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Competitive 12U/14U Program

The Spring/Summer program will be ending with National Junior Olympics at the start of August. Competitive athletes are STRONGLY encouraged to participate in the Fall Youth League to prep for the Fall/Winter Competitive Program that will run from mid-October through the beginning of February.  

2010 Spring/Summer Competitive 12U/14U Program
 

NEW USWP AGE GROUP GUIDELINES

12 & Under means you are 12 or 11 on July 31 (boys) or August 5 (girls)
14 & Under means you are 14`or 13 on July 31 (boys) or August 5 (girls)

Basically, they moved the cut off to the first day of Junior Olympics.

The Competitive 12U/14U Program is designed for boys and girls who have played at least one season of water polo and want to play at a more competitive level. Practices will be led by our most experienced coaches. Athletes are expected to commit to make all practices and games.  

We will field 12U and 14U boys and girls teams. We will field multiple teams in each age group in which there is sufficient interest by qualified athletes.

Who can/should tryout? Anyone that very good swimming ability can tryout. At least one season of  club experience is helpful, but not absolutely necessary to try out. If you are selected onto the team, you will need to make a commitment to attend all practices and scheduled events (barring emergencies and approved absences). If you want a memorable experience with other hard working and accomplished young men and women, you should try out to play in this competitive program.

Tryouts will be held on the following dates and times:

BOYS: Saturday, February 20 at Rio Americano: 12U 10:00-11:30am; 14U 11:30-1:00pm

Make up Boys (12U and 14U) Tue, February 23 from 6:00-7:30pm at Rio Americano

GIRLS: Sunday, February 21 at Rio Americano: 12U 11:00-12:30am; 14U 12:30-2:00pm

Make up Boys (16U and 18U) Thu, February 25 from 6:00-7:30pm at Rio Americano

Participants will be selected to this program based on the tryouts as well as past club experience. PLEASE REGISTER ONLINE PRIOR TO THE TRYOUTS. There is NO FEE to try out.

Practice Groups: We will divide the 12U and 14U boys and girls into two practice groups based on ability. These groups will be coed and will practice back to back on the same days and will be coached by the same set of 12U/14U coaches. For purposes of scheduling, these two practice groups will be called Youth Blue and Youth Gold. For planning purposes, the more experienced players will be in the Youth Blue group and the less experienced players will be in the Youth Gold group.

Practices will be held as follows:

March 2-May 13

Youth Blue Group: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-6:15pm at American River College

Youth Gold Group: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:45-7:30pm at American River College

May 17-June 10

Youth Blue and Youth Gold Group: M/W or T/TH at time TBD at American River College

June 14-July 30

Youth Blue and Youth Gold Group: three practices a week at time TBD and at site TBD

Conditioning is a critical part of fielding truly “competitive” water polo teams. Competitive 12U/14U Program participants are all required to maintain their swim conditioning throughout the entire season. All participants are strongly encouraged to join a competitive swim team. We will also offer conditioning sessions (more information will be released soon.

Game and Tournament Schedule

California Cup - Northern California Division: This is a new league that will be played through the spring. The top teams at the end of this league will compete against the top teams from the Southern California Division, with the top 8 from that State Championship Cup to advance directly to the US Club Championships in July.

The 2010 CA Cup Dates will be:

12U/14U Boys and Girls: Saturdays – March 13, April 10 and April 24

Other Scheduled Games/Tournaments (other dates will be added as scheduled):

State CA Cup Championships (if qualify) - 12U/14U Boys/Girls - May 21-23 - Irvine, CA

Zone Junior Olympics Quals - Boys - June 19-20 - site TBD

Zone Junior Olympics Quals - Girls - June 26-27 - Modesto, CA

US Club Championships - 12U Boys/Girls - July 1-3 - site TBD

US Club Championships - 14U Boys/Girls - July 9-11 - sites TBD

National Junior Olympics - Boys - July 31-August 3 - Los Angeles

National Junior Olympics - Girls - August 5-8 - Los Angeles

To register, click here. Program fee is $575.

Please REGISTER for the program PRIOR to the tryouts. You will not be charged until after being selected and starting practices (approximately March 10).  If you have concerns about the fee and payment, please contact us to see how we can help.

Participants must also be Gold members of USA Water Polo.

The program fee is reflective of the actual costs of running the program (pool rental, coaches’ stipends, equipment, entry fees, administrative costs, etc) and is especially in line with the actual numbers (expenses, income and net loss) from 2009. The program fee comes out to about $8/hr for practice time only, significantly lower when games/tournament time is factored in. When compared to other comparable water polo programs, such as the Olympic Development Program ($800 for 40-60 hrs) or a typical college water polo day camp ($500+ for 30-40 hrs), the American River WPC Competitive Program is more than competitively priced considering the nationally recognized caliber of our coaching staff. Furthermore, when compared to other youth competitive sports, such as soccer, volleyball or softball, the ARWPC fee is as much as 1/5 of comparable programs.