Announcement

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Game Day Details, Texas Challenge Cup, Sunday Training Change

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Despite not having any competition recently there’s a lot to talk about. Current members can read this also via an email which will have some additional information. Several action items for you so read on and check your inboxes.

Sunday Schedule Change

Middle school and high school athletes will start practice at the same time on Sundays beginning October 17. Both age groups will begin at 10:00 AM and go until noon. Swim2Score and masters will not change start times.

Tournaments and Roster Calls

Check your email, everyone, for a link to the sheet we use to commit to tournaments. If you haven’t updated already we need to know who plans on going to the UT Game Day and Texas Challenge Cup in particular. Deadlines are coming up.

UT Game Day

The October 24 Longhorn Aquatics Game Day event page is updated with the tentative schedule, working rosters, and a link to the tryout form as mentioned below. Families, this is a FREE chance to compete in a fun setting. All AquaTex athletes are expected to attend as long as they’ve been to practice recently. That includes Swim2Score athletes; this is a great opportunity to play against athletes their same age, and it’s a ton of fun.

Every athlete who attends will be required to bring a filled and signed “tryout” form even though none of you are actually trying out for Longhorn. Save yourself some time and don’t forget to bring it. One more reason to be grateful for Micki and AquaTex’s very limited bureaucracy.

High school and middle school practices are cancelled on Oct. 24 to allow you to go to the Game Day. (Swim2Score and masters will still take place at Micki, regular times).

Texas Challenge Cup

Updated on the event page are far more details from Thunder, the tourney host, including hotel information. Plus, the deadline to commit for AquaTexans is Thursday, October 28 and tentative rosters are there too.

OctoPoloFest Payment

Families who had athletes at the recently completed OctoPoloFest will be charged $70/athlete/age group. You’ll pay me via Venmo, a link to which will be included in the email.

USA Water Polo Affiliation

In case you haven’t seen it already, USA Water Polo has rolled out a brand new interface for members. One of the features that no longer exists is one that allowed me as a coach to view any athlete’s record. No longer. I can only view athletes listed under my club. So it is VERY important that those of you not currently affiliated with AquaTex Waterpolo make that change as soon as possible. The email will contain a list of those whose athletes are not currently affiliated with AquaTex.

Other Stuff

  • The calendar page wasn’t rendering practice dates and time correctly but it’s working now
  • Coach Kendall is back in town this weekend so don’t miss practice!
  • We have been taking attendance so let me know if you’re interested in knowing how often your athlete is going to practice
  • Wes Kelly has joined us! Welcome to him, a brand new 12u athlete, and his family. And thanks to Austin Kenton’s family for recommending it. Stoked!

See you on the deck.

September 2021 player of the month

Laird Chang, AQTX Waterpolo Player of the Month

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Laird Chang is one of our most recent additions to the club and is already making waves. In September he attended 85% of all training sessions, challenged himself at some of his first scrimmages, and is showing significant improvement over just the past few weeks. We look forward to seeing him perform at his first USA Water Polo tournament this weekend in Alvin with the 14u mixed team. Good luck, Laird, and congratulations from all the coaches at AquaTex Waterpolo!

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Declan Graves First AQTX Waterpolo Player of the Month

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We’re proud to announce that Declan Graves is AquaTex Waterpolo’s first Player of the Month. In recognition of Declan’s hard work in August, especially as the summer season wound down, he topped the team in practice attendance and has been an increasingly vocal leader in the pool. That after excelling at Junior Olympics in July, where he showed off his strong and still-improving defensive skills for the Longhorn 16u boys. A long time member of the club, we’re proud to count him among our athletes. From all the coaches at AquaTex Waterpolo: congratulations, Declan!

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We’re Going to JOs, Joint Training, Sunday Masters, RYTE Fitting

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Southwest Zone Championships

Results

As Coach Tom mentioned via GroupMe yesterday it was an historic weekend for both AquaTex and Longhorn. All six of our Longhorn teams are going to Junior Olympics after we experienced our best results ever at Zone Championships, which means more of our athletes and teams than ever will be playing at Junior Olympics in July. All credit to our tough and improving players, and to our families who were so immensely supportive, for such a successful three days of water polo. Here are all the final standings from SWZ Championships and seedings for NJOs. For scores, go to our event page.

