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New Year Sale, Scrimmage Day, Roster Calls, Parent Meeting

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Here’s wishing all our families, athletes, coaches, and supporters a prosperous 2023. We’ve been dormant for only a couple weeks but it seems like a lifetime so we’re excited to resume activities in the coming days.

Training Update

We return in full force on Saturday, January 7, 10:00 AM. Then on Sunday the 8th we’ll host a controlled scrimmage day with Longhorn. The schedule will resemble our game days but we will be a bit flexible. Controlled scrimmage means that coaches will manage the scrimmage with specific goals in mind and likely have an agenda (press vs. Zone defense and 6 on 5 come to mind).

Updated, 2 January 2023

  • 9:00-10:00ish AM, Age Group (12u/14u) Coed scrimmage
  • 10:00-11:00ish AM High School scrimmage
  • 11:00-noonish, Masters

Roster Call(s)

We’re not attending the Cowtown Stampede the weekend of January 7-8 but there’s the Dare to Dream tournament, which takes place on January 28-29, already on our calendar. This tournament is geared entirely toward 12u and 10u athletes. So we want as many of our Novices and Swim2Score athletes taking part. And this season it is being held at Texas A&M.

Also, I have good info that there should be a one-day event in San Antonio for all ages before the end of January. Stay tuned.

Gear: New Year Sale!

To say thanks for your support of the club and to boost our gear wearage (?) we’re having a sale! Use the coupon code NYear23 for a 23% discount on any purchase of Printful gear from the AquaTex Waterpolo Shop. The discount does not apply to RYTE suits. The sale ends on January 16 so order soon.

Finances

I’m way behind on tournament finances (someone kindly gave me a kick in the pants about it.) I’ll have specific charges for families who still owe me for participating at one of the three tournaments below soon. But if you notice via your Venmo records that you haven’t paid me for any or all of these, feel free! My Venmo handle is @sadhuminstrels. And for those who may be newer to our program, I do pay for tournaments myself (entry fees, coaches’ lodging, fuel per diem), thus the request for Venmo payments to directly reimburse me. Please remember, the charge is per roster, meaning that if your athlete played both 16u and 18u games they owe the fee below times two.

  • Alamo Classic (18u/16u), Nov 5-6, $65
  • TAGS, Nov 19-20, $75
  • Jingle Bells Festival, Dec 17-18, $61

Parent Meeting for JOs

That’s right. The start of 2023 means we have to start planning for JOs. On January 10 at 7:00 PM I’ll be hosting an online meeting where I’ll share our current plans for Junior Olympics in the summer of 2023 and ask for you feedback about expectations. The biggest question for each team: do we want to qualify to go to California or do we want to play in North Texas? Our friends from Longhorn will be having a similar discussion and our coaching staffs will coordinate as much as necessary. Look for a link to the meeting via GroupMe as that date approaches.

International AquaTex

Given the very serious and fantastic international flavor of our club we’re making a multi-lingual tee-shirt on which we’ll print “waterpolo” in as many languages that are spoken within our families. That includes, but is not at all limited to: Spanish, Italian, Korean, Hebrew, Russian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Nepali, Hindi, Cantonese, Vietnamese, French, English… Surely there are more so please contact me if your family actively speaks a language at home that’s missing from this list.

Happy New Year.

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Junior Olympics are Here, The Fall Schedule is Out, The Summer is Nearly Over

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It’s here.

Junior Olympics

Can we all just sit back and feel the excitement for this, the biggest tournament ever for our club?!

Ok, good. Now, for actual details on the tournament click here and then bookmark it. Game schedule, maps, hotels, first games, it’s all there and more.

Athletes, don’t be late to your games! For our 16u boys team expect to be ready to warm up on the deck one hour prior to every game. If there are changes to that schedule the coaches will let you know.

Training This Week and Next

Coaches are (nearly) all taking off on Wednesday for Dallas. So we train tonight (Tuesday) and then nothing again until next Tuesday. I’m off on holiday but Coaches Kendall and Alon will be having practices on our usual summer schedule beginning August 2. And Coach Marcy says we’ll have the pool to ourselves for a couple weeks. Come to practice and bring a friend (we’re expecting a few new athletes).

Swim2Score is ON for Friday, July 30. But no masters on Sunday, August 1.

