Limey - Agree this is the ideal solution, a bit more work for the coaches but push from players (and let’s be honest their parents) may be enough incentive for coaches to follow through.
NLM’s proposal is a minor amount of incremental effort and solves a lot of the problems with the current award process. I’ve seen this work in recreational tournaments in other sports and it generally gets the recipients right without the issues discussed upthread.
All of that would require USAWP actually take coaches and player input…
I agree with NLM and Limey. The JO MVP and All-American awards are not always thought out well and too much is left in the hands of each player’s coach. I would much prefer to see a voting system similar to CIF where opposing coaches have much more of a say.
It would actually be nice for the voting for all awards (JOs, CIF, Cutino, etc.) to be transparent. I think that this would make the voters/coaches more accountable and alleviate them handing out votes as favors to players or other coaches and other ulterior motives.
I’m going to get crushed for the AYSO reference, but years ago as an AYSO coach, we had a simple method of assembling the year-end All Star team. At the end of each regular season game each coach had to identify an outstanding offensive and defensive player from the opposing team. The names were collected and tabulated and those kids whose names appeared the most at season’s end were properly recognized. This method seemed to reduce the politics, awarded consistency and didn’t penalize good players on bad teams. This method could easily be applied to the JO structure. Have each coach select two opposing kids and write their cap#/name on the score sheet at the end of each game.
Here’s an out of left field but maybe brilliant idea - require refs to name an MVP of each team when they certify scoresheets! Side effect that obnoxious parents might actually exert some self control in the stands.
yeah, that will ensure the refs maintain their “impartial” point of view…
You mean the AYSO with 630k kids compared to 50k in USA Water Polo? I believe NJB All-Star selection works the same way. Plenty USAWP can learn from youth sports organizations that have figured this out
any thoughts or ideas how 14u boys and girls season is kicking off?
On the boy’s side, the EC tournament is exactly how I’d rank them.
14u is always interesting in the fall as a few teams have kids with August birthdays who are already playing as young 9th graders in high school. Yet others, and more increasingly the case, have several 16u athletes who are still in 8th grade (turned 14 in spring/summer) who play “down” in 14u for the fall. None of it will be completely clear in this age group until after the fall high school season concludes. I believe both Newport and CCU had 2-3 16u kids playing down and I know that both Del Mar and Patriot were missing August bday 14u kids who are playing high school. That being said, CIU, Patriot, Del Mar, and CCU were the top 4 teams (in that order) 2 years ago at JO’s for 12u and have all added talent from nearby clubs, so it’s not a stretch to think they are among the best this year in 14s.
In honor of Jeff I will also gladly take this opportunity to be dead wrong in public.
I’ve only been able to watch the youth (10/12/14) level so far and haven’t looked at HS girls futures at all, but so far this is what I got:
10u
Favorite: Del Mar
Del Mar continues with their stellar developmental program. They have a couple boys returning from last year’s JO team and their new guys played together as a B team last year.
Contenders: Patriot / Commerce / Newport / CCU
Patriot has strong returners and will likely develop to be a top team again. They look small and young this year. Commerce has shifted their focus back on the youngers and are developing heaps of kids. They’ll be good. Newport has a strong returning class of both boys and girls. Their girls are stellar. It will be interesting to see what division they’ll play in. CCU has some big kids that, with the way they are coached, will grow into a team that will be able to challenge anyone. The most interesting thing will be to see what division all these programs end up playing in… Boys, Girls or Coed?
12u girls
Favorite: Back Bay
Back Bay has had a steady stream of fast, tall girls with an arm. The question is how they develop over a season. They usually look good early on, but fade. Will this be their year?
Contenders: Patriot, Los Alamitos, Del Mar, Lamorinda, Newport
Patriot will be very strong, but the question is if they’ll have the size to match Back Bay, Los Al and Newport. Los Alamitos and Newport have strong Girls programs and are well coached. Lamorinda is always good. Newport has really good size and experience and dominated last JOs.
12u Boys
Favorite: Vanguard
Vanguard has kept together their JO winning 10u team of 2023. They look skilled, smart and can counter with the best of them.