 10U Mixed (DNP)12U Girls12U Boys12U Mixed14U Girls14U Boys16U Girls16U Boys18U Girls18U Boys
1LonghornThunderPegasusMavericksThunderPegasus BlueThunder BlackThunder BlackThunderPegasus
2ZillaThunderLonghornVP GreenThunderCFWPC BlueVP GreenVP GreenSouthside Navy
3VPsCFWPCVPsSouthsideSouthsideSouthsideThunder
4ZillaTriumphAqua SwiftPegasusCFWPCStorm
5CowtownThunder SilverLonghornLonghornVP Green
6LonghornCFWPC RedCFWPCMavericksLake Jackson
7Pegasus RedThunder SilverVP BlackCFWPC
8ZillaZilla
9StormAqua Swift
10Aqua SwiftLonghorn
11VP BlackSouthside Silver
12CowtownMavericks
13VP RedVP Black

Fees

Each athlete who participated at SWZ Champs is charged $100 for the tournament to cover entry fee and coaches’ expenses. Contact me for my Venmo to make a payment, and thanks to those who already have.

Training

We will be utilizing our time at Micki this summer to do as much joint training with Longhorn as possible as we approach Junior Olympics. Any joint training of JOs teams will take place along side regular practice, not replace it. As of today after discussions with Tom our focus will be on 16u boys and 18u girls on Sundays from 9-11 AM (Masters from 8-9:30 as a bonus); 18u boys on Tuesdays from 7-9 PM (regular AQTX practice goes from 6-8 PM, plus masters on Sunday). We will update those plans as they are solidified for other teams and, perhaps, other training opportunities. Those current plans do not preclude us from making space at our practices for any and all the other age group/gender teams. We’ll continue to look in to it with Longhorn coaches.

We’re fortunate in that we can easily accommodate our Longhorn teammates at Micki. That is not the case at the Texas Swim Center. In order for AquaTex players to join Longhorn for practice those individuals would have to join TXLA. Thus our focus on working at Micki as much as possible.

Photos/Video

Thanks to those who shared photos and video from Houston. Anyone who’s willing to share those and more let me know and I can share a link to our Google Photos so you can upload them.

Sunday Masters

The aging masses have spoken and prefer early Sunday morning masters water polo over late Tuesday evening. So the schedule has changed. Until August 1, 2021 we’ll plan on masters scrimmaging from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM leading in to our youth/HS practice. Don’t forget: no more on-deck, walk-in payments. Register for masters water polo via our Team Unify portal and make sure your USA Water Polo membership is current.

Suit Fitting

I’ll be sending our RYTE fitting kit back to the vendor at the end of this week so come to practice and let me know you’d like to try one on (they’re the best looking suits in the Southwest Zone, c’mon.). Try one on for size and then order directly from the fabricator. Feedback about our suits has been positive and they are among the least expensive on the water polo market while still being very high quality (our friends from RYTE formerly worked for Turbo and Zumo). And they are shipped directly to the address of your choice. AquaTexans are STRONGLY advised to purchase a team suit, but not required (nudge nudge). And several of our female athletes have said that the sizes match those of their other suits, in case you wondered.

Summer Tournaments

Our calendar page is now updated to include the one directly managed by the Southwest Zone so you can see all the USAWP tournaments and other events that are upcoming.

As for scheduling, we will not be sending teams to the Dallas Summer Classic (renamed the Endless Summer Classic, I think) June 26-27. And my understanding is that Sun’s Out Guns Out is likely to be cancelled and replaced, possibly, with one or more tournaments around July 10-11 and/or 17-18. We’ll obviously look for other opportunities and share any updates as they emerge.

Online Parent Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended our online parent meeting on June 9. Bad news is that I can’t find the meeting recording for those who wanted to watch it. But I’ll put together an outline of the things we covered so you have a general idea, and am happy to follow up with anyone who would like to.

