don’t know if anyone is breaking rules, but the expansion from one team to two teams certainly seems to highlight a potential flaw in how the allocation system is being applied.
@Marco rankings all are quite good. If you are looking for the biggest domination I think Dons 10U would be most dominant, unlikely anyone gets even close.
Any indication of who populates these teams? Anecdotally, we have seen athletes from non-CA zones playing in top level leagues with stronger CA-based teams, which possibly dilutes the depth in zones like MTN or SEZ (two regions that immediately spring to mind).
I’m not saying rules are being broken. That’s a problem with the rules. We think norms and values mean something. Today, they do not. We actually need specific rules when before we didn’t. The only reason MTN is getting 3 championship spots is to accommodate North Irvine putting two teams there. I shudder to think they will get more spots in the new allocation.
To cmbreeze’s point, Hunter Danko is maybe the best MTN zone player, ever. He is playing with SD Shores this year. Maybe good for him and SD Shores but bad for the MTN zone. To be clear, I don’t have any ill will towards his decision on what’s best for him.
Edit, I game for moving all of this to a different thread.
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North Irvine is an enigma. I know they didn’t have their full roster during the season—many players were injured—and I know they still don’t have everyone available for the Jos’ Quals and Super Finals. Coach Carrera said that Bruno Massa (junior) will be playing Worlds for Argentina. Montano is out, i don’t know the reason and one more of the starting line up is still recovering. I know they did it before but maybe they go with Vegas this time because of that. I heard that they will bring two Brazilian players for JOs.
Too late to pick up some of those seniors for my team? 
Or, is there some super team that has yet to be announced coming out of the SEZ with their 4 allocated spots (2 last year)?
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PAC olders anyone???
My condolences to those drawing Freedom HS on day 1. While the drive sucks, it’s probably one of the worst pools for a spectator given the diving boards and 2 refs on the same side of the pool.
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Surprisingly they’re not undefeated this season! Both Newport Boys and Patriot Coed have beaten them this year. That being said Brendan does have it rolling recently so they’ll be tough to get at JOs.
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You had me in the first half 
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A couple of the 18u Newport boys depart for college before JO’s, which prevents them from fielding two 18u teams.
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Really interesting setup for Central Zone that no other zones are doing. From looks of it they have a pre deterimined Top 8, and if you win your first game you automatically qualify and make a semi. After only playing 1 game. Wonder why they would go this route? No other Zones are doing this?
If the rankings are done fairly, this setup should not be a problem for the Central zone JO Quals, since usually there is a big drop after the top 3-4, and, definitely, after the top 5-6.
Yeah in 18us last year that seemed to be the case. AR and Big Valley with big semi wins. But In 16us for example Praetorian finished 1st and only beat Kings by 5 in group stage. Kings finished 9th. 5 goal difference between 1st and 9th seems fairly close. Another example, V’nited finished 5th for last Championship spot and only narrowly beat Kings in a shootout at one point. Would hate to have been seeded 9th in this years setup.
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What I like about Central Zone JO Quals rankings is that, often, pre-tournament rankings given by the club coaches are transparent, so the public has a pleasure to see a few crazy ones. This year, Vnited 16u boys coaches gave an absolutely crazy ranking to one of their closest competitors for everyone to see. Not that it changed much 
Almost all of the time, teams that qualify for Championship, and have a chance to go to Platinum or the top of Gold, deserve it and are more or less expected to do so. But I recall about ten years or so, Porterville 18u boys were, surprisingly to some, a good team that was seeded almost at the bottom but finished fifth and qualified for the Championship.
Updated Allocations
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Did SEZ anger someone or do they not play water polo any longer?
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