Registration

Speaking of practices after JOs, you should all be aware of our price change on August 1, and that all our members are required to re-register. Let me or Coach Mark know if you’re having trouble doing so.

Fall Schedule

Our fall schedule is now on the calendar. Barring any changes, which are always possible and which I’ll share with everyone immediately, the schedule beginning August 23 is:

  • Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
    • 7-9 PM for high school and middle school. Could possibly change if numbers are big enough to require middle school-only practices. Be prepared for another weeknight, or Saturday morning, practice.
  • Fridays
    • 6-7 PM Swim2Score. We have some new coaches in mind! More news to come.
  • Sundays
    • 9 AM – 11 AM, middle school athletes
    • 10 AM – noon, high school athletes
    • 11:30 – 1:00 PM, masters (including select high school athletes)
  • Saturdays (maybe, but not yet)

See you on the deck,

James

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Two Weeks to Dallas, The Fall Schedule, Other Stuff

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Closing in on the most exciting part of the summer, our annual registration drive, and preliminary Fall scheduling.

August and The Fall

August means several things to us as a club and it’s just a couple weeks away. Here are several important bullets for AquaTex families to read.

  • All AquaTex members must re-register with the club every year by August 1. Doing so sooner than later is always a good idea. The annual registration fee is $50 for every member of the team: masters, swim, polo. Register here.
  • As I mentioned in an online meeting a couple months ago our fees for middle school and high school water polo will rise. The fee will be $110/month beginning August 1.
    • Pricing for Swim2Score, Swim/Polo, and Masters Water Polo will not change
  • Beginning August 23 the tentative schedule is:
    • Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
      • 7-9 PM for high school and middle school. Could possibly change if numbers are big enough to require middle school-only practices. Be prepared for another weeknight, or Saturday morning, practice.
    • Fridays
      • 4-5 PM Swim2Score. Very tentative, need to work it out with the swim team.
    • Sundays
      • 9 AM – 11 AM, middle school athletes
      • 10 AM – noon, high school athletes
      • 11:30 – 1:00 PM, masters (including select high school athletes)

Junior Olympics

It’s almost here. And yes, I know we all want a schedule! My sources tell me early next week is when we should hear something, which is apparently a normal number of days prior the event to get a schedule. Regardless, still no locations for all our AquaHorns teams.

Uniforms/Gear

Several have asked what athletes are expected to wear at Junior Olympics. The answer is pretty simple: AquaTex gear – especially our competition suits. If/when we are in a photo that will be shared via Longhorn’s social media then all non-Longhorn gear must be covered by a towel or something. But otherwise we want to see as much AQTX gear as possible during and between games. You are welcome and encouraged to mix in something Longhorn if you’d like.

Summer JOs Tees

Those Junior Olympics summer tee shirts are in and the cost/shirt is even lower than expected: $7.00. Come and pick yours up at practice. I shared a link to a sheet with everyone’s order. Contact me if you need the link again. And thank you to those who have already Venmo’d me.

Other Stuff (again)

Free Women’s Suit

We have a women’s size 30 AquaTex water polo suit from RYTE, our vendor (they mistakenly sent one to Coach Matt, who for some reason doesn’t want it). Matthew has graciously donated it. So, contact me if that’s the proper size and you’re interested in having it. If multiple athletes are interested I’ll use technology to randomly select one of them. #bestsuitsintexas

Training Schedule

Both Masters and Youth/HS practices are ON for the mornings of Sunday, July 18 and 25. We’ll update the schedule soon for the two weeks that follow Junior Olympics, which may include a short post-tourney break.

See you on the deck,

James

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Midsummer Madness, Summer Tees, AQTX TV Flashback

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The summer rolls on, our numbers are big, training has been as productive as ever… time for an update.

Midsummer Madness

Replacing the cancelled Suns Out Guns Out is Triumph Aquatics’ Midsummer Madness on July 10-11, and the AquaHorns are going. It’s our last USAWP sanctioned tournament prior to JOs and we want to put the skills we’ve been sharpening on display against our Texas rivals.

Use the “Summer Commitment” google sheet to update your intention to play. If you need a link to that sheet just contact me. Check out the event page for locations and the teams we want to send.

Summer 2021 Tee Shirts

Those of you who signed up for our burnt orange 2021 summer tee shirts will hopefully get them by Friday, July 2 (such a good reason not to miss practice!). We had to revise the design just slightly especially to include our new Italian sponsor Maim Method, which has provided Alon with water-filled weights with which he plans to terrorize… no, TRAIN our athletes. Here are the front and rear designs for the shirt.

