@marco Are all the CA zones in fact participating in the CA regional? if so, how many boys would you estimate in total that will be participating in the tournament?
Yes, all the CA zones are at the CA regional.
I havenât heard a total, but I can do some back-of-the-napkin math and guessing to get into the ballpark. My understanding is the regionals are loosely based on the PSW-SPA Evals from last year, in which each zone brought 3 teams of ~14 players for Development and Cadet. All five CA zones have A and B teams play at nationals in Development and Cadet.
For Development and Cadet, figure:
3 teams x 14 players x 5 zones each
For Youth, CEN and PSW only have a single team while PAC, SPA and CST/CCA each have two. Iâm not sure how that will affect the math at regionals.
Is this a tournament format?
I donât have any information on that yet.
The regional tournament (Coastal, SPA, and PSW) will be in February in San Diego.
Development: 36 field players and 6 goalies will be chosen from two zone camps.3 teams of 14 (2 goalies)
Cadet: 36 field players chosen and 6 goalies from two zone camps as well as from the December âAcademyâ Evaluation camp. 3 Teams of 14 (2 goalies)
Youth: 24 athletes chosen from two zone camps as well as 6 goalies as from the December âAcademyâ Evaluation Camp. 2 teams of 14 (2 goalies)
Note: There will a few athletes that could be moved up from various levels to help fill roster spots and/or if the coaches feel theyâre too dominant for their age group.
Note #2: All the teams should be equally competitive at the reginal tournament.
Goal: For each level (Development/Cadet/Youth) to create two teams for ODP Championships in March in San Diego. Two teams of 12 field players and 2 goalies.
Next, a number of athletes will be chosen for the NTSC Camp for their various age group.
- Usually 70ish for Development and 55ish for Cadet and Youthânot including goalie selections.
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Good info - with the holidays coming up, any idea on when invites for the Regional Tournament will go out?
This is all very helpful - thank you!
Does this mean that these posted dates and locations for the regional tournaments will soon be revised? Theyâre showing January right now and different locations for different age groups.
Dates and locations are accurate based on the emails selected players received.
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It should be this week.
This is a separate event. I believe this event is for players that did not sign up for any ODP zone camps, but I maybe wrong. ODP Zone Regionals in California have always been in February.
You and I have some very different information. The â3 equally competitive teams of 14â sounds like what Iâve been hearing, but not CST, SPA, and PSW only, and not in February. My understanding is that not only are PAC and CEN coming to the regional evaluation in January, but that invitation emails to some of the age groups in PAC and CEN have already been sent. Iâve also heard that CST has received invitation emails.
Is it possible you are thinking of a different, post-selection tournament that happens after the separated January evaluation tournaments that will be exclusive to CST, SPA, and PSW as a warm-up for nationals, and are mixing details of the evaluation events with that yet-to-be-announced tournament?
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Goodness, maybe another round? JFran, I love you but Iâm hoping youâve got bad info about February for these families.
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2026 CALIFORNIA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (NEW)
BOYS: January 10-11
Development: Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa
Cadet: Southwestern College, Chula Vista
Youth: Oxnard High School & Rio Vista High School, Oxnard
GIRLS: February 28 - March 1
All Age Groups @ Woollett Aquatic Center & TBD Irvine, CA
2026 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
BOYS: March 6-8
Chula Vista, CA and surrounding area
So thereâs a mandatory assessment event in ~ 3 weeks that requires travel (for many), and invitation letters havenât yet gone out? Awesome
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My apologies. I had a calendar that wasnât up to date. The January event is the regional tournament. There is no February event.
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Much of this is speculation on my part, but despite being called a âChampionshipâ, I donât expect any winning teams to be recognized at the Regional Championship. The brackets will be played round-robin.
This was the schedule from last yearâs SPA-PSW Evaluation Event:
The ODP Regional Championships played in Utah in 2022 had an expanded but similar round-robin structure.
The biggest difference between the Utah Regionals and the SPA-PSW Event were the way the clocks were handled. In Utah, they used 6 minute quarters with shot clocks. At SPA-PSW they used always-running scrimmage clocks.
The coaches use regular all-six-out, new-six-in rotations. The goal is to get everyone to play. NTSC studs get roughly the same amount of playing time as new kids taking a break from their 10u teams.
The note #2 from JFranâs post about âAll teams should be equally competitiveâ comes from the SPA-PSW Event where PSW built three teams all containing a mix of Academy superstars and ODP first-years. SPA didnât get that memo and showed up with an A, B, and C team. SPA A crushed everyone and SPA C was on the wrong end of blowouts all day. This year, donât worry if your kid is playing on the same team as a zone superstar. In theory, it doesnât matter and doesnât designate your kid as on the A, B, or elimination track.
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Not always the case but some of these teams have been determined alphabetically. No one should read anything into the rosters or the results, for that matter. Iâm with many others that think âChampionshipâ should not be used anywhere in the ODP process.
It appears that ODP is using a process similar to what has long been standard in non-CA zones. This is not a tournament, but rather a series of scrimmages in which each player receives equal playing time during the first three quarters. I believe the coach may play the âstartersâ more in the final quarter. The focus is not on winning or losing, but on evaluating individual talent. The teams are likely balanced in strength to make the scrimmages more useful for assessment. Good luck to all the athletes.
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Rosters at the January evaluation events for all three levels will be equally balanced.
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Does anyone know if emails regarding the SOPAC October and November evaluations have come out? Iâve got a December 2014, so Iâm not expecting him to make a team, but with my other child who has done ODP, we always received an email, either positive or negative. Iâd appreciate it if anyone has any information to share. Thanks.