2021ODPSelections

ODP Selections, TCC Recap, Cowtown Call

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We had a great weekend in Justin and simultaneously received great news from USA Water Polo. And the final big tournament of the season is on the horizon.

ODP Selections

We shared yesterday that three of our athletes were selected to USA Water Polo’s Southwest Zone ODP teams. Kendall Strauss, Aaron Gordon, and Tristan Chamas will take part in training with the Zone’s Youth, Cadet, and Development teams respectively, and will head to Utah for West Region Championships on January 8-9. We are enormously proud of them and wish them success for the remainder of the ODP season, which ends in February and March with a national championship tournament in California. Congratulations to all three!

Texas Challenge Cup

Our AquaTex 16u team finished fourth at the recently completed Texas Challenge Cup in Justin. The boys defeated Cy-Fair convincingly on day one after a three-goal loss to Pegasus. On Sunday they fell twice to strong teams from Viper Pigeon (tourney champs) and Thunder with only one substitute. Riley returned to play goalie and was a force while Declan kept up his habit of winning sprints and making steals. Kai continued to make progress at his second-ever tournament making steals and playing some solid offense too. Of course our friends from Longhorn were huge too: Greyson, Axel, Bash, Evan, Kelly (wishing a speedy recovery from a scratched cornea), and Cruz, all of whom have made great progress. Congratulations on their fourth-place finish!

Meanwhile, our athletes littered Longhorn 14u and 12u rosters. The 14s also finished fourth with Tristan and Tomas leading the way. Both had great tournaments and drew the notice of their opposition.

The 12s were loaded and AquaTexans again led the way with Tristan, an unstoppable scorer, and Tomas making opponents miserable with some great defense. Silas and William (the counterattack king) were also at the top of their games, while Isabelle showed off those sneaky steal skills and played some great defense. And two first-timers, Wes and Rudy, scored their first ever goals at a USA Water Polo tournament. We are so excited to see all those newcomers at the Cowtown Stampede in just a few weeks.

Well done to all our AquaTexans, our friends from Longhorn, and all our supportive parents.

One point of admin: thank you to all who have paid me for the tournament so far. As Coach Tom of Longhorn has hopefully informed his athletes, if you played for our 16u team you should pay me directly ($67) via venmo. All AquaTex-registered athletes on Longhorn’s 14u and 12u teams will also pay me directly. Longhorn-registered athletes on those two rosters will be charged directly by their club and should not pay me.

For final results you can go to the 2021 Texas Challenge Cup event page.

Cowtown Stampede Call

We have to be excited about our participation at this annual tournament in Keller on December 11-12 (our 14u team won the whole darn thing a couple years ago). Our partnership with Longhorn is in play although, given the sheer number of 12u athletes, we may look to enter two teams! Even better, the tournament WILL feature competition for 10u athletes and yes, our Swim2Score families are strongly encouraged to attend. The tournament features competition for all age groups so make sure to commit as soon as possible (contact me for the link to commit).

USA Water Polo Membership Renewal

A reminder to renew your USA Water Polo membership for 2022 now since there are some cost savings in doing so early. Here’s more.

See you on the deck.

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