See you on the deck,

James

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SWZ Championships Schedule, Roster Deadline, RYTE Suit Fitting

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Howdy AquaTexans. An update primarily but not entirely for our Southwest Zone Championships participants.

A lot of information is now updated on our Southwest Zone Championships event page. That includes the live schedule and results, admissions and spectator info, and more. You may want to bookmark it as that will be updated with new info when it emerges.

Outstanding SWZ Champs Items

I’m aware that some of you have already begun the processes below. If so, feel free to remind me and Coach Tom (although we’ll know because USAWP will tell us!) what your status is. As of Sunday afternoon here’s what’s outstanding from athletes on our SWZ Champs Rosters. Remember, USAWP will remove ineligible athletes from our rosters on June 9 at 11:01 PM.

  • Tomas B (12u/14u): birth date verification (in progress I believe)
  • Joey B (16u): sign COVID 19 waiver; upgrade USAWP membership to “Gold”
  • Alexander T (18u): birth date verification (in progress I believe)
  • Morgan S (18u): change club affiliation to Longhorn; upgrade USAWP membership to “Gold”

AQTX Waterpolo Online Parent Meeting

On Wednesday, June 9 at 7:30 PM I’ll be hosting a meeting for all active AquaTex Waterpolo parents and guardians (no athletes). We’ll cover anything remaining about Southwest Zone Championships and Junior Olympics, our summer plans, and a more strategic discussion of what our plans are for the club as we continue to grow. A link to the meeting will be shared in GroupMe and via email.

This Week’s Training

On Tuesday we’re asking our Longhorn teammates to join us for our 6pm to 8pm training so don’t miss it if possible.

Southwest Zone Champs games begin on Friday so Friday and Sunday practices are cancelled. Thursday practice for middle schoolers is on.

Team Suits and Other Gear

Several have asked about team suits. I’ll bring a fitting kit to practice for the next couple weeks. Try one on for size and then order directly from the fabricator. Feedback about our suits has been positive and they are among the least expensive on the water polo market. And they are shipped directly to the address of your choice. AquaTexans are STRONGLY advised to purchase a team suit, but not required (nudge nudge).

Custom Embroidery

Also, as you’ll see in our RYTE store, there are lots of other items for purchase, but no polos, trucker or bucket hats, stuff that generally requires embroidery. If you have an item you’d like to have embroidered with the AquaTex Waterpolo scorpion logo, Neil Gierman of Round Rock Embroidery can do it for you at about $8.00 per item. Feel free to purchase your own shirts, caps, jackets, parkas and drive them over to Neil, who lives kinda near Cedar Ridge HS. In my experience it’s taken about a week to 10 days per order. Email him here for details.

It’s getting exciting. See you on the deck and in GroupMe.

James

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Boys at States, Roster Calls, Summer Schedule, Clinics

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State High School Championships part Two

Our boys Luca, Riley, Mac, and Ian gave highly ranked Marcus a scare on Saturday and made life difficult for Lamar on Friday at last weekend’s TISCA High School Water Polo Championships. Ian finished his two games with 10 goals and the notice of a couple coaches, who asked me if he was an AquaTexan.

Riley had 19 saves, 14 versus Marcus, and several more steals. Luca the Freshman was all over the place (in a good way): three goals and five steals. And Mac capped off his high school career with a goal, two assists, three shot blocks, and one steal.

It was a spectacular end to the high school season for all our athletes. We’re particularly proud of Ian, Tailynn, Mac who finished their careers with a bang. Congratulations to those graduating seniors and to everyone who took part in the high school season. More specifics on the tournament at TXWaterpolo.com.

Summer Tournament Roster Calls

There are now several new tournaments on the summer calendar and rather than asking our families to email their intent I’ve created a spreadsheet where you can indicate for each athlete their likelihood of participating. Of primary importance this week is Cowtown Rodeo. So make sure to update the sheet as soon as possible.

I’ll be emailing member families the link of the sheet to use so keep an eye open for it.

Summer Training Schedule

We now have plans for training this summer on the calendar. It begins on June 1 and will last until August 1. Check our Calendar for training times and a lot more.

