Thread specific to the 14U girls weekends.
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908 looks good for 14 girls in future finals. Also maybe give Newps a run for their money in Junior Olympics if all their players are there.
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Check your game times. A few schedule changes last night.
908 can’t handle Newport. This is one of those years where 2nd-6th will be a lot more interesting. 908 likely finishes 2nd
I was thinking 908 places 3rd until i saw the standings. I thought Patriot was gonna carry 2nd. No more. 908 looked dominate 
this weekend. 2nd place is theirs. Newport vs 908 might just be a really good game
908 has a weakness at goalie. They also are losing their top outside shooter to worlds so JO team will be different. Patriot is as well and a few others. Newport loses one. That’s why 14U JO’s on even years isn’t the best measure.
San Diego Cup
Super finals
Futures league play
Newport is 7-0 vs 908 and Patriot and San Clemente They beat 908 by more than Patriot for what it is worth. Heck SC could only put up 1 goal per game against them while 908/Patriot has enough offense to score, but let’s be fair, they are all in a different class this year and that happens sometimes.
908 is 2-2 vs Patriot this year. Patriot beat them in San Diego Cup and they got them today I think.
Do not count out San Clemente as they don’t have anyone going to Worlds.
Due to this, your squad has a chance at top 5 for sure.
US Club champs are not a good indicator as all the top clubs are sending their 14U players up to 16U. Newport is fielding an all 7th grader team because their best players were prob not being challenged enough this year. 40-0 will do that. I think there is a very good chance they lose to 908 at US club because this isn’t their real A team so that doesn’t really count til JO’s. Superfinals were way more interesting and a better tourney than US Clubs for 14U girls due to all the roster shuffling. Next weekend is more like a scrimmage tourney at this age level
For US Club against the 7th grade Newport team, I think 908 will win.
For JO’s, I doubt it. But we shall see. Newport handled them well easily this year already.
It seems we keep finding each other Evolve. Oh well, I’ll bite lol. Why do you think all or most clubs are pressing their 14s in to 16s? Will it really make them better at this point. I do see your logic, but i’m not sure if it will help all that much as we are so close to JOs? For most teams at this point growth will be incremental. I think maintaining team chemistry would be more important, but I do see the upside of getting another weekend to play stronger competition. I think those athletes playing up will have to sacrifice playing time. I would probably just keep the age group athletes in their age group. In the past USCC foretold basically who was going to win JOs.
I was curious about this statement above. What squad are you referring to?
Has USCC lost to Futures? I was willing to concede that against CalCup but not so sure about Futures being more competitive than USCC. Do all clubs play in Futures? It’s close for sure. If Futures continues at this pace then I think it may be a stronger tournament in a couple of years. Also, I don’t think Futures is sanctioned by USAWP. Why is that?
Honestly, we’d have to ask each program because every situation is different.
Some of these are middle school athletes who have simply outgrown playing primarily against 6th and 7th graders. Some clubs are already thinking about preparing them for varsity high school water polo. I personally know five athletes across two programs who have already been asked to begin training with their high school teams this summer.
World Championships also affect roster decisions in even-numbered years, so there isn’t one universal reason.
For Newport specifically, I think it’s pretty obvious those athletes benefit from tougher competition. That’s healthy development.
Where you and I fundamentally differ is philosophy. To me, US Club Championships and even JOs, to a slightly lesser extent are still just tournaments at the middle school level. Winning them is great, but it’s not the primary objective.
The primary objective should be putting the athletes first: accelerating their development, exposing them to a higher level of play, giving more kids meaningful opportunities, and building trust and culture that lasts for years, not just one weekend.
That’s why we keep “finding each other.” We simply value different things. I’ll almost always lean toward long-term player development over maximizing the odds of winning one tournament at the younger 10-14 ages. Winning can be important. Development comes first. Always.
Futures has full rosters of every club for 12 and 14 girls. Almost every club. USCC this weekend is going to be different rosters. You have worlds pulling people away. You have 16U pulling up. And some that came to futures aren’t traveling for USCC. That’s a lot of travel. This is especially true on even numbered years. This is also the time of year when some clubs go to Spain, Croatia, Malta, etc. to bond and train.
To me, if you were to rank tourneys, CIF for high school is by far and away the biggest and the ones every young athlete wants to win. Plus it doesn’t put all the games crammed into a weekend. Better water polo than club.