The above bracket will be correct for most of the Championship age groups, but the 10u Girls bracket will likely be different. Having fewer than 48 teams in a division changes things a bit, and having fewer than 24 teams changes things a lot. Last year 10u Girls had 16 teams and bracketed out unlike what is pictured above.
Hello to any USA Water Polo representatives reading this forum,
Can I release the link to the girl’s rosters? I don’t need the link. I already have it. I will abide by any request to not release the link if you don’t want the information out there. Send me a DM and I will do as requested.
If I don’t hear one way or the other by 2PM Pacific, I’ll take it as a tacit approval to post the link.
Here are my predictions, often wrong, for the 18u age group:
SET. SET has good depth and is helped by the addition of Leland’s Chrissy Flynn. SET will have to beat a good SOCAL team to finish first in Group “M” play.
Newport Beach. Newport has the talent, depth, and coaching to finish first.
SB 805. 805 has the top-end talent to win but depth could be an issue.
Regency. Regency would probably be the favorites to win the 16u age group if their top 16u players played down.
Diablo. Diablo has great coaching, Cal’s Rosalie Hassett, and perhaps the top Class-of-2027 goalie (San Ramon Valley’s Shelby Killingsworth). This pick assumes that Diablo’s top 16u players focus on the 18u competition. Diablo will have to beat Lamorinda to finish first in Group “N” play.
SOCAL. SOCAL has a tough matchup against SET in Group “M” play.
Lamorinda. Lamo isn’t quite as good as they have been in recent years.
Legacy. If Legacy doesn’t beat 805 in Group “F” play, it will have to win several extra games to reach the semifinals.
SB 805 “A” team. The 805 “A” team has an excellent goalie (Reagan Mack, Dos Pueblos Class of 2027) and one of the most highly-regarded LH attackers in some time (Kiernan Hogan, SHP Class of 2027). The 805 “A” team has only 11 players on its roster. Injuries or red cards could affect the final results. How strong is 805’s 16u age-group program? The 805 “B” team (with a roster of 12 players) could finish in the top 8.
SD Shores. SD Shores has played well throughout the club season.
Newport Beach. This pick assumes that some of Newport’s top 16u players focus on the 16u competition.
Diablo
Regency. Regency’s final placement will depend upon whether its top 16u players focus on the 16u or 18u competition.
Lamorinda
Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz could finish ahead of Regency in Group “O” play. If so, it will finish in the top 6.
Clovis. Clovis could finish ahead of Regency in Group “C” play. If so, Clovis could finish in the top 6.
805 always has small rosters. I believe they had 10 (maybe 11) on the 14’s who won a year ago.
If they handle business it’s not an issue. If they find themselves having to play in the back way because of an early loss, the small roster becomes a problem.
As Jeff mentioned in his prediction post a big wildcard this year is how teams will handle players who are rostered on both 16s and 18s teams. Here are my predictions after Day 1 as we see how rosters have shaken out so far
18s
Lots of parity with many of these teams beating and losing to each other all summer. Will come down to who puts together a great weekend and some luck. My gut says Regency over Socal in the finals.
The Favorites - Socal/Set and Regency/805 are huge Day 2 matchups, winners of these games will have the inside track for the semis
Regency - 1st at Futures, 2nd at USCC, 2nd at Sopac JO quals
Socal - 2nd USCC, 1st at Sopac JO quals. Multiple significant pickups this summer from college bound players, ala Beast Boyz.
Set - 5th at USCC and 4th at JO Quals
SB805 - 4th at Futures, 1st USCC
The Contenders
Legacy - 2nd at Futures, 10th at USCC, 5th at Sopac JO quals. Large discrepancy in results this summer. 11-8 loss to SB805 on Day 1 means an uphill climb back to contention
Newport - 5th at Futures, 4th at USCC, 3rd at Sopac JO quals
Stanford - 3rd at Futures, 7th at USCC, 3rd at Pac JO quals. Tough to get a read on this team
Diablo - 6th at Futures, 9th at USCC, 2nd at Pac JO quals
Lamo - 7th at Futures, 12th at USCC, 1st at Pac JO quals
Bulldog - 8th at Futures, 6th at USCC
16s
Hard to call as these teams haven’t played each other much at full strength. My gut says Newport over SB805 in the finals
The Favorites
SD Shores - Won Futures 16u, 1 goal loss to Regency at the Newport Invite
Newport - Won 14s 2 years ago
SB805 - Won 14s last year and added the Stanford lefty mentioned earlier
Was really surprised by your comment about the coaching for Diablo. Then I took a peek at the coaching rosters; I had no idea Roemer went over to the Devils. Huge upgrade. . . .