Junior Olympics

The schedules for JOs won’t be available for some time according to my sources (it’s Joe) at USA Water Polo. Scheduling for the two California sessions is only recently or not yet complete. Only after those are done will the North Texas session be put on a spreadsheet. We’ll share that with everyone the second we get it.

As for locations please be ready to compete at locations that are as far as one hour apart. USAWP will attempt to be reasonable about where a team’s games will take place. But given the logistics of the overall event we need to be prepared to cross from one side of the metroplex to the other.

There have been some useful conversations on our individual GroupMe chats and many have booked places to stay already. But we currently have no news about where our games will be.

Other Stuff

Free Women’s Suit

We have a women’s size 30 AquaTex water polo suit from RYTE, our vendor (they mistakenly sent one to Coach Matt, who for some reason doesn’t want it). Matthew has graciously donated it. So, contact me if that’s the proper size and you’re interested in having it. If multiple athletes are interested I’ll use technology to randomly select one of them. #bestsuitsintexas

Outstanding Tournament Fees

There are a couple payments still pending from athletes who participated in the SWZ JOs qualifier on June 11-13 in Houston. The fee is $100 payable to Coach James via Venmo. If you prefer that we bill you via your Team Unify account with AquaTex we can make that happen. And a gentle reminder that your athlete won’t be allowed to register for another USAWP event until the balance has been cleared. Thanks!

Milestones

Welcome to Kai, Laird, Pua and Izzy, our newest members! Laird has been swimming for AquaTex for some time while Kai joins us from Rouse HS where he wishes there were a water polo team (so do we). Pua and Izzy moved to Texas from Hawai’i a few years ago and are our youngest new members. Welcome to all of them. And Happy Birthday to Nilmary who turned 16 on June 16!

Training Schedule

Both Masters and Youth/HS practices are ON for the morning of Sunday, July 4. Training is on the entire following week with the possible exception of Sunday the 11th depending on coaches’ availability and our numbers at the tournament in Houston.

AquaTex on TV

Check out this blast from the past, featuring a 16-year-old Coach Kendall, in which two news personalities from KCEN-TV visited Micki to share with their viewers the skills required to play water polo just prior to the Rio Olympic Games. Tokyo is just around the corner so who knows, maybe another TV station wants to produce a piece on how to watch the oldest team sport in the Games…

See you on the deck,

James

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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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New cages, chalk talks, Texas Challenge Cup

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After a frenzy of activity over the past three weeks we get a chance for a breather and can start new, with more chalk talks, new gear, new athletes (we hope!) and a tournament on the near horizon.

New Goals

You’ll notice in the photo above some strange new water polo goals, the first since the club started playing. We’re very grateful to the Austin Aquatics and Sports Academy for donating them to us and we plan on putting them to very good use.

Chalk Talk(s)

As mentioned last week our Thursday chalk talks are now part of the practice regimen. They take place every Thursday at 7:30 PM (Zoom links are sent individually or via GroupMe). Athletes are expected to take their own notes during the sessions, or while watching archived videos. They will be tested! Take a look at our first session recorded last Thursday. And I’ll see you on Zoom tomorrow.

Texas Challenge Cup Roster Call

We have already signed up a 14u team for the Texas Challenge Cup on November 14-15 in Lewisville. Longhorn will be combining with us again for that roster and others, likely including 12u coed, 18u boys, 18u girls, and maybe 16u boys. To indicate your athlete’s interest in playing be sure to log on to your TeamUnify account and “Edit Commitment” for this event.

The 14u co-ed roster that I’ve submitted to USAWP is below. It does not commit any athlete to actually playing but it costs us nothing to keep an athlete on the roster in case they become available to play. I’ll share the other rosters when they are ready.

AthleteCap
Aaron Gordon9
Austin Kenton5
Ava Chamas (tentative)20
Cruz Crowley19
Jacob Gerakos21
James Strauss14
Joey Bradford1
Kelly Murphy16
Luca de Araujo4
Morgan Spooner18
Riley Dixon13
Tristan Chamas (tentative)19
Matthew Blood17

Scorpions Ball

Our monthly Scorpions Ball session for newcomers age 5-11 is next on Thursday, October 22 at 6:30 PM. Be sure to sign up at USA Water Polo for the required “Splashball Pass Holder” membership if you have not already. Coach Hayley will be leading the session. Bring a friend!

