Swim2Score
It’s done! Families of athletes age 5-11 can now register for our newest program, Swim2Score, which provides newcomers both swim and stroke technique and fun water polo games. Coach Hayley will be working with our new friends on their goggles-on swimming skills while Coach Sam will lead them in some great water polo-type games in the small pool. Some bulleted details:
- Newcomers to the program are required to join USA Swimming and register with AquaTex. There is a $150 USA Swimming/Team annual charge to every member of the club which includes USA Swimming registration.
- Athletes are not required to be members of USA Water Polo unless they participate in a USAWP competition or move up to our Youth Waterpolo programming.
- Current AQTX swimmers require no additional registration and can participate in the water polo portion at no additional cost.
- Sessions will take place every Friday. From 4:00 PM until 4:30 the athletes will do stroke/swim work. From 4:30 to 5:00 PM they’ll join Coach Sam in the small pool for water polo games.
- The first session will take place on Friday, April 23.
- Fees for the program are $60.00/month (not applicable to current AQTX swim team members).
Share the news with friends and family and contact me if you have any other questions. But we’re looking forward to having a lot of new young faces in the pool in the coming weeks.
TAGS
We are confirmed at TAGS where we’ve entered one 8th grade u coed team and one 6th grade u coed team. Check out this link for our rosters and for new information, including admissions, Covid guidelines, and the tournament’s official hotel. Coaches James and Tom will be working with our two teams that weekend.
National Junior Olympics
USA Water Polo released allocations for each zone last week. Because they have had more trouble than usual – for obvious reasons – securing the huge numbers of pools that are typically used during JOs, they have currently only released allocation for the Championship bracket. Typically there is also a “Classic” and “Invitational” bracket, which increased the number of allocations enormously. You can see the “preliminary” allocation for all USA Water Polo zones here.
The numbers are far lower than they have been in the past. But my understanding is that USAWP is working very hard to find more pools to use in Orange County, and when they do the numbers will very likely rise. Regardless, we’re going to send as many teams as possible to Southwest Zone Championships! This is a big year for the club.
Much more info available here and will be updated as necessary.
Newcomers
Speaking of which, yet more newcomers to celebrate. We’re so pleased to have youth athletes William and Jordan joining us full time along with Nyla, a returning member of AquaTex and current high schooler. A reminder to new families to register with USA Water Polo before your athlete’s next practice. It is required of all athletes and coaches. Sign up for the Bronze membership, which can always be upgraded for JOs, for example.
We’re continuously grateful for all those who join the club and spread the word about AQTX Waterpolo.
Masters
Masters will take place this Sunday from noon to 1:30 PM, after our youth practice. Coaches Alon and Matthew will be running things. AquaTex High School athletes are encouraged to join the scrimmage after practice (you gotta go to practice to play in a masters scrimmage).
‘Roos Aim for CWPA Title
Your Austin College Kangaroos, featuring Coaches Shannon and Kendall, are headed to Kenosha, Wisconsin this weekend to compete in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championship. The ‘Roos made history last week earning a top 25 ranking among ALL NCAA women’s programs. They are seeded number one in the CWPA tournament. Take some time to watch their games this weekend and support our two coaches as they tear it up in Wisconsin!
Playing in College Zoom
There have been some technical difficulties (cough, cough) which has prevented me from sharing our Zoom call of last week with Joe Linehan about playing in college. I’ll share it as soon as I get my hands on it.
See you on the deck,
James
