12u

2022 AQTX/Longhorn October Game Day

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A few notes about Sunday’s game day since there have been questions.

  • If you have not signed up for the event using TeamUnify, and you are currently registered with AquaTex, just show up if you want to play. We are trying to get everyone accustomed to using TeamUnify to indicate their commitment to events but there’s some wiggle room for our game day
  • The start times are tentative though we are going to try to stick to them within reason. It is possible, for example, that we’ll combine 12u and 14u in to one game depending on our numbers
  • High school athletes:
    • come early to run the clocks, which we will do for each game (6 minute quarters)
    • those currently registered (not suspended) with AquaTex or Longhorn can participate
  • Games will be refereed by coaches
  • The game day takes the place of practice in case you wondered. There will be no training on Sunday, just games.

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AquaTex members, indicate your intent to play via your TeamUnify portal.

We’ll be hosting a game day with our friends from Longhorn including high school and age group athletes (we hope to have enough for a 10u game as well).

We will attempt to create games with AquaTex vs. Longhorn but will adjust as necessary depending on the turnout.

The tentative schedule is:

9:00 AM pool open for warmup

9:30 AM 12u Coed Game

10:15 AM 14u Coed Game

11:00 High School Game

noon Masters Game

Masters athletes who are not AquaTex members will pay the usual $10 walk-in fee.

Longhorn12uGoldMedalJOs2022

Champions! Our Longhorns Win Gold at Junior Olympics

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William Pemberton, Isabelle Morrison, Rudy-Matheo Garcia, 2022 National Junior Olympics Gold Medalists

The Longhorn 12u Coed Team won a gold medal at the 2022 National Junior Olympics at Stanford University today. Three AquaTexans were key members of the team that won five straight tournament matches to bring home the championship trophy from the tournament’s Gold Bracket.


The win comes one year after the Longhorn 10u team, comprised of several athletes from this season’s 12u roster, earned a championship at the 2021 National Junior Olympics in North Texas.

The club is enormously proud of the entire Longhorn effort and grateful to Coach Tom for leading the team to victory. But special congratulations to AquaTexans William, Isabelle, Rudy-Matheo, and Wes who helped them earn their spot at JO Quals. Congratulations to all of them.

Here’s the entire roster for those who played at JO Quals and/or NJOs in California:

  • Daniel Armendariz
  • Laird Green
  • Sawyer Jayasuriya
  • Silas Chamas
  • Lennon Beavers
  • Avi Singhal
  • Robert Roth
  • Rudy-Matheo Garcia
  • Isabelle Morrison
  • Alex Catterson
  • William Pemberton
  • John “Wes” Kelly

2022 Alamo (Fall) Classic (14, 12, 10u)

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Commit

AquaTex Families, commit your athlete to participate via your TeamUnify portal.

Working Rosters

4th6th8th
Ashton BensonLarid GreenKenneth (Cash) Brown
Claire GreenRobert RothJackson (JP) Place
Zephyr GatesJohn (Wes) Kelly
Rudy-Matheo Garcia
Isabelle Morrison
Jake Roberts
Pierce Green

From the Hosts

Alamo Area Water Polo will be hosting the Alamo Classic on October 8-9, 2022 at the Alamo Heights Natatorium in San Antonio for 14U/12U/10U athletes (divisions are grade based). This is a two-day sanctioned USAWP event with divisions for 8th Grade & Younger Boys/Mixed, 8th Grade & Younger Girls, 6th Grade & Younger Mixed, and 4th Grade & Younger Mixed. Games will be played in two courses running simultaneously and begin on Saturday morning and ending around 3:00-4:00 pm on Sunday. Games will be 4 x 6:00 minute quarters. All teams will be guaranteed four games. To register, please complete the online registration (no cost) and bring entry fee checks to the pool the weekend of the tournament (check made payable to “AHISD”). Below is all the tournament info. Online Team Registration: Alamo Classic (must be logged in at USAWP website to register).

Alamo Classic – October 8-9, 2022:
Date: October 8-9, 2022. Games will be played in two courses running simultaneously and begin on Saturday morning and ending around 3:00-4:00 pm on Sunday.
Location: Alamo Heights Natatorium, 705 Trafalgar Rd., San Antonio, TX 78216
Divisions: 8th Grade & Younger Boys/Mixed, 8th Grade & Younger Girls, 6th Grade & Younger Mixed, and 4th Grade & Younger Mixed
Entry Fee: $550 per team. Please bring checks made payable to “AHISD” to the pool the day of the event.
Format: Games will be 4 x 6:00 minute quarters. All teams will receive at least 4 games.
Online Team Registration: Alamo Classic (must be logged in at USAWP website to register).
Registration Deadline: Sunday, October 2, 2022
Roster Deadline: Friday, October 7, 2022
Schedule: An online schedule will be sent to everyone on Monday, October 3, 2022
Not Enough Players: If your club has athletes that would like to play in a specific division, but you do not have enough players for your own team, please email and I will attempt to help facilitate partnering up clubs as needed.