Sunday Practices

We plan to add practice times on Sunday in order to take advantage of having the whole deep-water pool for training. It will tentatively begin in November (on Sundays that are not already occupied by other events) from noon to 2:00 PM.

Coach Shannon, Esq.

Austin College is featuring its water polo athletes in their “Meet the ROOs” series. Coach Shannon with the social media pub!

Have a great week everyone,

James

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Youth Athletes Excel, Weekend 1 of Central Texas Festival

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Central Texas Festival

14u Co-ed Squad Remains one of the Toughest in Texas

Our 14u coed team finished the Central Texas Festival on Sunday at Micki with a convincing win over Lake Jackson to bring the weekend record to 3-1. Two other big wins over Cy-Fair and Viper Pigeon and a tough loss to Thunder rounded out AquaTex’s first competition in Texas since the spring. Together they demonstrated how their hard work pays off, and will continue to as we get ready for Thunder’s Texas Challenge Cup on November 14 and 15. Well done to Joey, Riley, Morgan, Aaron, Kelly, Austin, Luca, Jacob, Cruz and Landon.

AQTX 14u Co-ed, masked and IDs checked

Young 12u Squad Takes Down Triumph

The young and developing 12u coed team let by Coach Tom notched a win versus Triumph and fell to teams from Viper Pigeon, Lone Star/Mavericks, and Thunder over at Milburn Pool in Cedar Park. With most of those athletes back in the pool just in the past couple weeks it was great to see them competing again under somewhat normal conditions. Nice work by Cruz, Landon, Nick, Tristan, Jake, Daniel, Maddox, Pierce, Laird and Silas over the weekend.

You can find all the tournament results here.

Weekend 2 Coming Fast

18u Boys and Girls Lined up to Compete

Meanwhile we get ready to do it all over again, this time with 22 games at Micki on Saturday and Sunday the 10th and 11th. Our 18u boys and girls teams are rostered below and a schedule for the event should be out early this week.

18U Boys18U Girls
Greysen GadersonGwen Sloat
Axel HaydtCate Sloat
Evan SayerValeria Ortiz
Tomas ChuKateryna Ortiz
Cole KershnerCammie Shaulfelberger
Caleb MoodyMorgan Spooner
Owen MurphyNilmary Padilla
John ‘Jack’ WatersElla Thomas
Matthew ‘Will’ WheelerEllen Larson
Nicholas AdrianBarbara Kulchisky
Chase Kershner
Michael Morrison II
Alexander Thulin
Luca de Araujo
Riley Dixon
Cameron Spooner
Alexander Thulin

Volunteers

Our parents and athlete volunteers were fantastic this past weekend and we want to match that level of excellence this coming weekend. The game schedule will be out shortly but take a(nother) moment to fill out the slots that are open on our volunteer worksheet.

Update your USAWP Profile Pic

The tournament served as a reminder that some of our athletes have photos on their USAWP ID’s from several centuries ago. Parents, please go update or add a photo to your athlete’s profile at usawaterpolo.org. ID’s are getting checked at every USA Water Polo event so we need that process to be as smooth as possible.

Jolyn

I sent the Jolyn suits back to Santa Barbara and it didn’t turn out to make financial sense for us to pursue a custom set of gear for our female players. The orders would be just too small. But, speaking of which…

Order AquaTex Suits (Please)

As I mentioned on last week’s pre-tournament Zoom meeting with our parents, we purposely do not have a lot of rules on this club so that our families can do what generally suits their best interests. We do not require athletes to purchase custom AquaTex suits (as nearly every other club in Texas does) but, it is safe to say… I really want every athlete wearing an AquaTex suit at our competitions!

RYTE Sports has been very good to us and is among the lowest cost, highest quality custom water polo suit in the USA. Plus, it gets shipped directly to your home. No bulk ordering necessary. Please strongly consider ordering an AquaTex suit if your athlete does not already have one so we can look as good as possible on the pool deck. Ord

er now to (hopefully) receive a suit prior to the Texas Challenge Cup on November 14-15. Thanks for supporting the club by doing so.

By the way, I’m in the process of ordering new custom AquaTex waterpolo caps. So it would be great to have suits to match.

See you masked on the deck,

James