Created a home for discussion on this tournament.
(pasting my original post and adding the livestream link posted by @AmateurDad )
I am starting to post and report a bit on high school water polo outside of California. Hopefully, weâll gain more traction and traffic from other regions during the HS water polo season.
Brunswickâs varsity team is flying next week to Barcelona to compete in the âU19 Next Generationâ (Sep 19-21) tournament.
You might ask, why is an American high school traveling to Europe to play? Jeff explained: âBrunswick is the best team from a state other than California. The California Interscholastic Federation ruled that Brunswick is ineligible to play in California high school tournaments because they are not a member of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC). Brunswick is trying to find a way to satisfy the California requirementâŚâ
Unfortunately, and mind-boggling, a U.S. high school team needs to travel overseas to find high-level competition.
That said, this is the third year the team is participating in this high-level and unique tournament (LINK), and Barcelona is not a bad destination. Itâs an excellent experience for the boys and an opportunity for top-level development.
The organization by BIWPA sets a gold standard that should be replicated in U.S. tournaments: professional coverage and free livestreams on YouTube, which makes it easy for college coaches to scout top European players), live score and stat reporting (LINK), high-level refereeing, and multiple games over the weekend.
On the boys side (16 teams): FTC (Hungary), BVSC (Hungary), CNAB (Spain), CNB (Spain), Sabadell (Spain), BCN (global), Sevilla (Spain), Terrassa (Italy), Elevate (S. Africa), HVAK Mladost (Croatia), Monza (Italy), ONDA Forte (Italy), Sabac (Serbia), Szeged (Hungary), ZVL-1886 (The Netherlands), Brunswick (USA).
Schedule and Livestream links (courtesy of @amateurdad):
Here are the links to the Next Gen Cup schedule and streaming:
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How does any high school team especially from California traveling to Europe to compete in a tournament in the middle of high school and their high school waterpolo season??? Not a realistic option!!!
What is the obstacle to joining the CIAC?
Youâre right, it would be challenging with the current dates. Although Iâd point out Team Elevate (South Africa) has figured out a way to participate. Not sure if theyâre in high school season though. Maybe give this feedback to BIWPA. I believe most of those European clubs start training in early August, so an early August date might offer a better chance for U.S. team to participate.
Late November could also work (many CA public schools have Thanksgiving week off), but thereâs a real issue for West Coast athletes that the time zone diff is 9 hours, as opposed to 6, and the nonstop flight is 11.5 hours (LAX to BCN) instead of 7.5 hours (JFK to BCN). These things add up on top of the financial cost.
That said, if my HS team wanted to try to do this, I would do my best to support it.
I think most top level high school teams would love to participate in an event like this (even if it is once in a life time) but timing and relevant costs are main obstacles and I donât see how most can overcome these. We would certainly support it but only if there fall during break after November.
Ultimately, schools may not be part of both - for a number of reasons. However, Brunswick competes against a number of the area public schools in a number of sports - including water polo, lacrosse, wrestling, etc.
Glad to discuss further if you want to DM me!
Agreed. Itâs a heavy lift. Perhaps this participation in BIWPA leads to a tournament held on the East Coast that includes European/International teams AND California teams.
I would guess that the California teams would have to be Club teams as the prohibition of games vs schools like Brunswick (much less European semi-pros) is applicable outside the state as well.
Notwithstanding all that, we all know there are plenty of hurdles. But looking at the number of words devoted on this board to foreign players in the ncaa or JOs, speaks to the potential for such an event.
For US players itâs a chance to: learn a different polo pedagogy; see how you measure up as a team and an individual vs high(est?) level competition; and not least importantly, meet young people your age with whom you share at least one passion!
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Just as I thank Brunswick and Greenwich HS for attending tournaments in CA (like AFC or Steve Pal or similar in the past, sadly no longer for âWick) and Greenwich and CT Premier for making the trek to CA for high level tournaments, I would welcome the idea of sending a HS or club team East to play in CT/NYC area.
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Brunswick is part of NEPSAC, which serves as the âfederationâ for many of the old New England private schools (e.g., Exeter, Andover, Choate, etc.) across several states. CIAC, by contrast, is the Connecticut state athletic federation. A school cannot belong to two federations.
