Yes but Boys tend to start practicing right after session 2 JOs for their high school. Normally there is that 1 week vacation break. Now there’s not.
They’ll be ok for one year.
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Oh don’t get me wrong! i don’t care either way about the JO sessions. I just understand the argument from the boys side. I think it’s relatively equitable for USAWP to rotate between boys and girls in session 1.
I do not like that NorCal JOs is effectively done. The team trip and bonding was extremely valuable.
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I like the move to Orange County.
Girls don’t get into the water immediately, boys get back into the pool at least 1 sometimes 2 weeks prior to high school to practice, meaning no vacation!
and in NoCal, so do the girls and they have handled it just fine. It’s okay, there are other areas outside of SoCal that are affected by this change.
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For equitably, JO sessions 1&2 should also rotate to other parts of the country. TX in ‘27? FL in ‘28?
The cost of playing water polo and flying to CA, one of the most expensive states, makes it prohibitive to the growth of the sport and leveling the playing field.
Any reason all the marquee tournaments are in CA? ODP national, Futures, Quicksilver, JOs
I like the boys moving to session 2, much prefer a Th-Sun tourney as opposed to Sat-Tue
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I agree 100%. The bonding experience is priceless. We had the best time up there and going to see championship games at Stanford was amazing.
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In response to centralizing JOs to one location every year, how do other sports do it? Do they host their version of JOs at the same place every year? If they rotate it to various states/regions, did that happen immediately or did the sport grow in those areas first before that decision was made?
I can definitely see a scenario where Sessions 1 and 2 are held in Texas and Session 3 in CA every other year as the sport continues to grow, but if were the only sport where the “major” tournament has been rotating, then why do we need to be different from some of the other successful sports?
This is a legitimate inquiry and not trying to ruffle any feathers or offend anyone. I am really only familiar with Water Polo and don’t know how sports like Soccer, Swim, Basketball, Volleyball do theres.
I guess the Little League World Series would be baseball’s version of JO’s. It’s held in Williamsport, PA every year, since 1947.
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I just checked quickly, lacrosse is a good comparison since it’s primarily an East Coast sport. I’m no expert in LAX and mostly rely on ChatGPT’s answers, but their equivalent of JOs takes place on the East Coast, in Delaware and Maryland. Baseball, by contrast, has equal popularity on both coasts, yet as Stickman noted, its version of JOs is also played in the same location on the East Coast. From a budget and time perspective, the geographic pull makes sense. But it does inhibit the growth of the sport.
My main point was to note that the California-centric nature of our sport makes it an “elite” activity for youth outside of California. For more competitive players and teams, the annual travel cost per family can easily reach $10K per kid. How sustainable is that for a sport that aims to grow?
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About time they help the girls out. Girls are always getting the short end of the stick. Delayed schedules, crappy pool Locations for tournaments etc. Northern California girls start well into the summer as well not just Southern California boys.
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I am not sure that any metropolitan area in Texas has as many available pools as Orange County or Bay Area. Also, it is not true that all marquee tournaments are in CA. Since you specifically mention ODP National Championship, girls tournament was in SLC and boys had their tournaments in Chicago and (?) Texas in recent years. Champions Cup takes place in Midwest.
CA makes most sense due to the pools and sheer numbers. In Florida 99% of players would travel, pools with thunderstorms throwing schedules into chaos, etc. Dallas has hosted things but the pools are still not enough. I hear from a lot of people that when they go to Dallas for ODP, etc it is not optimal. And this is not from CA players/families.
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It used to. JOs held outside California made a fraction of the money the Cali ones did. Rotating session 1/2 in and out of California was stopped. In its place was rotating between the Bay Area and Orange County.
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Does this mean we are now in OC for all time, or is this just a 1-year shift (so we are in NorCal for odd numbered years)?
For the timing of Session 2, there may be a conflict with CIF Section policy (CIF-SDS, at least, and possibly other sections) mandating a no-contact period of 14 days during the summer before the fall season starts (on August 1).
If the boys are playing until 7/26, there will not be time for the no-contact period before HS season starts.
How did the girls teams who play fall season navigate this issue?
I think boys will be OK. Girls have done it for years and they start school the same day as the boys.
Boys will now be in top shape and even more ready to start high school season and enjoy the warm weather nights, where the girls will keep enduring the cold weather of a winter season here in SoCal.
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The easy way around it for those two weeks, someone can coach the boys or girls so long as they aren’t “affiliated” with the school.
Schools could move the dead period to a different 14 days in June or July, so long as it is after school gets out in May/June but before school starts in Aug/Sept.
yes we do dead period the first 2 weeks of summer.