Online Chalk Talk

E92B005D-2F77-46CD-88A5-3EEAEA251D79_1_105_c

New cages, chalk talks, Texas Challenge Cup

, , , , , ,

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

8CE8082D-8EAC-4D97-9058-1DC283737F58_1_105_c

Central Texas Festival Ends Epic Three Weeks For AQTX Waterpolo

, , , , ,

It’s fair to say that this has been the busiest and most consequential three weeks in AquaTex Waterpolo history. The Southwest Zone held its first ever clinic at our pool in Round Rock on September 25-26 with great results followed by the biggest tournament ever hosted by AquaTex spanning the following two weekends.

So it has to be said up front: my genuine thanks for everyone who volunteered to make the weekend as big a success as it was. Your good work was noticed and mentioned by many people who attended. Thank you.

Central Texas Festival

The response has been huge. AquaTex and our friends at Zilla put on the first USA Water Polo tournament in the US since March hosting 74 games (!) played by nearly 40 teams from as far away as Ventura, California. The feedback has been great (check out the kind words in our Twitter mentions and Instagram feed) from so many who were there.

Meanwhile, while our families toiled on the deck we actually played a bunch of games too, with the 14u and 12u mixed teams finishing well on the fourth and our older players getting four games of quality water polo this past weekend.

18u Girls

…had a challenging weekend with a short roster, some very new athletes, and a big win on Sunday over Lone Star/Mavericks to end the tournament on a high note. The team fell to some very experienced teams from Cowtown, Thunder, and Viper Pigeon but showed genuine improvement as the weekend progressed. Yet more hard work and demonstrable learning by Kendall, Morgan, Cammi, and Nilmary along with their Longhorn friends.

18u Boys

The team was so big we were able to basically play an entirely AquaTex lineup for periods of time. And the boys did well against another group of very strong and experienced opponents. They finished Saturday with a decisive win over Cowtown, but fell to Lone Star/Mavericks, Southside, and Viper Pigeons. Great work and improvement, again, by all our boys: Riley in goal and the field, Alexander (with the goal of the weekend, probably), Mac, Aaron, Luca, and Cameron.

Final results for the 18u brackets are online here.

It was a great way to get mentally ready for the next level of competition on November 14-15 in Lewisville at the Texas Challenge Cup. We’ve already entered a 14u mixed team and will likely do the same for 12u mixed, 18u, and maybe 16u if Thunder schedules it. As I mentioned in a recent Zoom call, we will continue to expand the amount we compete. It’s an exciting time for the club.

Ok, how about a photo gallery of the 14u team (will share pics of the other teams as soon as I can)? My thanks to James Jacks, a huge supporter of water polo and the parent of a Viper Pigeon we played against.

Scorpion Ball

Our next session (formerly Splashball) is on Thursday, October 22 with Coach Halyey. The program is for kids age 5-11 and is a fun, safe way to churn some shallow water and throw a ball around. For more info visit our programs page or contact us.

Thursday Chalk Talk

Parents, our athletes should be aware of our (mostly) regular meetings via Zoom on Thursdays at 7:30 PM. Given the lack of teaching time and facilities at Micki this is a vital way for us to learn about how we want to play the game. It should not be considered optional and we’re working on ways to test the athletes about what they’ve learned. For those who absolutely must miss these sessions they will be recorded and are expected to be watched. A Zoom invite should arrive via email and GroupMe.

Volunteer Hours

My genuine gratitude for all the volunteer help this weekend was accompanied by a feeling that our athletes should be rewarded for how much they contribute to the club while not in the pool. Expect to see a Google survey asking you to track the number of hours you worked at the desk or elsewhere during this past tournament.

TAGS

It sounds like TAGS will take place in North Texas in early December. The annual USA Water Polo tournament is for teams comprised of 9th graders and younger, and 7th graders and younger. You can bet we will be entering at least one team. Precise date and location to be determined.

Thank you all, and I’ll see you on the deck.

James

14uZillaScrimmage2020

Central Texas Festival Details, and We Finally Scrimmage

, , , , , , , ,

Central Texas Festival

It’s on! USA Water Polo, along with local hosts AquaTex and Zilla, will put on the first full-contact sanctioned water polo tournament in Texas since the lockdown.

