today AquaTex will field an 18u boys team that is pretty much exclusively AQTX athletes, an 18u girls team that is AQTX and Longhorn combined, and likely an AquaTex 16u boys team that will include select 14u athletes playing up, some of our 18u boys roster athletes, and any 16u girls who want more competition. Longhorn will field 18u and 16u boys teams separate from ours.

Classroom Work

We ask every high school athlete to have a notepad ready for the days when we are in the classroom. You will be required to take your own notes. We will also plan on viewing game film together. Plan on class taking place on Mondays. However… we are exploring the need for separate training times for our novice/age group athletes and our high school athletes. If there is enough demand we plan on doing so. But first, we need to see the demand. So come to practice and show us! Stay tuned

Uniforms

Finally, a reminder to all our families: an AquaTex competition suit and one AquaTex tee-shirt are required for each athlete, both available year-round in our shop. This is not optional. If you require assistance there is financial aid available; just let me know. Please place your order as soon as you’re registered with the club or after trying on a sample suit, which RYTE Sport sends us regularly.

RYTE has announced a new single-color women’s water polo suit which they will offer at the end of the month. We should have an AquaTex design complete and ready in our shop within a couple weeks. Retail price is $74 per suit according to RYTE.

We will no longer offer Turbo suits as their requirements do not fit the size of our club or our demand.

Jacob Gerakos, Academic All American

And this happened too. Well done Jacob!

So excited for this fall. See you on the deck.

 

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Alamo Tourney Deets, Fall Game Day, Welcome Coach Matt

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Fall Game Day

Thanks to everyone – athletes, coaches, parents, fans – for coming to our Fall Game Day on October 2 at Micki. It is something we will plan to repeat as the 2022-23 USA Water Polo season continues and our Junior Olympics plans come more in to focus. One of our masters players, Dan, took 500 photos of the game day, which you can find here. Thank you, Dan!

Alamo Fall Classic

I’ve updated details for this weekend’s Alamo Fall Classic in San Antonio including our 8th grade (14u) roster, info on when athletes are expected to meet, uniform requirements, etc. If you are attending the tournament this weekend then take a moment to read the update, and share with any teammates, friends, families who should know.

Player of the Month

In case you missed it, Chase Wadley is our September Player of the Month! Congratulations to him. Read more about it here.

UIL Season & AQTX

The first ever UIL season’s playoffs are here. Congratulations to all our athletes for taking part in this historic season. We wish every one of them luck in the coming weeks as the championship approaches. #BeYourBest

A couple thoughts about the high school season. First, many high school athletes have suspended their AquaTex membership until the UIL season is over. We want all of you to know that we have ZERO problem with that (from my own experience, high school athletes were not allowed to participate in club water polo during the high school season so it’s completely normal to me, Alon, Babs, etc.). To those who have continued to train with us during the UIL season we are very grateful and feel confident we’ve helped you at least somewhat improve while you play for your high school. It’s been a very exciting couple of months.

And, once the UIL season is over for your team then we expect to see you back training with us immediately. We have plans to send improved (and larger) teams to Junior Olympics next summer and that training begins in November. The Alamo Fall Classic for 18u and 16u athletes in San Antonio is in 30 days! So let’s get ready for our best season ever. We’ll see you back in the pool on a couple weeks.

Recruiting

I’m delighted to have spoken to several athletes and parents who are interested in the varsity collegiate recruiting process. High school-age athletes and their families who are even slightly interested in varsity collegiate water polo, it is CRUCIAL that you start planning for that now, even Freshmen. And I cannot urge you more strongly to watch this Zoom video featuring my podcast colleague Joe Linehan, who knows more about the collegiate process than anyone. Please watch it as soon as possible because there may be some misunderstanding about how the process works, scholarships, etc.

Welcome Coach Matt

We’re really excited to have Matt Braun join the AquaTex Waterpolo coaching staff. Matt is originally from Oregon and then played at NCAA Division I Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he earned second team All-Western Water Polo Association honors in 2017. He went on to play professionally in the United Kingdom where he also coached youth athletes. He moved to Austin a few months ago and works in (shock!) the technology sector. Welcome, Coach Matt!

Olympic Development Program

I’m delighted to have been asked many times about the Olympic Development Program. And my answer to those who are asking, “should I try it?” is unequivocally: yes. There is only one more camp this season so if you haven’t signed up already please do so as soon as possible because there is a limit to the number of athletes allowed. One important note: Camp #2 for Youth athletes will not be at the RRAC. The site is still to be determined but it’s likely to be in San Antonio. For anyone who has more questions just let me know. I may have a separate post about ODP, why I like it, what it does for you, etc.

