Happy Holidays!

Written By Curt Odar

Happy Holidays Capital Families,

Thank you all for a great first half of the 2021-2022 season- we appreciate your players' efforts in and out of the pool, and we appreciate the great support from all of you parents. To those of you who are traveling over the holidays...safe travels and have good times with family and friends. We look forward to seeing everyone rested and healthy following the Holiday Break.

HOLIDAY BREAK:

  • December 24 through January 2

  • First practice is Monday, January 3

NOVEMBER COMPETITIONS:

Last month we sent three teams to Battle of the Bay in Tampa. It was a well run tournament and there was a good variety of competition for our teams. I caught some of our 14U team's games and it was really fun to see them in action. Our girls 18U got to play their games in an outdoor pool (what's not to love about that?) And huge congrats to our 16U boys who successfully defended their title from last year!

  • 14U co-ed team - 2 wins / 3 losses

  • 18U girls - 3 wins / 2 losses

  • 16U boys - 5 wins / tournament champions

UPCOMING COMPETITIONS:

  • There are currently no tournaments scheduled for 2022 in the Northeast Zone, but Coach Miras will be sending invitations out once an event has been scheduled that Capital teams can attend.

  • Orlando, FL - There is tentatively a 12U and 14U tournament being held in Orlando sometime in April. There is no specific date yet, but stay tuned for information once this event has been confirmed.

  • JO Qualifiers - usually these are conducted sometime in May. As soon as the Northeast Zone gives us information, Coach Miras will get it sent out to all of you.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

  • Starting in January, our 14U group will stay until 10 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

  • Our girls team will work with Coach Maddie for the last 30 minutes of practice on Wednesdays, and from 4-5:30 pm on Saturdays

JUNIOR OLYMPICS:

For families who are new to water polo, the USA Water Polo Junior Olympic Championships (also known as JO's) is the largest age group water polo tournament in the Nation. Athletes and teams come from across the country to compete on the national stage. The Junior Olympics Tournament consists of three divisions, the Championship Division, Classic Division and the Invitational Division- all of which are dependent upon the number of teams wishing to compete in that age group. Teams compete over a 4-day period within their respective age category. Each division has 48 teams, so this a really big tournament.

USA Water Polo has recently announced dates for the 2022 JO's. There will be three sessions this year, with attendance at Session 1 and Session 2 in California requiring qualification. Session 3 will be in Dallas, TX, and will be open to all teams from non-California Zones.

At this time, Capital's intention is to send multiple teams to these tournaments:

- 16U boys, 18U boys to Session 1 in California

- 12U boys, 14U boys, 14U girls and 18U girls to Session 3 in Dallas

This plan is subject to change, and is dependent on a couple things:

  • We will need to be able to field enough players to fill up a team roster- when Coach Miras sends out the tournament invitations in January- please make sure you confirm YES or NO as soon as possible. A deadline will be set for these confirmations.

  • Our teams will have to qualify to make it to JO's in California, but it is currently unclear as to how many teams from each age group will qualify. We hope to have more information from the Director of the Northeast Zone soon so we can start planning. Coach Miras spoke with him this past weekend and the information I'm giving you is as much as he was able to give Miras.

  • Although our 18U boys and 16U boys teams are both experienced and very competitive, there's no guarantee that any of our teams will qualify for California.

  • Depending upon how many players confirm, we may need to send a combined 12U boys / 14U boys to Dallas to compete as 14U.

  • Our girls 18U girls and 14U girls teams will need help from other team's girls to fill out complete rosters. Andy Menschler and Coach Miras are in communication with other teams, and it is Capital's intention to provide the opportunity for our girl's teams to compete at the national level this summer.

JO Tournament Dates:

Session 1: July 16-19 - Northern California

Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U

Session 2: July 21-24 - Northern California

Girls 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U

Mixed 10U, 12U

Session 3: July 28-31 - Dallas, TX

Girls & Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U

Mixed 10U, 12U

Girls 10U

CAPITAL Uniform and Swag Order:

The Capital uniform and swag store is almost ready to go live, and we are aiming to have something sent out in the next couple days. We appreciate your patience. If you or your player would like a suit or t-shirt from previous years...or a water bottle, magnet, etc..please contact Jennifer Csaszi at: csaszicsalad@gmail.com. She has possession of our previous year’s uniform items.

Curt Odar
Previous

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!