  • Youth/HS Waterpolo on Tuesdays from 6-8 PM at Micki (main pool)
  • Youth only (middle school) on Thursdays 7:15 to 8:45 PM at Micki (south pool)
  • Youth/HS Waterpolo on Fridays from 7:15 to 9:00 PM at Micki (south pool/main pool)
  • Youth/HS Waterpolo on Sundays from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Micki (main pool)
  • Masters Waterpolo on Tuesdays 8-9:30 PM at Micki (main pool)
  • Swim2Score (age 5-11) Thursdays 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Micki (south pool)

Masters

The final Sunday Masters scrimmage is on this Sunday at Micki, noon to 1:30 PM. See the revised schedule above for summer plans, and get ready to register!

Clinics

I’ve put two clinics on the busy Events page, one in North Texas and one in Houston. Each will feature three days of training and evaluation by a variety of impressive collegiate coaches from throughout the US. They’re ones you want to be seen by!

A few AquaTexans have already asked me about these and I contacted organizers to find out more. Regardless of which clinics our athletes choose to attend I’d love to see us go together in big numbers.

See you on the deck,

James

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HS Girls Nearly Make History, JOs in Texas, Cowtown Tourney

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State High School Championships

One of the most exciting games of high school water polo finished on Saturday with an outcome that AquaTexans would not prefer but will remember for a long time. Our girls, playing for Round Rock High School, stunned highly rated Marcus HS by getting out to an 8-3 lead in the second quarter. Already with a short bench, Cammi, Kendall, Morgan, and Corina each earned three exclusions leaving the Dragons with only five athletes to compete against Marcus’ six.

Round Rock fell 10-9 after a frantic last quarter in which a very game but exhausted and inexperienced group of girls nearly held off one of North Texas’ best teams to win the school’s first ever game at TISCA Water Polo State Championships.

Though it wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for it drew the attention of spectators and collegiate coaches (that’s right) who were observing. With immense pride, we say congratulations to Cammi, Nilmary, Morgan, Nyla, Corina, Kendall, and Tailyn. I can already see that 2022 will be a very good spring for our high school athletes.

The boys, meanwhile, will try to make their own history beginning on Friday. The Round Rock HS boys, featuring Luca, Riley, Mac, and Ian will attempt to down Lamar in its first round match. Again, I’ll be there to cheer them on and steer collegiate coaches in the right direction. You can find streaming info and live results at TXWaterpolo.com.

And finally, a shout out to cross town friends/rivals Cedar Ridge whose girls topped Lamar convincingly last Friday to make their own history. Congratulations to them for breaking new ground for Round Rock and Austin-area high school water polo.

Junior Olympics… IN TEXAS

On Saturday we finally received confirmation after a couple weeks of biting my tongue that because of Covid protocols in California, USA Water Polo had decided to add a third session of Junior Olympics to be played in North Texas. The session would include teams from all Zones except those in California. This is massive news for us as it will be very likely that any team we field at Southwest Zone Championships will be granted a slot at Junior Olympics.

As we’ve mentioned before we with our friends from Longhorn plan to have a very large presence at the tournament. So families, please start planning for it now. The best place to start is with our JOs Session 3 events page, which will be updated as needed. I will be in contact with AquaTex families soon about specifics: how to commit, costs, which rosters do we prefer to field, etc.

As you know, the clock is already ticking toward Southwest Zone Championships, which is the qualifying tournament for JOs. The deadline for committing to it is coming fast.

Exciting news for the club.

Cowtown Rodeo

This annual tournament is now on the calendar for June 5-6 up in Keller. Several Longhorns are already committed so if you’d like to go just contact me. All age groups. Southwest Zone Championships are the following weekend so if you have to choose one, there’s no debate: Southwest Zone Championships! There is also a masters division. We’ll be playing with Longhorn so contact us if you want to play for them.

Summer, Reminder

The summer season is under way. We will be arranging our practices to take advantage of any chance we have to practice alone in the deep pool. I owe Coach Mark an agenda for the entire summer and will share it with everyone once it gains approval.

As we mentioned last week, changes may include Friday evening practices, separate training for youth and high school, working at Lake Creek, more fun dry-land activities, etc.