Parent Meeting

I’ve checked the calendar and am planning on NOT having a weather-related make-up practice on Thursday, October 13. So let’s plan for an online Parent Meeting that evening at 7:00 PM. As always, if there’s a subject you’d like covered just let me know.

See you on the deck.

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Chase Wadley, September Player of the Month

A quick and eager learner since joining AquaTex just a short time ago. Chase has an enviable attendance record, is assertive in the pool, and already something of a leader for his team. He works so hard he even injured his thumb swimming (and they say water polo is dangerous). We’ll see him again in two weeks time.

For that and more, Chase is our September 2022 Player of the Month. Congratulations!

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UPDATED: Alamo HS Tourney on Calendar, Masters & S2S Updates, ODP is Here

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Updated 20 September 2022

Practice Cancelled This Weekend

AquaTex Swim Team is hosting its biggest swim meet of the season this weekend so there will be no water polo training (age group, high school, masters, Swim2Score) on Saturday, September 24 or Sunday, September 25. We will have a makeup practice on Thursday, September 22 from 7-9 PM. That training session will be almost exclusively for our Age Group and Novice athletes since there is high school water polo taking place that evening.

The parent meeting for Thursday, September 22, is still on the calendar. We can shift the start time to 7:30 to accommodate those taking kids to practice but let me know how this works, or doesn’t, for you.

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It’s been a while and a whirlwind of activity so let’s get straight in to the update.

First, well done to all our athletes at all our different levels of experience for going 2-2 at the Armadillo Classic up in The Colony. It’s very gratifying that we’re in the position where we can now regularly expect to send teams from AquaTex to these tournaments. And thank you to all the parents, friends, and family who came to support our athletes.

Roster Calls

We have several signed up for the Alamo Fall Classic for our 14u, 12u, 10u athletes but want more! This tournament is in San Antonio so easier to manage than those in North Texas. Make sure to go to your TeamUnify account to commit to the tournament. This applies to our awesome Swim2Score athletes as well! We want a huge 10u team and this is the perfect opportunity for newcomers. Just a reminder that Swim2Score families who want to play in a tourney must be currently registered with AquaTex AND are required to have a Bronze membership with USA Water Polo.

Then, very good news: another San Antonio tournament is on the calendar for our 18u/16u athletes the first weekend of November. Several families have asked when the first chance of the fall would come for high school athletes to compete and now we have that opportunity. So sign up!

Parent Meeting

We had to postpone a parent meeting a couple weeks ago but we’ll re-convene via jit.si on Thursday, September 22 at 7:00 PM. Team members will be sent a link to join the meeting via GroupMe and TeamUnify email. jit.si works on any browser but requires the app to use on your device.

Masters Update

Several updates regarding our masters programming:

  • Beginning this Sunday the hours for masters water polo will change by 30 minutes. It will start at 10:30 AM and go until noon – 30 minutes of warmup in the South pool followed by one hour of all-deep scrimmaging.
  • Some clarification about high school and younger athletes
    • No middle school or younger athletes are allowed at masters scrimmages
    • High school athletes must be approved by AquaTex coaches to play at masters
    • Those select high school athletes who are NOT currently active, registered, paying members of AquaTex must pay the $10.00 drop in fee. AquaTex-registered high schoolers can play masters at no additional cost but must be approved by AQTX coaches.
  • All masters athletes who drop in owe AquaTex $10 per session. We strongly recommend you join AquaTex ($35/month is a bargain) rather than dealing with Venmo payments. But please be sure to pay so we can continue offering masters.

Swim2Score Update

We’ve never had more interest in our Swim2Score program than we do now, so thank you to everyone who has registered and given us a trial run, and to our awesome coaches, led by Babs.

Speaking of registration: a reminder: after your athlete’s two-session trial you must register with AquaTex in order to continue with the program.

Also, we are now requiring all our Swim2Score athletes to join USA Water Polo. There are several options:

  • If you think your athlete will only be participating at our training sessions at Micki and not competing at USA Water Polo tournaments then you can sign up for a “Splashball” membership
  • If you want your athlete to compete at USA Water Polo tournaments (the Alamo Classic, for example) then he or she must be a “Bronze” member of USA Water Polo.
    • (Swim2Score athletes who graduate to the “Novice Waterpolo” group will be required to have a Bronze membership as do all of our high school and age group athletes)

Team Suits

The Turbo Store should be closed for the season now. Given that we are a small club we will continue to work with Turbo as a courtesy to those who choose their product over RYTE. But Turbo is simply not set up to deliver as quickly to our families as RYTE.

