Southwest Zone Championships

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Parent Meeting, JOs, WTTS, Summer Schedule

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The high school season is over which means it is essentially summer. We have ambitious plans for the next few months and, as always, have to adjust our training schedule to fit the city’s summer needs. There is a lot here so, AquaTex families, please read it all.

Schedule Update

In order to maximize the amount of time we get in the deep pool we are doing our annual schedule changes. As always we attempt to keep all training updates current on our calendar.

May Training Schedule

Ends May 29

  • Mondays 7-9 PM, middle school & high school
  • Fridays 7-9 PM, middle school & high school
  • Saturdays 10 AM-noon, middle school & high school
  • Sundays 10 AM-noon, middle school & high school
  • Sundays 10:30-11:30 AM, Swim2Score
  • Sundays 11:30-1 PM, masters

Note that on Sunday the 29th, if we don’t cancel practice because we’ll be competing at WTTS, we will begin at 9:00 AM instead of 10:00 AM.

Tentative Summer Training Schedule

May 30 – July 8

High school and middle school

  • Mondays and Fridays 7:15 – 9 PM or earlier start if available.
  • Sundays 9-11 AM
  • Tuesdays 6-8 PM (subject to swim meet schedule)
  • Saturdays 9-11 AM (select Saturdays, when available)

Swim2Score

  • TBD but likely Fridays at 10:00 AM or Sundays at 9:00 AM

Masters Waterpolo

  • TBD but likely Tuesdays at 8 PM or Sundays at 8 AM

Summer Parent Meeting

Parents are asked to join us in a mandatory Zoom meeting with coaches on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:00 PM. We will cover details from both coaches and parents about our plans for Junior Olympics this summer, but also other stuff:

  • What are Junior Olympics and why should athletes participate?
  • What are the deadlines for committing, etc.?
  • Which of our teams are trying to qualify for Sessions 1 and 2 in NorCal, and which will register for Session 3 in North Texas?
  • Does my athlete’s team need to qualify for JOs
  • Which club, Longhorn or AquaTex, is fielding each team and who’s coaching?
  • How does travel work for AquaTex families going to JOs (or any other tournament)?
  • Which other tournaments, including Welcome to Texas Shootout, are we planning on registering for this summer?
  • What do we know about collegiate coaches scouting at JOs?
  • How are we preparing for the first UIL fall high school season?

We’ll share Zoom invites via GroupMe and email so if you’re new to the program please be sure to join the GroupMe and that we have a current, working email address. Contact me for a link to GroupMe and/or any email address updates, or if you have any topics you’d like us to cover.

Junior Olympics Qualifier & Festival

It’s confirmed that those teams that plan to register directly for JOs Session 3 in North Texas are invited to the Southwest Zone Festival, which takes place simultaneously with the Junior Olympic Qualifier Tournament June 10-12 at CyFair and other local pools. This tournament will help the Zone seed teams for JOs Session 3 so it is NOT considered optional. We will send our best rosters and try to get the highest seeds possible.

Roster Calls

Welcome to Texas Shootout

The deadline for us to register is Friday, May 20. Spaces are filling up so please go to the Tournament Commitment Google Sheet to make any updates. You can find tournament info, including current rosters, on the tournament event page.

National Junior Olympics

Again, filling up quickly. In particular we’re looking to add to the AquaTex 16u boys and 18u girls teams, and the Longhorn 10u team, headed to Session 3 in North Texas (breaking news). More info on the JOs Qualifiers page. The form for committing to play at JOs is different than our Tournament Commitment Sheet so please let me know if you need the link.

Other Stuff

Welcome Coach Tom

Not only did Cammi earn MVP honors from West Region Coaches for her high school season, we also now have in our presence the West Region’s Coach of the Year from Round Rock High School! I’m delighted that Tom Arredondo will be helping us coach this summer and hopefully beyond. He’s been the very successful swim coach at Round Rock HS for well over a decade and has coached the water polo teams on and off since it was created in (around) 2011. Welcome aboard, Coach Tom.

Speaking of Swimming…

I have been speaking with some of our athletes, especially our middle school-aged ones, about joining a swim team. I’d like to make that case more strongly to our parents whose athletes are not already part of a swim program.