2022 Armadillo Classic Tournament

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Schedule/Results

For our Athletes & Families

We very gladly have a lot of new athletes attending this tournament. Welcome to all of you, and of course to all our experienced families as well. Here are a few things to cover for newcomers and oldsters alike:

  • Always plan on being ready to meet together one hour before our first game of the day. That is an AquaTex policy. Please schedule your time accordingly.
    • BUT, given the 7.30 start time on Saturday the facility may not even be open an hour before game time so plan on meeting at 6:45 AM. We need to talk before we get in and warm up.
  • AquaTex doesn’t organize team hotels or meals but definitely appreciates parents who take the lead in finding hotel blocks to share and/or organizing team meals. That is mostly done via our GroupMe so please do communicate amongst each other there.
  • Wear your team suit every game of the tournament, and your team t-shirt on Saturday (Sunday too if you feel like recycling!).
  • Expect three games per day even if we only end up playing two. That means, be prepared: extra towel, goggles for warmup, eye drops, snacks, water, an extra suit is always a good idea. Be ready.
  • Food. Between games we encourage our athletes to eat lean protein, fruit, simple carbohydrates (not just candy!), water. After our last game of the day you can eat what you want… within reason.

There may be more added here so stay tuned.

Working Rosters

4th6th grade & under8th grade & under
ClaireLairdPierce Green
SilasTristan Chamas
RobertLandon Vickery
JacksonJohn "Wes" Kelly
SawyerIsabelle Morrison
ClaireWilliam Pemberton
Jackson "JP" Place
Chase Wadley
Kenneth "Cash" Brown
Rudy-Matheo Garcia
Diego Suarez-Quiroga
Note that the age groups are grade-based. Unfortunately, our 14u athletes who are in 9th grade cannot compete at this tournament.

From the Hosts

Thank you for registering for the Armadillo Classic on September 10-11, 2022 at the LISD Eastside Aquatic Center. Teams will need to print out and bring their own score sheets and member cards to the pool. Give a score sheet to the table before each game. Additionally, teams will need to supply their own warm-up balls.. There will not be warm-up space available. Teams will need to warm-up in between quarters and/or immediately before the game.

Admissions: $5 for the weekend

Rosters/Scoresheets: Referees will be doing ID checks this weekend. Teams will need to print out and bring their own score sheets and member cards to the pool. Give a score sheet to the score table before each game.

  • Schedule
  • Dates: September 10 – 11, 2022
  • 6:00 quarters
  • 2 timeouts
  • Shootout to decide a tie
  • Location:  LISD Eastside Aquatic Center, 5729 Memorial Dr, The Colony, TX 75056
  • Divisions:  8th Grade & Younger Mixed, 8th Grade & Younger Girls, 6th Grade & Younger Mixed, 4th Grade & Younger Mixed
  • Host Club:  Mavericks Water Polo

2022 South Texas Spring Champs

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Schedule/Results

Working Rosters

4th Grade/U (5v5) Only 1 Game6th Grade/U (6v6)6th Grade/U (6v6)8th Grade/U (7v7)
EricLonghorn OrangeLonghorn White (AquaHorns)Laird
ClaireElizaIzzyNick
AviLairdWesPierce
RyanZephyrAaronZeke
GreyJacksonEricLandon
DanClaireCruz
RobertAviFlora
Ryan WMaddox
Grey?Tomas
Ryan W.

The day after West Region High School Championships are complete, Alamo Area Aquatics Association plans to host a Game Day for middle school and younger athletes. It will take place on April 24 at the AHISD Natatorium. Age groups are determined by grade. AquaTex will plan on combining with Longhorn when necessary as we did for the Alamo Classic a few weeks ago.

The event will take place all day Sunday.

Currently, plans are for all 4th grade and under athletes who are interested in playing to be divided up equally among 2-3 teams and will NOT compete for any particular club.

From the Host

There will be two divisions: 8th Grade & Younger Mixed and 6th Grade & younger Mixed. Additionally, we will be playing two exhibition games: 8th Grade & Younger Girls and 4th Grade & Younger Mixed. The 8th grade & Younger Mixed division will be playing first thing in the morning, then the two exhibition games, and finishing with the 6th Grade & Younger Mixed division playing late morning/early afternoon. This event will have a championship format with awards and played in two courses running simultaneously. All teams will be guaranteed two games with the games being back to back or with one game break (no waiting around all day for games).

