The Champions Cup is a 14u AND 8th grade tournament. Here are the age rules from USAWP:
Athlete Requirements
The Champions Cup is a 3 day 14 & Under and 8th Grade & Under [emphasis added] National Championship
Athletes must be 14 or younger as of 8/1 in the year that the championship is held [emphasis added]
Athletes must be in the 8th grade or under
NO International Athletes allowed
15 athletes per team max
Gold level membership required
Birth date verification required
Club affiliation required
Proof of grade required
Photo ID check prior to every game
From my experience, I’ve sent a 10 year old player (who just aged up) to Rocktober to play with kids who just aged up to 14u (but never the other way around), and I’ve shipped a player (2x) to Champions Cup to play against kids who just aged up from 12u as well as kids who just aged up from 14u. For both players, the experience of playing away from CA was meaningful, and I didn’t get the sense that a newly minted 12u was getting worked over by ex-14u players. For the middle schooler, traveling to Indiana and to Chicagoland was also great.
I gave the links before (embedded in the JOs link) but here are the rules more explicitly (from the Athletes/Age Eligibility section of this link: Members - USA Water Polo ). I believe you’re right @NLM, that there is little discretion involved. A player who turns 19 on or before the August 1 of his/her senior year of HS (in the US) can fill out some paperwork and be allowed to compete with the 18u roster (essentially making it 19u for JOs, for those who choose to complete the paperwork to be able to play).
“Junior Olympics Exemption
Regardless of Age Eligibility requirement for domestic participation listed above, current U.S. athletes who are 19 years old and in their high school graduating class of the year in which JOs is held may still be allowed to participate in the 18&U Division of National Junior Olympics. Ex: If you graduate in June of 2016 and will turn 19 on July 26th - you are still eligible to participate in the 18&U Division at the 2016 National Junior Olympics.
To apply for this exemption - please complete the JO 18U Age Exception Form PRIOR to the applicable roster deadline (See roster deadlines HERE). Please allow for additional processing time before roster submission.
Athlete must request an Official transcript from their high school (U.S. based schools only) sent to the USAWP National Office for arrival AT LEAST 1 WEEK PRIOR to roster deadline. This transcript must be mailed or hand-delivered to USAWP in a sealed envelope directly from school with official school seal - any transcripts that have been opened will not be accepted. Note: transcript will be used to confirm year in school only. This will not be used for any other purpose. International transcripts not accepted.
USA Water Polo will contact coach and athlete with application status after receiving required information.
Please send official transcripts to:
USA Water Polo
Attn: Junior Olympics
6 Morgan Suite #150
Irvine, CA 92618”
In San Diego Section (I have not checked other sections), 20 year old HS students are not eligible to play interscholastic sports (Bylaw 203).
Whether a youth athlete is mature enough to start school at age 5 or age 6 is informative, but not dispositive, of whether s/he can make the grade all the way along to HS. And size is but one factor in a parent’s decision to send the child to school. My point is that there may be zero difference between an 8th grader who’s 16u (because born on August 1) and an 8th grader who’s 14u (because born on August 2). Heck it’s possible that identical twins could be born before and after midnight from August 1 to August 2. These siblings would be in different age brackets every other year and the younger sibling could be more developed physically.
Missing a lot of the top teams. I wonder if they didn’t win quals in their zone or didn’t enter. My guess is the latter. How many of these teams were added to fill zone no-show spots? Still should be a good tournament. I believe half of the Shore SCAR “super team” (5 or 6) are ineligible for 14u JOs this year. Predicting Shore “super team” versus LJ United in the finals.
Only 2 of the players on the Shore SCAR team are ineligible for 14u JOs this year. A few of the boys have just been playing up in age group in their older year
LA Premier was offered the CST zone’s second allocation and passed on it. Hence, CIU (who took 3rd in the qualifier) is now in.
Newport and Vanguard did not try to qualify.
Just about every team in Norcal tried to qualify and the top two teams from that qualifier are represented in the tournament.
What other top 14u boys’ teams do you think are missing?
I actually just don’t think the field is particularly deep in 14u boys this year. The Patriot Invite last weekend definitely featured 5 of the top 10-12 teams (as of October) by my estimate.
Of the teams who have not been playing much this fall, I do think LA Premier will be strong this year and possibly Del Mar after their high schoolers return. Hard to say when they haven’t really been competing to my knowledge, but both were top 7 two years ago.
We’ll begin to see what teams will look like for JOs once we get into winter. Lots of unknowns with older kids leaving and 14u HS kids returning. I haven’t seen LA Premier. They dropped out of the Patriot Invite which was disappointing.
I’m not understanding the concept mentioned in several posts of high schoolers returning to their 14u teams at the end of the season. Who does that? If you are in high school, why wouldn’t you be playing with most of your high school teammates on a 16u team?
It’s rare, but there are some freshmen that will still be 14u eligible for JOs. Also rate, there are a few 15u ineligible athletes that are in 8th grade. They can play 14u in the fall (big school season) but must move to 16u for winter session.
Yes, with the JO cutoff of August 1 and the school cutoff of September 1, a kid who was born on August 15, 2011 would be 14u eligible this year while a young freshman in high school.
That said, you raise a good point. If I’m a kid with an August birthday and a season of high school water polo under my belt, does it make sense for my development to return to 14u water polo in December and play with and against younger/smaller kids, a size 4 ball, etc.? Probably depends on the kid.
As someone who has experienced this with different teams, I’m almost always in the camp of playing the year/summer at 14s if the option is available to them.
It gives them the opportunity to develop further on fundamental skills often associated with the 14U level whereas with 16s you are over the “am I serious about playing or not” phase and jump into being recruited. I had one player who was playing their first year of water polo and while they felt like they had missed out on being with their HS teammates they made Varsity as a sophomore which I think spoke to getting that confidence to play more minutes. They also provide leadership for their peers that may not happen if they play with their HS teammates who are used to them in a certain role. if anything sometimes it matured them to realize they’re the oldest in the group as it happens eventually as a Senior in HS
Playing with the 14u team can allow a player to develop offensively. Playing against older bigger players can sometimes hinder offensive development and creativity. Nothing wrong with being the star instead of someone that fills a role at 16 u.
In the Champions Cup game of the day, Mission took down the Shore SCAR “super team” 12-7. Brevin Kass scored 7 goals for Mission and Jack Bambury added 3 along with some great assists and defense.