Obviously our game depends on mobility, which means efficient swimming. As you can tell from our training schedule we have limited time to strictly develop swimming skills. And our coaching staff has been assembled not for teaching swim technique (though we all have some skills in that regard) but in technical and tactical water polo skills. That is our focus.

To put it directly, we need to improve our swimming skills and speed, especially among our younger athletes. So if your athlete is not already signed up for a team we suggest as strongly as possible that you do so. Of course, we want all our athletes to swim for AquaTex. But a summer league team can be a huge help, and we have athletes who swim for other programs as well. The point is simply that, we need to get faster and have more stamina. And it takes specific swim training to do so.

To be clear: swim lessons and recreational swimming on your own are not substitutes for training with a team with qualified coaches. If you are interested in playing water polo in college, for example, it’s a rare thing for someone to do so without some swimming background. Take a listen to my conversation with three-time Olympian and NCAA Champion coach at UCLA, Adam Wright, who makes specific reference to swimming skills as a requirement for water polo success (that discussion starts around the 24:00 mark, but do listen to it all!).

Contact me if you have questions but I hope you’ll take my point seriously and help our team get better more quickly. And, as always, thanks for your support.

Austin High School Rumors

It’s been mentioned by a few people that AISD schools are poised to drop water polo prior to the first UIL season this fall due to a lack of training facilities. That would eliminate programs for many of our friends at schools such as Austin, Anderson, McCallum, and LASA. My understanding is that at least a couple of those schools have already come to an agreement to use Austin city pools during the UIL season. We’ll share the news when those plans are final but I think the concern for those programs is premature… thankfully.

RRISD Natatorium

Travis Benson, one of our masters players and father to two of our awesome Swim2Score athletes, plays a key role in the construction of the new Round Rock ISD Natatorium. So here are a couple photos of what it looked like on April 28. Rumors are that it may open pretty soon.

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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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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USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics Session 3 – TEXAS

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USAWP Pool/Hotel MapUSAWP Blocked Hotels
TX JOs “Hot” ResultsTourney Schedule
Coaches: Know Before you Go

Competition Week

Finally! Now some details on our actual first day of competition as Longhorn.

For the first game of the day (and all others for 16u boys) plan to arrive one hour prior to listed start time to allow for locating the facility and pool site. A link to a map of all the locations is above. Your team coach will use the GroupMe to tell you where athletes are meeting pregame (contact Coach James or Coach Tom if you’re not on the GroupMe).

Update: I’ve removed first day game info because there were some changes made by USAWP after we first published it. Rely on the tourney schedule for locations and game times.

Team Info

10U Coed

12U Coed

14U Boys

16U Boys

  • Head Coach, James Smith; Assistants Alon Yoeli, Matthew Smiley

18U Girls

18U Boys

Key Deadlines/Events for AQTX and Longhorn Families

DateDeadline/Event
Tuesday, May 25Commitment Deadline: Athletes/parents will need to register online for the event with AquaTex and Longhorn
Thursday, May 27Online team registration deadline for the Southwest Zone Champs (NJO Qualifier)
Monday, June 7SWZ Zone Championships Roster Deadline (must be on roster to play at JOs)
Wednesday, June 9Athlete Requirements Deadline: athletes must be affiliated with their club via the USAWP portal, must be current members with Gold status, and provide birth certificate verification of their age. No exceptions.
Wednesday, June 9SWZ Zone Roster Lockdown Deadline. Roster changes made between June 7-9 incur a $100 penalty. No roster changes after June 9, no exceptions
Fri-Sun, June 11-13Southwest Zone Champs (NJO Qualifier), Cy-Fair Natatorium
Thursday, July 22 (est.)Final payment due for NJO’s trip costs
Sunday, July 25 (est.)Final rosters, schedules, detailed itinerary, etc. will be emailed
Thu - Sun, July 29 – Aug 1National Junior Olympics Session 3, North Texas

Teams

Longhorn and AQTX have begun accounting for all the athletes who are eligible for which teams this summer at JOs. And the news is good. Based on the total number of our players, plus some estimates regarding who is interested in going, we are aiming to field the following teams at JOs and SWZ Quals. The numbers take into account the ages of our athletes as of 8/1/2021. We can enter multiple teams per age group if the numbers of athletes are sufficient. Athletes CAN play up with older age groups as long as they are listed on all relevant team rosters.