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Welcome Coach Barbara, Thunder Tourney, Spring Festival, HS Season

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Welcome Coach Barbara

The newest addition to our coaching staff is Barbara Lanier, a former varsity player at the University of Michigan, one of the top ranked programs in the nation, and at Acalanes High School in Northern California. She also has significant coaching experience working with Saline High School in Michigan and Diablo Alliance Water Polo in California, where she enjoyed both polo and summer league swim coaching. She will immediately fit with our Swim2Score program, which she’ll run on Sunday, Feb 20. You can expect to see her doing more than that since she has experience working with all age groups. This as we round out our staff and increase the number of athletes at AquaTex. Welcome, Coach Barbara!

Thunder Spring Invite

We’re all set with our (Longhorn) teams participating at the Thunder Spring Invite. I’ll be up there along with Coaches Tom and Becca of Longhorn. There are lots of hotels nearby for those traveling to the very nice Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatic Center. Feel free to use the GroupMe among our families to organize before and during the tournament. Stoked for our young AquaTexans!

Spring Festival Approaches

We’re two weeks away from hosting our last ever Spring high school tournament. Current AquaTex members should have received an email on Thursday introducing many to our volunteer needs for the event. We have more members than we ever have so we should have plenty to cover all our volunteer needs and more. High school teams have until Feb 25 to register after which we’ll publish a schedule as soon as possible. Expect to see more about volunteering soon, and let’s keep this one of the best-run high school tournaments in our area.

High School Polo Sessions

AquaTex is working on creating extra training for high school-only athletes beginning on or around February 28 and ending around May 1. Details are forthcoming but sessions are likely to be on multiple weekday mornings from 7-9 AM and are available to any registered AquaTex water polo athlete currently in high school. There will be no changes to our Monday and Wednesday evening training sessions, to which all high school athletes will also have access. Middle school athletes will remain on their Monday, Wednesday evening, and Saturday/Sunday morning schedules.

Lake Creek

‘Tis the season to decamp to the lovely, wonderful Lake Creek pool. That move will take place after we host our tournament, March 4-5. More details to come as usual but… be prepared.

See you on the deck.

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STX Winter Champs, Thunder Tourney, Spring Festival and More

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Catching up on a lot of stuff so here we go.

South Texas Champs Re-cap

Big thanks to Coach Alon for spending all Sunday the 30th in San Antonio watching our teams perform well at the South Texas Winter Championships. Here’s his recap of the day:

18 u Mixed

The AquaHorns fought hard bright and early to start the day against Zilla. Aaron Gordon won all 4 swim offs and led the team counter attack. Jacob Gerakos and Jake Roberts alternated in center and the team, especially Luca de Araujo from the 4/5 side, did a great job working the ball into center. Kendall Strauss and Cruz Crowley both had several stellar defensive plays throughout the game. The team ultimately lost to ZIlla in a shootout.

Next, the team matched up with Alamo Area. While the team executed defensively, they were unable to convert a number of key offensive opportunities that cost them the game in an 8-6 loss.

14 U AquaHorns

Our 14-U AquaHorns played some real water polo this weekend. It was a great opportunity for some younger players to get some solid game experience and playing time. We opened with a strong win against Zilla, followed by a 1 goal loss to Longhorn, and finished with another strong effort against Zilla. Gavin Hantelman scored his first tournament goal in the first game. Tomas Bellavia had a notable defensive performance throughout the three games. Jacob continue to impress out of center with some quick shots under pressure. Kelly Murphy was a big defensive help for the team, as well as a leader on the counter attack with James Strauss. Overall, it was an impressive effort for a team of various experience levels.

12 U AquaTex

Our 12-U showed up ready to fight—almost at bedtime—Sunday night. Despite missing some key offensive players, the AquaTex team was able to put 10 goals up on Alamo Area. Rudy suffered from a ball to the nose, taking him out for part of the 2nd quarter of the 1st game with a bloody nose. Not easily shaken, he was right back in the water at the start of the 3rd quarter! Isabelle Morrison scored an excellent high corner goal on the counter attack. Silas and Tomas alternated in goal and the field, each taking a leadership role both offensively and defensively for the AquaTex team. Wes (John) Kelly and Ryan White played reliable press defense, each proving they are picking up on the fundamentals we teach them in practice.

We we also part of some very strong Longhorn teams including our usual 16u boys team, which went undefeated, and our awesome Swim2Score athletes Ryan and Ashton playing on Longhorn White 10u. It was a very good Sunday for the club.

Thunder Spring Invite

Roster call for the next USAWP tournament of the spring season up in Lewisville February 26-27. Check out the event page and mark your commitment on the sheet we shared in GroupMe. Note that it is only for athletes age 14u and that the age is determined as of August 1, 2022. As usual we will partner with Longhorn if necessary. Let’s go!