Contenders: Del Mar, Newport, Patriot, La Jolla
So far those four teams look the most organized. La Jolla will be a dangerously strong team with several players playing 14u all year before coming to 12u JO. Patriot and Newport are very skilled, but don’t have size outside of 1 or 2 players. Del Mar is probably the best coached team in the country, but they also are missing some size. Last year NorCal came out of nowhere with huge kids, what team is going to come in and surprise everyone this year?
14u Girls
Favorite: Patriot
These girls are at a different level. Ever since it was predicted a couple years ago on the old wpplanet, I’ve kept an eye on these girls. They play hard, with high IQ and got 4th last year at JO.
Contenders: Lamorinda, SB805, Newport
Lamo and SB805 have some really big and skilled girls. They’re very well coached and will develop to compete with Patriot. Newport has their Jo winning 12u team age up and will have size, speed and skill. Ultimately I think this age group will come down to goalie play.
14u Boys
Favorite: CIU
Wigo is probably the best shooter I have seen in the 14u age group in a while. This team won JOs in 2023 and stayed mostly together.
Contenders: Newport, CCU, Del Mar, Patriot
Each of these teams play very high level water polo. It will be interesting to see how and where the young freshman class fits in and who will develop and play at the highest levels. La Jolla is my dark horse in this age group.
Great write-up. Don’t sleep on Mission in 12u Boys. They are solid. CCU is another one to keep an eye on. Their center is a load.
I’m not sold on La Jolla. They do have one player playing up with La Jolla’s 14u B team, but I don’t see them above either Mission or CCU even when that kid drops back down.
Im going to be honest and say that I have not been out to a Mission game yet on either 12/14u boys.
I’ll go on record now with the prediction that in two years, when that set of Sophomores are Seniors playing in 18u that Del Mar will run the table. I’m thinking Del Mar will win the national championship in 10u, 12u, 14u, 16u, and 18u on the boy’s side in the 2027 Junior Olympics.
14u Thoughts
Mission lost a lot of talent from last season, but they looked solid and will only get better. Chris Koo is their go-to player, but I believe he’ll have to play 16u at JOs. Grayson Bouquet and Kekoa Clements looked solid.
Channel Islands looks to be the favorite at this stage led by Channing Wigo and Ren Fujikake–quite the 1-2 punch right there, offensively. They press and counter attack very well.
Del Mar: I saw Del Mar only once, but they’ll be in the mix despite losing a ton of players off last seasons team. Cortez Chavez (Development Team), Brevin Kass, Leon K., and KJ Barron had standout moments.
Patriot: They were missing a few starters at Evan Cousineau and will gain some some 9th graders after HS season. Crafty Drake Hamilton led the way and. was the catalyst for Patriot all weekend. Onni was solid as well. One of the better players missing was C/D Nathaniel Gluzman-Chuang.
CC United: Took 3rd and looked like one of the more physically gifted teams led by Maxwell Johnson. Aiden Belanger and gifted lefty Wyatt Van Leeuwen were solid as well.
Newport: Newport is rebuilding with a good group of 12u’s that moved up and are already making an impact. Curren Francisco (16u at JOs), John Friedman, Weston Muellerleile, Henry and Jack Tatum, and Ford Wawrzynski, among others had solid moments.
SD Shores is good as well led by Axton Rasmusson. Stanford is intriguing led by Tigris Guo and 680 looks young albeit talented.
Does anyone have any info regarding play dates for boys futures in norcal?
Does anybody have any observations from SPA championships?
My only observation is that everyone seems to be hiding what they’ve got. There was no platinum division at all in 10u boys, girls, or co-ed. Only 5 teams signed up for 12u boys platinum, and of those, only Mission is one I’d consider a contender. Patriot is listed in 12u platinum but that isn’t Patriot 12u Navy, which was playing in 14u Gold as “Patriot C”.
It looks like Patriot is playing up in all age groups besides 12u girls. After their big win over back bay (maybe BB was missing some girls?) I think they’ll be playing up with their starters next tournament too.
I went to a Patriot 14u A game and the only player I recognized was Drake Hamilton. Where were the other guys? Drake absolutely broke Mission A by himself.
When Drake Hamilton in on, that kid is hard to stop. He gets overshadowed a bit in that year of athletes by Channing Wigo, but he’s right there. I very much believe he could take apart Mission all by himself.