Age Group/Gender12u mix18u boys18u girls
Qualification PlansQualify for session 2, NorCalQualify for session 1, NorCalRegister Session 3, Dallas
JO QualsJO QualsSWZ Festival
ClubLonghornLonghornAquaTex
Coaches (?)TomAlon, Kendall
AthletesDaniel ArmendarizAxel HaidtHelen Randle
Laird GreenBilly FlukingerSonia Randle
With TUSawyer JayasuriyaEvan SchafferBridget Guy
Signups 5/9Silas ChamasGavin OrrisCate Sloat
Lennon BeaversGreysen Gaderson
Robert RothManu Singhal
Rudy- Matheo GarciaMatthew GuyMorgan Spooner
Isabelle MorrisonOwen MurphyCorina Nunziata
Perrin MinterFlora Garcia
William PembertonAugust NordstedtIzzy Spencer
Alex CattersonKelly MurphyKendall Strauss
Thomas Woodley
Chase KershnerAmanda Easter
Evan Minter
Peter Wallace

Asked Questions

  • Athletes must compete at Southwest Zone Championships on June 11-13 to be eligible to play at JOs in July.
    • USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) has no connection with Junior Olympic competition. There is no requirement to participate in one in order to compete in the other.
  • USA Water Polo allocates limited numbers of spots for each Zone to compete at JOs. The number of teams per age/gender category are yet to be published but based on past experiences we are confident that at least one of each of our teams will qualify.
  • Athletes will need to be Gold members of USA Water Polo prior to Southwest Zone Championships.
  • Athletes are required to be affiliated with the club for which they are competing. We will provide a deadline for families to make necessary changes depending on which club will be the “lead” for each team.
  • AQTX and Longhorn will not be making travel arrangements for participating families, including ground transportation in North Texas.
  • Costs per athlete will cover coaches’ travel and time, tournament entry fees, and miscellaneous costs associated with participating. Amount and method of payment TBD.
  • Athletes will likely be required to have team gear (suit, shirt) for the trip (check out our online store!)
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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

Southwest Zone National Junior Olympics Qualifiers

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Required for any athlete interested in playing at National Junior Olympics (simplified to “JOs”). Follow that link for more details on both SWZ Quals and JOs.

Locations Map

  • All 18u and 16u matches: Cy-Fair Natatorium, 12550 Windfern Rd B, Houston, TX 77064
  • All 12u matches: Bridgeland High School, 10707 Mason Rd, Cypress, TX 77433
  • All but one 14u match: Cypress Ranch High School, 10700 Fry Rd, Cypress, TX 77433

Schedules/Results

18u & 16u boys/girls     14u & 12u boys/girls

Zone Championships and JOs Details

Rosters

Click the button below to see the latest list of athletes committed to the event.

Live Rosters
Spectators/Admissions

SWZ NJO Quals – Admissions: $30/Three Day Pass, $20 Saturday & Sunday Pass. Children 10U are free. Athletes participating in the event do not need to purchase tickets (they will receive a deck pass the first day of the event). Tickets are only available online. Please bring proof of purchase to the pool for the event. Spectators will be asked to leave the facility immediately after the conclusion of their games due to capacity issues.

Key Dates
DateDeadline/Event
Tuesday, May 25Commitment Deadline: Athletes/parents will need to register online for the event with AquaTex and Longhorn
Thursday, May 27Online team registration deadline for the Southwest Zone Champs (NJO Qualifier)
Monday, June 7SWZ Zone Championships Roster Deadline (must be on roster to play at JOs)
Wednesday, June 9Athlete Requirements Deadline: athletes must be affiliated with their club via the USAWP portal, must be current members with Gold status, and provide birth certificate verification of their age. No exceptions.
Wednesday, June 9SWZ Zone Roster Lockdown Deadline. Roster changes made between June 7-9 incur a $100 penalty. No roster changes after June 9, no exceptions
Fri-Sun, June 11-13Southwest Zone Champs (NJO Qualifier), Cy-Fair Natatorium
Thursday, July 22 (est.)Final payment due for NJO’s trip costs
Sunday, July 25 (est.)Final rosters, schedules, detailed itinerary, etc. will be emailed
Thu - Sun, July 29 – Aug 1National Junior Olympics Session 3, North Texas
Tournament Info (USAWP)