Spin Lob

Coaches Alon and Matthew are playing for Longhorn Masters this weekend at the Spin Lob Classic at UT. It’s one of the premier masters tournaments in the US and features a lot of US Olympians and other extremely talented players. If you’re in Austin on Sunday in particular (prior to the Super Bowl) watch the final matches, likely to feature Olympic Club and/or New York Athletic Club, both of which are loaded with Olympians. Pegasus Dallas Masters has also emerged as one of the best teams in the US. Don’t miss practice but if you’re near UT go check it out.

Also, a team from Barbados Water Polo will be loosening up, scrimmaging at Micki on Friday at 8:00 PM with Coaches Alon and Matthew. All our high school athletes are encouraged to hop in with them and get some good game experience.

AQTX Spring Festival Tournament

We’re just a few weeks away from our final Spring Festival, a high school tournament we’ve hosted for several years. Families can expect to see a volunteer sheet soon, and athletes will be assigned to work the desk during our matches. Jobs include concessions, course setup and breakdown, managing hospitality for referees and coaches, and more. As a member of our club all our families are expected to contribute to hosting efforts so thank you in advance.

Camps and Clinics

The number of clinics available to our athletes is ever increasing and we’re getting questions about which ones are best suited to our athletes. One that is relatively nearby and that will feature one of the best coaches in Europe is the Pegasus Spring Break Camp at SMU with sessions stretching between March 12-19. We definitely recommend that one, but know there are many others in California too. Give us a shout if you want our input about who’s running these clinics. Stoked that so many of us are interested in getting better at one or more of these events.

Other Stuff

Swim2Score

With the weather improving (finally!) we’re putting the call out there to give our Swim2Score program a try. For young athletes age 5-11 who want to learn both good swim technique AND throw a ball around in the water. One-hour sessions with our creative and fun coaches, Sundays at 10:30 AM. Contact us for more info and come give it a try twice for free.

Zumo Gear

My old friends from Zumo are having a gigantic blowout sale. If you’re looking for water polo OR swim training suits at half cost (including the ones already on sale – high quality women’s water polo suits for less than $30!) I strongly suggest you check them out. I just ordered a bunch of balls from them and may do even more.

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Firsts and Lasts at Dare to Dream, South TX Champs Upcoming

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Dare to Dream Success

An AquaTex-only 12u roster went 3-1 at the Dare to Dream Festival in Cypress over the past weekend, beating Pegasus Red, CFWPC, and Alamo Area while falling to the Thunder 12u girls (they’re good!). It’s the first 12u team made up exclusively of full time AquaTex members in some time and bodes well for the future, especially since we were missing a few 12u athletes who had other commitments.

A particular shout-out to Tristan and Tomas who have now graduated to the 14u level of play after showing their prodigious skills against the four opponents (one opposing coach was particularly impressed). Wes was the anchor in goal and also got significant playing time in the field; Izzy continues her one-on-one defensive onslaught; William was relentless in attacking the cage and scoring; Rudy continues to shoot the ball hard and increasingly accurately; and Silas is an old veteran, steady hand, making few mistakes and plenty of smart passes and decisions (while also dominating at the 10u level).

Two dominant wins, one tight contest with Alamo, and a challenging but close loss to Thunder: it was a very good weekend for AquaTex.

Meanwhile, Silas, Ryan, and Ash (repping our Swim2Score program) went 2-2 with their Longhorn White 10u team, including a six-goal comeback to beat Viper Pigeon 24-22 in their tourney opener. Silas was dominant, the leading scorer and distributor while Ash improved even over the course of four matches in the goal. And Ryan (age 7!) participated in every game contributing a key pass in her last game. It was such a fun tournament for our youngest athletes. Longhorn was the only program that entered two 10u teams, a great sign for both our club and the ‘Horns.

South Texas Winter Championships Roster Call

On Sunday, January 30 we’ll return to the new Alamo Heights pool to participate in the South Texas Championships. This one-day festival is another great chance for all our age groups to get together before the high school season begins. For our oldest athletes, our preference is to create at least one 18u coed team made up only of AquaTex athletes led by Coach Alon. Even better would be separate 18u boys and 18u girls teams that would include anyone of high school age. If that doesn’t work out we will happily compete as AquaHorns, boys and girls. Those are details yet to come but given the return of several of our 18/16u athletes it’s possible we could field exclusively AquaTex teams. Sign up!

The same holds true for every other age group though it is far more likely we’ll combine with Longhorn for those, maybe excepting an AquaTex 12u coed team (six AquaTex 12u athletes are already signed up). If you need the link to our commitment sheet just let us know. Deadline is Thursday the 20th.

That’s all for now. See you on the deck.

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