Probably something along the lines of 4 brackets of 4 teams. The top 8 teams are in brackets A&B. From them, 6 teams will advance to the quarters. The bottom 8 teams will be in B&C and only the top two move on the quarters.
They did something like this last year for 18s basically saying that many teams were too good to play other teams. I think it’s stupid. Rosters change week to week. Maybe 1 vs 12 is a blowout, but 3 vs 10 probably won’t be.
Edit: Now that I’ve looked at it. I think the top 4 of A-D will get a bye to the quarters then the next 4 will play the winners of the E-H brackets.
Agree. With Worlds going on the rosters will look different so to assume anyone rolls through may not be the case. teams also bring in a ringer or two for SF.
All the kids playing the U18 World championships won’t be playing Futures super finals. The USA team kids and also there are more kids from clubs playing for different countries, some for Canada, Argentina, Brazil etc.
All this being said, this is a great tournament. Unfortunate timing with some players competing at Worlds this year, but it won’t take away from the weekend. It actually may make it more exciting.
How do they make a decision at Futures for Superfinals of how many teams are in top 12 from SoCal vs NorCal? Perhaps it should be 8 from SoCal and 4 from NorCal. What’s the criteria? Thanks.
The girls’ schedule was released
Assuming the boys’ schedule mirrors the girls’, the structure is divided into the top 12 and the bottom 12, with four groups of three teams in each. From the bottom 12, only the top team from each group will advance to the crossover with the top 12. The crossover matches will be played in the following order: the third-place team from the bottom group will face the third-place team from the top group, and the winner of this match will face the second-place team from the top group. Any team from the bottom 12 that did not finish first in its group will play for the 13th to 24th place.
The significant advantage for the top 12 teams is the number of games a team needs to play in order to advance to the semi-finals. Coming from the bottom 12, 3 games that day versus only 1 game for a top 12 team that won its group.
Very creative structure for the tournament. It will also eliminate useless blowout games in the first round, that would have happened under a regular 1, thru 24 seeded tournament
The PAC 18UBs first five games are a combined 106-8. I can see different formats for Quals even if some zones do get a little creative on their structure. The futures tournament is already split into divisions. Everyone in the division should be afforded the same opportunities.
I get what they are doing in the D1 tournaments with the top 12 (Alternating top 6 Norcal and 6 SoCal, bottom 12 play in) and maybe I am a SoCal/OC homer…but the 6th 7th Nor Cal teams in several divisions have gotten beaten and sometimes killed by SoCal 13-24 teams over the course of the spring…
Just one example in 16u…No one can tell me that AR and Clovis and should be seeded ahead of Vanguard, CIU or even Greenwich. Not knocking…they are solid clubs…but still…
Just my opinion…but I guess we will see when the games are played…
It’s a creative schedule and I don’t have a strong opinion of like or dislike either way, but does anyone really expect anyone from the lower 12 to advance past the quarters? That is a brutal obstacle course. Go 2-0 first day against solid teams, then need to go 2-0 again against presumably better teams Saturday morning/afternoon, then play a 3rd game (quarters Saturday night) vs a team that already went 2-0 on Friday (so they are clearly the best teams so far) and it’s your 3rd game of the day and their 1st. Will have to be an absolutely epic run for anyone from the bottom 12 to make the semi’s let alone win it all.
A lot of great competition to come and it seems to me to have the most parity (especially in 16 & 18u) than I’ve seen in a while. Looking forward to a great summer of water polo
I have expressed my view in the past. Three games in one day is a clear recipe for injuries and not healthy even for an 18U athlete’s body. Temp in SoCal can be 85+, adding to the stress on the body. I don’t think any tournament in the world is set up this way other than Jos and now Futures. Not great.
SPA quals had 3 games on 2nd day as well. It certainly seems like one way to put a teams depth to the test. Maybe the hardest part of this for young athletes is their lack of knowledge/discipline when it comes to rest and recovery. Parents need to be the difference makers here. Making good choices on intake (hydration and calories) plus active recovery and rest can go a long way to performing (3rd game or staying sharp on 3rd and 4th day).