We catch up with things with a very high school-centric note.
The High School Season
I start with massive congratulations to all our athletes who took part in the first-ever UIL high school season. You made your AquaTex coaches proud. Your first season was special with teams like Vista Ridge playing for the first time ever, while the Round Rock girls went undefeated until their Regional Semi-final loss on Saturday. What a tremendous season for all our athletes (including some newcomers we hope will join in the coming days!) and all the high school teams for which you stood out; and you did stand out.
It may go without saying but we want to leverage all that enthusiasm we saw among our high school athletes toward a successful summer of 2023.
One of the great benefits of UIL sponsorship of water polo this fall is that it makes the season more like those elsewhere in the USA. And yes, I mean California. There, you find that as soon as the fall high school season ends, planning and training for Junior Olympics, which take place the end of July each summer, begins. And now that’s our plan too. And to be very clear, that preparation leads DIRECTLY to being prepared for your high school season. That’s very true in California and we plan on making it so here.
So if you want to excel in the fall of 2023 for your high school team, we’re going to help you get there if you’re willing to put in the work.
So yes: genuine, hearty congratulations to you all. You’ve completed an historic season and did so with skill, class, and pride.
Now, let’s get to work.
Registration
Many of you have come to me eager about getting back in to training. I’m stoked! All lapsed members need to re-register with AquaTex if you have not already. I suggest doing so today. You will not be billed until Nov. 1 so you have over a week of free training. And as soon as you’re re-registered I’m able to use TeamUnify to communicate with you much more efficiently.
Tournaments
Alamo Classic
We are targeting the Alamo Classic as a big-time tournament return for our 18u and 16u athletes. It takes place November 5-6 at Alamo Heights. Follow that link to see who has already committed to play. And we need girls to sign up! We want that 18u girls team.
Coaches, including Longhorn’s, are talking about how we want our rosters to be. As of today AquaTex will field an 18u boys team that is pretty much exclusively AQTX athletes, an 18u girls team that is AQTX and Longhorn combined, and likely an AquaTex 16u boys team that will include select 14u athletes playing up, some of our 18u boys roster athletes, and any 16u girls who want more competition. Longhorn will field 18u and 16u boys teams separate from ours.
Classroom Work
We ask every high school athlete to have a notepad ready for the days when we are in the classroom. You will be required to take your own notes. We will also plan on viewing game film together. Plan on class taking place on Mondays. However… we are exploring the need for separate training times for our novice/age group athletes and our high school athletes. If there is enough demand we plan on doing so. But first, we need to see the demand. So come to practice and show us! Stay tuned
Uniforms
Finally, a reminder to all our families: an AquaTex competition suit and one AquaTex tee-shirt are required for each athlete, both available year-round in our shop. This is not optional. If you require assistance there is financial aid available; just let me know. Please place your order as soon as you’re registered with the club or after trying on a sample suit, which RYTE Sport sends us regularly.
RYTE has announced a new single-color women’s water polo suit which they will offer at the end of the month. We should have an AquaTex design complete and ready in our shop within a couple weeks. Retail price is $74 per suit according to RYTE.
We will no longer offer Turbo suits as their requirements do not fit the size of our club or our demand.
Jacob Gerakos, Academic All American
And this happened too. Well done Jacob!
So excited for this fall. See you on the deck.
