TAGS Recap
Our second TAGS tournament of the strange calendar year was a big success in Pearland last weekend. Our 8th grade u mixed team placed 7th and our 6th graders finished 5th in their bracket going 2-2 and 3-1 respectively. With our friends from Longhorn we featured a lot of newcomers to the sport who did great work. Particular kudos to Jordan and William who not only played in their first competition ever after less than two weeks of training, but each scored a handful of goals, found the open teammates for better shots, and never stopped hustling on defense! On that same 6th grade team Tristan dominated to the point where we had to reign him in.
Better to give Tristan room to excel for the 8th grade team, which he did (gotta love scoring while three defenders have their hands around your throat). Jacob continues to improve as an eager threat in front of the cage; Aaron maintains his habit of stealing the ball and terrifying the defense with speed; Ava was a revelation playing determined defense and scoring; and James loves to earn inside water so he can put the ball in the net. It was a great weekend for all those athletes, our friends from Longhorn, and AquaTex in general. Thanks to all the parents for being such great supporters while withstanding the equatorial climate! Check out the scores below, and take a look at the 2000+ photos of the tournament, including a good number featuring our athletes.
Saturday, April 24th
- 8:00 Pegasus-13 v. AquaTex-9 (14UM)
- 11:30 Viper Pigeons-13 v. AquaTex-5 (12U)
- 12:30 Viper Pigeons-17 v. AquaTex-13 (14UM)
- 4:00 AquaTex-19 v. Pegasus Red-5 (12U, B-3rd)
- 7:00 AquaTex-13 v. Triumph-6 (14UM, 7th-10th Semi)
Sunday, April 25th
- 11:00 AquaTex-18 v. Pegasus Red-4 (12U, 5th-7th RR)
- 1:00 Lake Jackson-4 v. AquaTex-10 (14UM, 7th Place)
- 2:00 Lake Jackson-9 v. AquaTex-13 (12U, 5th-7th RR)
TISCA West Region Championships
A huge number of AquaTex athletes are competing at this weekend’s West Region Championships in San Antonio, where high schools from between Waco and the Rio Grande Valley will compete to earn one of four spots at the state championship tournaments in the next couple weeks. This group of AquaTex high schoolers has improved enormously over the course of the past year and I can’t wait to see them make their mark this weekend. From a proud coaching staff, good luck to Riley, Cammi, Luca, Nilmary, Morgan, Nyla, Ian, Mac, Corina, Kendall, and Tailyn. I’ll be there on Saturday to cheer on all of them, Coach Alon, and Coach Matthew who will be refereeing (I might dispute some calls though, we’ll see).
Swim2Score
I’d love to report that our first Swim2Score session was a success. But then weather intervened last Friday. No worry; we’ll kick off our first session on Friday, April 30 with the usual 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM schedule. Read more about it here if you haven’t already. We’re excited to get started and have a good group of young athletes committed to attending
National Junior Olympics
Things are looking up for a Championship bracket, meaning many more allocated spots for the Southwest Zone. Nothing concrete but the news I’m getting sounds positive in several ways. We’re getting closer to our late May deadline when AquaTex and Longhorn athletes must commit to playing at both Southwest Zone Championships and National Junior Olympics. More info available here and will be updated as necessary.
USA Water Polo Admin
All our members are required to be members of USA Water Polo as you know. But please go back to your athletes’ profile to make sure there is a recent headshot uploaded and that his or her estimated high school graduation date is correct. The referees at events are becoming much more strict about these things so please get that done today.
Masters
Masters will take place this Sunday from noon to 1:30 PM, after our youth practice: $10 per player. AquaTex High School athletes are encouraged to join the scrimmage after practice (you gotta go to practice to play in a masters scrimmage).
See you on the deck,
James