Until May 28 our schedule will remain Monday and Wednesday from 7-9 PM at Micki, and Sundays 10-noon at Micki (when we will have the pool to ourselves, so don’t miss it).

Masters

Masters is on this Sunday at Micki, noon to 1:30 PM. Also, contact Alon or Matthew if you are interested in playing at the Cowtown Rodeo on June 5-6. Spaces are limited apparently. We’ll be combining with Longhorn to participate.

Swim2Score

Week three of Swim2Score takes place this Friday! So far we’ve had a lot of athletes joining us and always are looking for more.

See you on the deck,

James

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AquaTex Preps Excel, Swim2Score, Th’ Summer

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TISCA West Region Championships

It was a huge Saturday for AquaTex high school athletes competing a the TISCA Water Polo West Region Championships in San Antonio. The Round Rock HS boys won the regional championship for the first time ever while the Round Rock girls placed second. Both of them will compete at state championships over the next two weekends (and I’ll be there).

We’re so proud of the recognition our athletes earned as a result of their notable performances: Ian Campbell, Cammi Schaufelberger, and Kendall Strauss were named to the First-Team All-Region team; Riley Dixon made the Second-Team; and Tailyn Schaufelberger earned Honorable Mention accolades. Plus, Coach Alon was named Coach of the Year for West Region high school boys. What a weekend! You can see the entire list here.

Congratulation to all of them: Riley, Cammi, Luca, Nilmary, Morgan, Nyla, Ian, Mac, Corina, Kendall, and Tailyn. We’ll be watching how everyone performs at the state championship tournaments! Can’t wait to see even more of our athletes playing high school ball for even more teams in the Spring of 2022. And if there are any more photos you’d like to share just let me know.

Now, watch Coach Alon forced to swim in pants.

Swim2Score

Our first Friday of Swim2Score was a big success – over 20 athletes! Coaches Sam and Hayley will be back this Friday for more so read more about it here if you haven’t already and we hope to see more young athletes.

Southwest Zone Championships

Longhorn Coach Tom and I are continuing to solidify dates for our Southwest Zone and Junior Olympics efforts. A deadline to commit to both events is coming soon, in the next couple weeks. More info available here and will be updated as necessary. Be sure to note the teams that we are likely to be fielding.

Cowtown Rodeo

This annual tournament is now on the calendar for June 5-6 up in Keller. We’ll be gauging interest in competing up there in the next few weeks. Southwest Zone Championships are the following weekend so if you have to choose one, there’s no debate: Southwest Zone Championships! There is also a masters division. We’ll be playing with Longhorn so contact us if you want to play for them.

Summer

The summer season (very) unofficially started on Monday meaning that we will be arranging our practices to take advantage of any chance we have to practice alone in the deep pool. Plus, our numbers have been rising, which is such great news and means we can start to consider separate training sessions. So, keep an eye out for changes to the schedule that may include Friday evening practices, separate training for youth and high school, working at Lake Creek, more fun dry-land activities, etc.

Until May 28 our schedule will remain Monday and Wednesday from 7-9 PM at Micki, and Sundays 10-noon at Micki (when we will have the pool to ourselves, so don’t miss it).

Masters

Masters is on this Sunday at Micki, noon to 1:30 PM. Also, contact Alon or Matthew if you are interested in playing at the Cowtown Rodeo on June 5-6. Spaces are limited apparently. We’ll be combining with Longhorn to participate.

Welcome

After completing her water polo season with Westwood High School, Clarissa has joined AquaTex. Her first practice was on Monday when Coach Matt introduced her to an extended “dirty dozen” conditioning session! Take a chance to introduce yourself to her as our group of high school girls continues to grow.

See you on the deck,

James

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AquaTexans Selected to USAWP Olympic Development Program Rosters

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Last Friday, after the busiest ODP season yet, I announced West Region Championships rosters for USA Water Polo’s Southwest Zone Olympic Development Program. Three AquaTexans were selected to take part in the season-ending tournament: Luca de Araujo, Riley Dixon, and Aaron Gordon. It is the second year running that the three will compete at West Region Championships, this season to be held in San Antonio.