Here are some details about the Central Texas Festival from USAWP:

The USA Water Polo – Central Texas Festival will be played over two weekends in early October in North Austin. The 14U & 12U Mixed Divisions will play on October 3-4 in Cedar Park at the Elizabeth Millburn Park Pool in Cedar Park, TX. The 18U/16U Girls & Boys Divisions will play on October 10-11 at the Mikki Krebsbach Swimming Pool in Round Rock, TX.

Spreading the tournament out over two weekends allows for us to maximize team entries and have the most flexibility with planning the event. This event will be a USA Water Polo run tournament, and [Joe Linehan] will supervise/oversee the tournament with local club hosts Aquatex and Zilla…

The four divisions for the Central Texas Festival will be:

  • 18U/16U Girls (a single division, possibly “A” and “B” brackets)
  • 18U/16U Boys (a single division, possibly “A” and “B” brackets)
  • 14U Mixed
  • 12U Mixed

The Age as of Date for all divisions will be August 1, 2020. All teams will receive a minimum of four games in a “festival” style format over the two day tournament. The hope is for all clubs throughout the Southwest Zone that want to participate will be able to participate in the event. “B” Teams will be permitted to play in the tournament if space is available.

AquaTex Team Entries

AquaTex has already entered and paid for a 14u mixed team to play in the tournament. We will also add at least one 18u team which would include many of our 14u athletes in addition to our high schoolers (AquaTex and Longhorn). The 14u athletes will get eight games total. I’ll be discussing with Coaches Tom and Allie from Longhorn if there are enough athletes to field a girls’ 18u team, or maybe more. #Excited

Volunteers

Unwritten in the note above is that there is some chance that we will host some games at Micki on Sunday, October 4 in addition to definitely hosting the weekend of October 10-11. We’re going to need our best ever turnout for volunteers: desk workers, covid monitors, entry gate personnel, concessions (if we choose). We already know there are two teams from California who have asked to register so it will be a very popular weekend of competition. We’re very pleased to have our friends from Longhorn training with us and playing on AquaTex teams, so we are grateful for Longhorn and AquaTex families pitching in.

Zilla Scrimmage(s)

It was simply amazing to be back in the pool playing actual water polo last Saturday at Milburn Pool with Zilla. Our 14u athletes showed genuine progress with all the work we’ve been doing, as did our high school team, which faced some very talented Zilla players. Those scrimmages will take place every other Saturday at Milburn so we will plan on copying the routine we used last Saturday: practice, break, scrimmage. Thanks to everyone who came and to Kristin Gordon for the photo!

These scrimmages are not mandatory but I can’t stress how important it is for our athletes to actually execute the things they learn in practice during competition. This is a chance to do so at no cost. These should not be considered optional unless there is good reason to miss it. And as I mentioned to everyone on Saturday, the scrimmage is not a replacement for practice. If an athlete has not been to enough practices he or she will not be allowed to play. #beyourbest

Saturdays Hiatus

Our youth and masters players get a month worth of Saturdays off. All waterpolo is cancelled for Sept 19 (AQTX Swim Meet), Sept 26 (USA Water Polo ODP), Oct 3 (HS swim meet), and Oct. 10 (Central Texas Festival at Micki).

Weekly Online Learning

Athletes should keep an eye open for the link to our Thursday night Zoom chalk talks. These are required of all our athletes since we do not have classroom facilities at Micki where we could do it in person.

Jolyn Fitting

The fitting suits are here. You can try them on for the next week or so at practice.

Olympic Development Program at Micki

Registration is open for the girls’ Olympic Development Program clinic at Micki on September 26. The boys’ sold out in less than 72 hours so we’re looking for the same from our local female athletes.

Scorpions Ball

A reminder that Coach Hayley is back to lead our Scorpions Ball program which will start the fall on Thursday, September 24 from 6.30 PM to 7.30 PM. The program is for athletes age 5-11, designed to provide basic skills and understanding of the sport of water polo in a fun, dynamic, safe, and easy to learn aquatic experience. It costs $5/session and $10 annual USA Water Polo fee. The registration process is new and simpler (and mandatory). Click here for the link.

New Podcast

I founded the brand Total Waterpolo in 2008 and have finally put a podcast out there to expand its coverage. The first edition includes my conversation with Preslav Djippov, who is the new head coach at Westcliff University in Irvine which is fielding a varsity team for the first time ever. And my colleague Michael Randazzo speaks with the father-daughter combination of Nathan and Nioka Thomas, he a two-time Olympian, and she an incoming freshman at UC Irvine. Subscribe on many of the most popular platforms and tell a friend.

See you on the deck,

James