A reminder that I’ll have a RYTE fitting kit for boys for the next couple weeks. Come try one on cuz team suits are required for all our (non Swim2Score) athletes. Then order one here.

ODP

USA Water Polos’ Olympic Development Program is around the corner. We encourage our athletes to give the program a try. We’ve been fortunate to have many AQTX athletes take part in the clinics and also selected to travel teams (Regional Championships and boys’ National Championships will both be in San Antonio!). More info here and feel free to ask if you have questions about the program.

See you on the deck,

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Labor Day, Swim2Score Update, Novice Group, and More

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A quick note for our families who were emailed most of this earlier today.

  • Practice is on tonight, Monday, from 7-9 as usual.
  • On Saturday, September 10, Swim2Score will take place from noon to 1 PM instead of 11-noon.
  • I’ve emailed several families but may have missed some: please verify in TeamUnify that your athlete age 18 and younger is registered in the correct AquaTex billing group. The only groups your athletes should be registered with are “Waterpolo,” “Swim/Polo,” or “Swim2Score.” (Those who help us coach Swim2Score are already in the proper group so no need to update.) And “Masters Waterpolo” is the correct group for any water polo player who is a high school graduate. “Middle School” is a swim team group and does not apply to water polo.
  • Novice waterpolo: we are soft-launching our Novice programming beginning tonight. There is not currently a TeamUnify group to join so we are offering Novice athletes a chance to give it a try on a trial basis. Novices are those age 9-14 who have “graduated” from Swim2Score but may not be quite ready to join our Age Group training yet. Sessions are one hour each, four times a week: Monday/Wednesday from 7-8 PM; Saturday from 10-11 AM; Sunday from 9-10 AM.
  • I’ll share the schedule for this weekend’s Armadillo Classic the moment I get it.
  • If you have not joined our GroupMe I strongly encourage it. That’s where we communicate most urgently.
  • There is an online parent meeting on Thursday 8 September at 7:00 PM via jit.si meet, which works on all browsers but may require the app on a device. The link to join the meeting was emailed earlier and will be in the GroupMe as well. If you have any subjects you want covered just let me know via email, text, or DM.
  • A reminder that every AquaTex athlete is required to purchase a team suit. My strong preference is that you buy via RYTE Sport but Turbo suits are also available. I have a RYTE fitting kit for boys with me. If you want to try one on (strongly recommended) I will have the kit with me at practice.

USAWP membership

If you are not currently a member of USA Water Polo, including Swim2Score athletes, make sure to join before your next session. Swim2Score athletes can join USA Water Polo’s “Splashball” group but it would be better to have a Bronze membership so you can compete at tournaments.

See you on the deck,

James

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Fall Tourneys, Team Suits, Parent Meeting Planned…

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Time to check in as the summer winds down and the mosquitoes have a field day at Micki!

First, thanks to all our new and trial members. We are having the biggest boom of new families since the club started so we are grateful for you being part of the club. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: this is a really exciting fall for the team.

We are working harder than we ever has as a club, meaning we are getting our athletes in as good of shape as we can in four practices a week. Our expectations are high and our young athletes have responded very well to our demands. We want to be the team that won’t be outworked but we have to do actual work to get there. So far, so good.

#OneTeamOneDream #BeYourBest

Tournaments

The fall tournament schedule is updated so please log in to your TeamUnify accounts to commit to each one of them. Use TeamUnify to commit, but I share more details about each event on the aquatexwaterpolo.com site.

By “commit” we mean share your intentions. There is always some chance we won’t have enough players to go to a tournament (increasingly rarely). But by committing on TeamUnify you’re saying you will take part and that you understand you’ll be charged for it after the tourney is over.

The Cowtown Stampede has been updated on TeamUnify; it had an incorrect deadline but has now been fixed. And remember that participation in that tournament is determined by age as of August 1 and not by school grade.

A reminder for our new families, you can read more about how traveling to tournaments works on our Programs page. Scroll down to the FAQs and expand “How does traveling to tournaments work?” It includes the fact that if we don’t have enough athletes to field a strictly-AquaTex team we combine with our friends from Longhorn.