Congratulations to all three. It’s a great point of pride that they are both representing AquaTex and increasing the visibility of Central Texas athletes among Texas and national coaches. Those coaches will be in San Antonio to help choose athletes to try out for the USA’s national Youth, Cadet and Development teams, which will compete internationally this summer and beyond.

You can read more about the upcoming end-of-season competition here.

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TAGS Recap and Prep Playoffs

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TAGS Recap

Our second TAGS tournament of the strange calendar year was a big success in Pearland last weekend. Our 8th grade u mixed team placed 7th and our 6th graders finished 5th in their bracket going 2-2 and 3-1 respectively. With our friends from Longhorn we featured a lot of newcomers to the sport who did great work. Particular kudos to Jordan and William who not only played in their first competition ever after less than two weeks of training, but each scored a handful of goals, found the open teammates for better shots, and never stopped hustling on defense! On that same 6th grade team Tristan dominated to the point where we had to reign him in.

Better to give Tristan room to excel for the 8th grade team, which he did (gotta love scoring while three defenders have their hands around your throat). Jacob continues to improve as an eager threat in front of the cage; Aaron maintains his habit of stealing the ball and terrifying the defense with speed; Ava was a revelation playing determined defense and scoring; and James loves to earn inside water so he can put the ball in the net. It was a great weekend for all those athletes, our friends from Longhorn, and AquaTex in general. Thanks to all the parents for being such great supporters while withstanding the equatorial climate! Check out the scores below, and take a look at the 2000+ photos of the tournament, including a good number featuring our athletes.

Saturday, April 24th

  • 8:00 Pegasus-13 v. AquaTex-9 (14UM)
  • 11:30 Viper Pigeons-13 v. AquaTex-5 (12U)
  • 12:30 Viper Pigeons-17 v. AquaTex-13 (14UM)
  • 4:00 AquaTex-19 v. Pegasus Red-5 (12U, B-3rd)
  • 7:00 AquaTex-13 v. Triumph-6 (14UM, 7th-10th Semi)

Sunday, April 25th

  • 11:00 AquaTex-18 v. Pegasus Red-4 (12U, 5th-7th RR)
  • 1:00 Lake Jackson-4 v. AquaTex-10 (14UM, 7th Place)
  • 2:00 Lake Jackson-9 v. AquaTex-13 (12U, 5th-7th RR)

TISCA West Region Championships

A huge number of AquaTex athletes are competing at this weekend’s West Region Championships in San Antonio, where high schools from between Waco and the Rio Grande Valley will compete to earn one of four spots at the state championship tournaments in the next couple weeks. This group of AquaTex high schoolers has improved enormously over the course of the past year and I can’t wait to see them make their mark this weekend. From a proud coaching staff, good luck to Riley, Cammi, Luca, Nilmary, Morgan, Nyla, Ian, Mac, Corina, Kendall, and Tailyn. I’ll be there on Saturday to cheer on all of them, Coach Alon, and Coach Matthew who will be refereeing (I might dispute some calls though, we’ll see).

Swim2Score

I’d love to report that our first Swim2Score session was a success. But then weather intervened last Friday. No worry; we’ll kick off our first session on Friday, April 30 with the usual 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM schedule. Read more about it here if you haven’t already. We’re excited to get started and have a good group of young athletes committed to attending

National Junior Olympics

Things are looking up for a Championship bracket, meaning many more allocated spots for the Southwest Zone. Nothing concrete but the news I’m getting sounds positive in several ways. We’re getting closer to our late May deadline when AquaTex and Longhorn athletes must commit to playing at both Southwest Zone Championships and National Junior Olympics. More info available here and will be updated as necessary.

USA Water Polo Admin

All our members are required to be members of USA Water Polo as you know. But please go back to your athletes’ profile to make sure there is a recent headshot uploaded and that his or her estimated high school graduation date is correct. The referees at events are becoming much more strict about these things so please get that done today.

Masters

Masters will take place this Sunday from noon to 1:30 PM, after our youth practice: $10 per player. AquaTex High School athletes are encouraged to join the scrimmage after practice (you gotta go to practice to play in a masters scrimmage).

See you on the deck,

James

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