Cowtown

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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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2021 Cowtown Rodeo

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Cowtown Water Polo will be hosting its 12nd annual “Rodeo” since its founding.  Come to Fort Worth and check out the city and play some water polo. The event will be held June 5-6, 2021.

Divisions: The tournament will have the following divisions:

  • Masters Mixed – 6 teams
  • 18/16u Mixed/Boys –  10 teams
  • 18/16u Girls – 8  teams
  • 14u Mixed – 8 teams
  • 12u Mixed – 8 teams

Pool Locations: 45 minute drive between locations

  • Keller ISD Natatorium – 1000 Bear Creek Pkwy, Keller Texas (spectators allowed)
  • LISD Eastside Aquatic Center – 5729 Memorial Dr, The Colony, Texas (spectators not allowed)

Hotels: Links with hotel information coming soon

Spectators: 

Spectators ARE being allowed at the Keller ISD Natatorium but NOT at the LISD Eastside Aquatic Center. We are juggling 2 options right now for the event.

    • Option 1 – The Masters and 18u divisions will be held at LISD and the 16u/14u/12u will be held at the Keller pool.
    • Option 2 – Both groups will spend half of the time at each location.  For example, the Masters will have games on Saturday at Keller and Sunday at the Colony.
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Tournament Results from North Texas, New Coach, Thanksgiving Schedule

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A flurry of activity as the year winds down, we return from a jam-packed weekend of games in North Texas, find ourselves a new coach, and get pumped for the final two tournaments of 2020. Plus, Tony Azevedo is coming our way.

Texas Challenge Cup

Our 14u coed team went (almost) ironman for its four-game schedule at last weekend’s Texas Challenge. With eight total athletes, a 2-2 record felt about right and earned the team a fourth-place finish after a tough game against Thunder Black, their “A” team. The weekend also featured AquaTex’s first ever shootout, which it won over the very feisty Pegasus team. History! All the live streams of every game are online, linked on our TCC event page. Well done in particular to James for playing in his first ever travel tournament and Riley for becoming the deadly ninja goalie Coach Matthew has been hoping for. Congratulations to them, Jacob, Morgan (7 games!), Kelly, Cruz, Austin, and Luca. Go check out their game highlights linked above.

Meanwhile, despite never having played in a USAWP travel tournament, Kendall, Cammi, and Morgan turned out to be among the most productive and reliable members of the Lonestar/Mavericks 18u girls team that ended the tournament with a well-rested Sunday afternoon win over Cowtown. Kendall is starting to show off that shooting skill she displays at practice, Cammi ended the tournament with a two-goal outing vs. Cowtown after showing off her speed on defense all weekend, and Morgan continues to be one of the most aggressive attackers on the entire club and showed some real progress in becoming a killer driver/post-up player. Very proud of all three of them

Welcome Coach Alon

Meanwhile, as we continue to improve and grow we have another new coach helping us out. Coach Alon Yoeli is from Carmel, CA and played his collegiate water polo at Fordham University in New York City (the Bronx to be precise). He also played for one of Italy’s best clubs. He recently moved to Austin, contacted AquaTex about masters water polo and ended up getting roped in to coaching! Welcome aboard, Alon.

Thanksgiving Week Schedule

The practice schedule is updated for Thanksgiving week. Check it out on the calendar. Coaches Kendall and Shannon will be back along with Matthew and Alon to keep us moving forward. That includes Scorpion Ball with Coach Shannon on the 21st!

Upcoming Events

Tournament Roster Calls

TAGS and the Cowtown Stampede are the last competitions of the year. And aside from the obvious reasons we might want to turn the calendar page, it’s also the last chance for many of our athletes to play in age groups they were supposed to occupy for JOs and Southwest Zone Championships. Beginning in 2021 we can expect that tournaments will set their “age as of” date to August 1, 2021. We want to end the year on a competitive high note and expect our athletes to take part in these final two tournaments.

TAGS

The Texas Age Group Championships are for athletes in 9th grade and under. We have already registered our 9th grade u (coed) team and may combine with Longhorn for 7th and under and/or 5th and under. Edit your commitment to TAGS here.

Cowtown Stampede

The same weekend as TAGS, the Cowtown Stampede is for 18u athletes only (boys/coed and girls). AquaTex has already signed up one 18u girls’ and one 18u boys’ teams. So sign up for the chance to play.

Tony Azevedo Clinic

The Legendary Tony Azevedo is headed to Texas to host three days of water polo training in North Texas. Three days for high schoolers, two for those age 14 and under. Plus, goalie training. Find out more and register here and let me know if you sign up. I may be able to make it up there to watch (and interview Tony for the podcast…)

Attendance Records

We have some really excellent attendance records for the months of October and November (shout out to Cammi, Declan and Austin!). The link has probably been wrong for several weeks so here’s the updated link to the document. #BeYourBest

Performance Training Course

Coach Marcy shared this via email on the 13th. The program is open to water polo athletes.

Aquatex is collaborating with Performance Course to offer an 8-week Dryland Training schedule.

Performance Course is an unrivaled approach to progressively improving athletic ability. This unique course combines sound, proven strength and conditioning principles with the latest methodologies to give the participant the top athletic performance program in the nation.

Senior/PreSeniors swimmers [and water polo athletes] that 13 & up are eligible to participate. The program will start November 30th, the Monday following Thanksgiving. Sessions will be held at our pool, on deck. The training will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays:

Girls – 5:45-6:30pm

Boys – 6:30-7:15pm

The cost is $180. To participate, please go to this site and signup: Performance Course

That’s all for this week. Have a great and safe Thanksgiving week.

See you in the parking lot…

James

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Countdown to Texas Challenge Cup, Cowtown Rodeo, TAGS

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We’re just a few days away from the Texas Challenge Cup in The Colony. And as we shift more information to this site there is a new link to “Events” which will mostly contain tournaments on the calendar to which we are committed.

Here are the details on the tournament including schedule, Covid guidelines, streaming and more. All our games will be at the LISD Eastside Aquatic Center, 5729 Memorial Dr, The Colony, TX 75056.

Athletes and coaches will meet together outside the facility one hour prior to game time.

For the 18u girls playing with Lonestar/Mavericks, the first game is on Saturday at 10:30 AM vs. Thunder 16u. The second game depends on the outcome of the first.

For AquaTex 14u co-ed the first game is at 1:30 PM on Saturday vs. Viper Pigeon Green, second game at 4:30 PM vs. Thunder Silver.

There are no apparent conflicts between our 18u girls and 14u coed games.

TAGS and Cowtown Stampede

Two tournaments take place on December 12-13: TAGS for 9th grade and under coed, and Cowtown Stampede for 18u boys and girls. Find details on both of these tournaments on our new Events page.

We have already registered a 9th grade and under team for TAGS for AquaTex. We will be partnering with Longhorn to fill out 18u boys and girls rosters playing as AquaTex, so be sure to let me know if you want to play. [Updated: AquaTex has registered one 18u boys and one 18u girls team for the tournament].

That’s all for this week though there could be updates as we get ready to drive up to The Colony.

See you on the deck,

James