School grade

I shared a link via GroupMe to a form we’re asking all our families with 14u athletes to complete. We need to confirm which grade your youngster is in! The first three tournaments of the fall are grade-based instead of age-based. Let me know if you need the link. The form should take 2-3 minutes max.

Required team suits

A RYTE fitting kit for boys’ suits is on the way. So if you want to wait and actually try on one of the boys’ suits prior to purchasing, it should be here in the next few days and I’ll make it available to you at practice.

As you know all registered athletes are required to have a team suit. Based on input from our athletes and families we asked the popular fabricator Turbo, based in Spain and vendor to the US National Team among many other American programs, to provide suits for us in addition to our main vendor RYTE Sports. The AquaTex Turbo store is now open until September 18 for you to place suit or robe orders. After that it will close for several months.

However, as much as Turbo provides very fine products, I have come to advise all our families to order from RYTE Sport. For several reasons:

  • It’s cheaper
  • The store never closes; orders can be placed throughout the year
  • The suits are fabricated in the US so they don’t get hung up in customs
  • The orders take something like 2-4 weeks. Recently Turbo gear has been taking quite a bit longer
  • The people at RYTE have treated AquaTex quite well over the years (not that Turbo hasn’t). Our RYTE competition caps are really good
  • The water polo suits are very solid and durable
  • Alex Young, the founder of RYTE, worked at Kap7 (Turbo) for three years so he knows those products

One additional pitch: regardless of vendor we know that some boys prefer jammers over water polo briefs. But, as I think some of you know, jammers are not made for water polo durability. Coaches all suggest boys buy and get used to wearing a brief, which will last for as long as you fit in it.

All members are also required to have at least one AquaTex tee shirt for travel tournaments. You can shop for all our gear in our fantastic new online store.

Parent meeting

I have a parent meeting tentatively on the calendar for Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 PM. It will be held online (I like the open source jit.si meet for videoconferencing. It works on any browser but requires the app if you’re participating via a device) and I’ll cover our plans for the fall and beyond. But it’s also just a chance for our new parents to introduce themselves, ask questions, and hear more about how the club operates.

Novice group

We’re still planning on a new Novice group beginning on September 5. We need to make some internal changes to our TeamUnify database and will let you know when that’s all done. Novices are age 10-14 who are new to the sport and need a different level of training than our Age Group athletes. Novices will practice four times a week for one hour each.

Game days

It is very likely we’ll host at least one Game Day this fall so that all our 14u athletes can play regardless of school grade. It may simply be a set of officially refereed scrimmages against Longhorn. Stay tuned.

USAWP membership

Since we’re using TeamUnify more than in the past I’d appreciate it if, the next time you log in, you enter your athlete(s) USA Water Polo membership number in the proper field. I do not have access to your records at that level so I can’t do it for you. Thanks in advance.

See you on the deck,

James

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Fall Season Update, Training Gear

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Fall Schedule

As we emailed to our membership and trial families a couple days ago, the fall schedule is now complete, subject as always to weather cancellations and re-scheduling when other events are hosted at Micki.

Beginning on Wednesday the 17th, with exceptions for weather and other event conflicts, the schedule will be:

  • Age Group (14u, 12u, 10u) and High School groups
    • Monday, Wednesday from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
    • Saturday from 10:00 AM to noon
    • Sunday from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
  • Swim2Score
    • Saturday from 11:00 AM to noon
  • Masters Waterpolo
    • Sunday from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
  • Novice (a new group starting the first week of September)
    • Monday, Wednesday from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
    • Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
    • Sunday from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

Notes on Training

  • For all weeknight practices we ask our athletes to always bring shoes and be prepared for 20-30 minutes of dryland work (core, legs, fitness, strength).
  • For ALL practices it would be a good idea to bring goggles. We will be doing some specific swim training, especially now at the beginning of the season.
  • Every season we need to revise our training calendar. We select the days/times we practice based on when the swim team is training, and on how we can maximize the amount of time we get the entire deep pool. On weeknights the swim team uses the deep pool until 8pm so we do dryland work and swim in the shallow pool until then.
  • If there’s sufficient demand this fall, which is possible, we have the option to add more weeknight training sessions. For example, we could have an Age Group-only practice on Thursday if it gets too crowded on Monday or Wednesday. Stay tuned. It would be a good “problem” to have.

Tournaments

The Armadillo Classic is updated. It will be hosted at Lewisville Eastside by Mavericks, not by Thunder. Also, OctoPoloFest is no more. It will be replaced by the Alamo Classic in San Antonio. You should plan on all Age Group teams attending that tournament.

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