From USA Water Polo

All SWZ teams must enter the SWZ NJO Quals AND NJO’s by Thursday, May 27th in order to play at the USAWP National Junior Olympics Session #3, July 29-August 1 in North Texas. All athletes must still be gold members of USAWP, have their age verification complete, and be affiliated with the club they intend to compete at SWZ NJO Quals and NJO’s. The SWZ NJO Quals will be in Northwest Houston locally hosted by the CFWPC. The primary location is the CFISD Natatorium with secondary locations at Cy Ranch HS and Bridgeland HS. If only 1-2 teams enter a specific division, this division/teams will not play at the SWZ NJO Quals (and their Quals entry fee will be refunded).

Below is all the basic info for the upcoming SWZ NJO Quals and the SWZ NJO Quals/NJO’s Registration Process.

  • Dates: June 11-13, 2021. Games will begin on Friday morning, run all day on Friday/Saturday/Sunday morning, and then end around 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.
  • Primary Location: CFISD Natatorium, 12550 Windfern Rd, Houston, TX 77064. Two all deep courses running simultaneously.
  • Secondary Locations: Cy Ranch HS and Bridgeland HS. These are single course facilities reserved in case we need to have overflow games on Saturday/Sunday.
  • Athlete Requirements Deadline: Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 11 pm (CT), Roster Lockdown Deadline. Club Affiliation, Birthdate Verification, & Gold Membership.
  • Ineligible Athletes/Coaches: Any ineligible athletes or coaches will be removed from the roster on June 9th at 11:01 PM (CT), Roster Lockdown Deadline.
  • Schedule: An online schedule will be sent to everyone in early June (7-10 days prior to the event)
  • Spectators: Spectators will be allowed into the facilities for the games. There will be an admission charge at all locations.
  • Streaming: Clubs/teams will be allowed to provide a videographer for live streaming while providing their own equipment, platform, and wifi.
  • Tournament Hotel: There is no official tournament hotel [contact Danny Dixon for info on AquaTex’s unofficial hotel of choice]
National Junior Olympics Session 3, North Texas

Final zone allocations will be announced after June 1st. There will be a NJO Expo in North Texas. All-American selections will be made for each session. The facilities we have secured [for JOs in North Texas] will be allowing spectators to watch games (pools located throughout North Texas). Athletes may play in multiple divisions, but can only play for a single club. All updated info for Session #3 will be located at USAWP National Junior Olympics website.

Longhorn (AQTX) Fielded Teams
Age Group/Gender12u mix18u boys18u girls
Qualification PlansQualify for session 2, NorCalQualify for session 1, NorCalRegister Session 3, Dallas
JO QualsJO QualsSWZ Festival
ClubLonghornLonghornAquaTex
Coaches (?)TomAlon, Kendall
AthletesDaniel ArmendarizAxel HaidtHelen Randle
Laird GreenBilly FlukingerSonia Randle
With TUSawyer JayasuriyaEvan SchafferBridget Guy
Signups 5/9Silas ChamasGavin OrrisCate Sloat
Lennon BeaversGreysen Gaderson
Robert RothManu Singhal
Rudy- Matheo GarciaMatthew GuyMorgan Spooner
Isabelle MorrisonOwen MurphyCorina Nunziata
Perrin MinterFlora Garcia
William PembertonAugust NordstedtIzzy Spencer
Alex CattersonKelly MurphyKendall Strauss
Thomas Woodley
Chase KershnerAmanda Easter
Evan Minter
Peter Wallace
Longhorn

After discussing it with Coach Tom we’ve decided to compete as Longhorn this summer. By far the biggest reason why is that Longhorn simply has more athletes than we do. We could, for example, compete as AquaTex with our 16u boys because we have the most athletes. But some want to play for multiple rosters (16u and 18u for example), which would not be allowed if one team was AquaTex and the other Longhorn.

Earlier there was some doubt that Longhorn would be allowed by the University to compete under the Longhorn name. That has been clarified and now the club is allowed to do so.

We also felt it was better to field stronger teams combined with Longhorn rather than weaker ones with just AquaTex athletes. We could easily field our own 16u boys team, but it would include younger athletes that we’d prefer to compete within their own age group.

An imperfect solution but one I think is worth taking, especially given our good relations with Longhorn.