It’s way too early, but for anticipatory/organizational purposes, I am starting this thread in the hopes of avoiding the chaos of having all age groups discussed on a single board this year when it comes to the age group season. Will start a board for 12u boys, as well.
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Top 20 14u Boys Water Polo Teams
week #5 – forty-three weeks to JOs
#1 NORCAL– Two years ago, this team dominated the 12u landscape. NORCAL has held on to almost everyone from the national championship winning 12u team, and NORCAL 14u Head Coach Caleb Conroy is solid. They are the team to beat.
#2 Channel Islands United – This group finished third in 12u at the 2024 JOs, and the coaching staff has a new 14u national championship trophy from the most recent JOs. CIU is the tyrannosaurus running down the green NORCAL Ford Explorer.
#3 Mission – Came in eleventh as 12u in 2024, and have added serious talent from other clubs since then. Head Coach Jon Barnea will have this team ready to do damage.
#4 San Diego Shores – In 2024, SD Shores finished 12u in eighth but through a combination of quiet development and transfers, this club consistently turns their two-year-ago-12u team into much better 14u team. This could be the best SD Shores 14u team we’ve seen in a while.
#5 LA Premier – Finished in the fifth spot two years ago as 12u and have held on to every player from that team. This could be a very good year for LA Premier.
#6 Vanguard – In 12u to 14u, teams don’t get more consistent than Vanguard. The 2022 12u team finished 8th and the 2024 14u team finished 8th. The 2023 12u team finished 19th and the 2025 14u teams finished 19th. The 12u team from 2024 finished 6th and that is where I’m starting their 2026 14u team this season.
#7 Del Mar – In what was looking to be a rebuilding year, Back to School showcased a Del Mar team that appears to have already rebuilt using key players transferring in from last season’s LJU 13u team.
#8 Shore-SCAR – This is a “temporary” super-team with big guns from Long Beach Shore, Trojan, Palos Verdes, and LAWPC. The team includes, by my count, four JO-15 aged players. It was constructed for the purposes of challenging Channel Island’s bid in CCA for Champion’s Cup. This super-team will dissolve at the conclusion of Champion’s Cup on November 9th. Until that time, they look formidable.
#9 Stanford – Nearly everyone from Stanford’s 9th place 12u team two years has been retained, and they hold on to that 9th place spot to start this season.
#10 La Jolla United – Made it to the 12u championship game two years ago, and their 13u team played strong enough to crack the 14u top-20 list last year. On paper, this team should be a top contender in 14u, but there are rumors this team is imploding. LJU could be solid or could be a car crash.
#11 Patriot – Finished the 2024 12u JOs just off the podium in fourth, but they haven’t held on to all of the talent from that squad. Patriot has the pipeline and the coaching staff but will need to build into the season.
#12 Newport – Thirteenth was where Newport 12u finished two years ago. Transfers could change things but I want to see games played before moving them up.
#13 Palos Verdes – I wrestled with this one. PV is clearly building something, but they are also involved in the Shore-SCAR super team. Originally, I intended to not give any of the alliance members an individual spot on this list, but broke my own rule on account of every PV member on that super-team AFAIK is JO-15. Having no 14u players on the super team is the justification I’m using to give PV 14u their own spot here.
#14 908 WPC – They lost a couple of players from their 2024 12u team to Devil’s Gate last season but their pipeline seems healthy and the coaching staff is top level.
#15 680 Drivers – Held the 15th spot by the end of 2024 JOs in 12u. Held on to almost all of the players from that team. Held on to the 15th slot in this list.
#16 CC United – Ended the 2024 JOs in 17th and it appears they’ve held on to every player on their roster. I would not be surprised in the least to see this team rise in the coming weeks.
#17 Greenwich – 2024 was a down year for Greenwich 12u. They finished the season in 19th place. The coaching staff is tremendous, as evidenced by their second overall place in 14u less than two months ago. It will be fun to watch this team develop over the course of the season.
#18 ORWP – If any team in club water polo brings more passion to the pool deck and stands than ORWP, I don’t know who that team is. The team looked great at Back to School and I’m here for it.
#19 Lamorinda – Lamo teams aren’t usually this far down on a top-20 list. Indeed, Lamo 14u finished in 8th place 7 weeks ago. There is no getting around that in 2024, Lamorinda’s 12u A team finished in 21st place.
#20 SOCAL – Two years ago SOCAL 12u finished in 12th, but this past weekend SOCAL got worked by ORWP and Del Mar 13u at Back to School. I had heard that one of SOCAL’s key players was sick, but there is cause for concern.
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Last year patriots gk moved to Newport this year.
Noticed that Miramonte Water Polo Club was one of the clubs established in the new USAWP instagram post. Any insight to what this means for lamo/ccu and current players there who attend mira? Will all players at mira now have to compete with this new club similar to how socal schools now operate? @jeff any insight?
The new Miramonte Water Polo Club is a girls’-only club, led by John Roemer and others. Knowing John, I doubt he would require Miramonte high school water polo players to play for the Miramonte Water Polo Club, but my guess is that most will choose to do so. If so, Lamorinda will no longer be a top 5 girls’ club and Diablo will not be as strong as they have been in recent years. In my opinion, Miramonte is the only public high school in Northern California that could compete at the highest levels of club water polo while operating as a closed club.
Elsewhere in the forest, supporters of the Miramonte boys’ water polo program have formed the Orinda Water Polo Foundation to, among other things, raise money to improve Miramonte’s facilities. At least for now, the Orinda Water Polo Foundation does not intend to field boys’ club teams.
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Some years, yes. This year, probably not. It is not clear if they are a top five Bay Area hs program this year. And there are also solid teams outside the Bay Area. Miramonte lost to Arroyo Grande 7:12, for example.
So what happens with the year round lease that Lamo has on Miramonte?? My understanding was all the pools in that area are fully booked. Sounds like it could get nasty.
Wait, you mean high schools have pools? Asking for some friends in Coastal San Diego.
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14 & under scores - NorCal 7 Stanford 5, Stanford 12 Lamo 11, NorCal beat Lamo
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14u PSW Champions Cup Qualifier Results today:
La Jolla United over Del Mar, 8-5
Shores over Del Mar, 5-3
La Jolla United over Shores, 13-7
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CC Qualifiers:
PSW:
- La Jolla
- SD Shores
- Del Mar
CST:
- Shore Scar “super team”
- LA Premier
- CIU
Any others? I believe SOPAC qualifier is this next weekend.
Were these qualifier games for Champions Cup or no?
Based on La Jolla United’s recent social media posts, yes.
I was referencing the games played in NorCal.
PAC, PNW, and SPA’s Champion’s Cup Qualifiers are this coming weekend.
NEZ, MDW, and SWZ Champion’s Cup Qualifiers are October 4-5.
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Given the recent news about Florida possibly discontinuing HS water polo, I hope SEZ can send a team to Champions Cup this year. Also, would be nice to see MTN send a roster.
In 2022, only 8 zones sent teams, and in 2023 only 7 zones participated.
A lot of money for a trip that doesn’t have many of the best teams.
Noted, @polo^3, but that’s almost always the case with a small field and auto-invites to each zone. That said, how would the zones that don’t regularly compete against nationally ranked competition get that experience for their 14u/8th graders?
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So much for the rumor LJU 14’s was imploding. They pretty much smashed both Shores and Del Mar.
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They definitely earned early season bragging rights. The win against SD Shores was especially impressive as Shores’ roster included at least one JO-15 aged player. LJU will be moving up in the next ranking.
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