CIF, under relatively new bylaws (502A and 502B), prohibits CIF members from competing against non-CIF schools unless those schools are members of a recognized state federation. In practice, this means that private-school federations are barred from playing against California high school teams. The background for this bylawâthough CIF may not admit it openlyâis to âprotectâ California schools from competition with so-called âprofessionalâ high schools, such as IMG Academy.
That said, California schools can obtain permission from their CIF section to compete internationally. This happened recently in football with De La Salle High School (link).
The current situation, driven largely by bureaucracy and appeals to âequity,â has left California with no true state championship (boysâ and girlsâ seasons are misaligned), no USA high school championship (since California lacks a state championship), no international tournaments, and very limited cross-state scrimmages or tournaments.
This is unfortunate and does not help a niche sport like water polo. Many international teams would love to come to the U.S. to competeâfor example, CNABâs appearance at Quicksilver.
What USAWP is not providing, private entrepreneurs are seizing as a business opportunity. Thatâs why weâve seen the rise of the Futures League, Quicksilver, and the increasing presence of BIWPA in U.S. water polo.
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There is also a girls division. For southern Cali teams, it would be possible to send a âclubâ team. Actually the tournament is a club tournament, so that would be appropriate. It would be expensive, but you can even combine players from different clubs if you need to, and you will find 15 families willing to pay it, and send an âall starâ team.
The biggest problem would be, missing a week of school, as unexcused absenses, since itâs not a HS sponsored trip. You would need a lot of girls to be âsickâ that week, and have to miss school
Heck, itâs a U19 tournament. You could send college freshmen. Tournament ends on 21st and I think the UCs and maybe some privates, donât start school until this Monday the 22nd
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True, my badâI didnât think about the girlsâ side. The competition there is also top level. The Australia U19 team played here a couple of years ago, along with all the top Spanish teams, plus Dutch, South African, and Italian squads.
Diverging a bit, USAWP could have sent the U18 teams. Our NT only competes in even years because they only attend the World Championships. This tournament is a chance to both compete and train our teams, while also leveling the playing field for kids born in odd years. Meanwhile, our competition plays every yearâwhether itâs the European Championships, Worlds, or European leagues.
Back to the topic: other than Brunswick, the U.S. also has representation on several other teams, with kids spending a school year or gap year in Europe.
⢠Martin Robredo (Greenwich/Brunswick) is playing this year for CNAB.
⢠Bern Kent (SFWPC) is playing this year for BVSC Zugló (Hungary), the 2023 champions. Botond Balogh (now at Stanford) played for them that year, and he was outstanding.
There are likely more Americans playing with the BiWPA academy that Iâm not aware of. Once I see the rosters, Iâll mention their names. Good luck to everyone.
To emphasize the level: CNAB (Spain) finished 3rd last year, losing to FTC by 4 points in the semis. A younger version of that same CNAB team played in Quicksilver this year and beat Beast Boys by 2.
Our sport is a bit strangeâwhat high school soccer team would even think twice about the opportunity to play against the junior teams of the equivalent of Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, or Barcelona?
This year games are live-streamed on Overnght. I assume free. Right under MPFS games.
Happy to see Overnght expanding. This makes it easier for USA college coaches to follow the games.
Brunswick scrimmaged earlier against BIWPA gap year team. 4 Americans, I will get the names tomorrow. One familiar face, Cam Kocur.
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[SPOILER ALERT - ROUND 1 SCORES BELOW]
Here are my initial impressions of the tournament:
Great host site â Sabadell side by side pools running on time after 5.5 hours of games
19U does not mean every athlete is 18-19. Brunswick playing freshman, Italian team looked to have 16-years olds as does BVSC.
No gate fee! Free water polo for three straight days. 4-5 hours between games for each team.
Tournament sets up hotels and most meals for the teams.
Livestream is clear but needs announcers.
Sabadell is hosting three Champions League games this weekend.
Boyâs Round 1:
Elevate WP - 10 BCN WP Club - 5
FTC-Telekom - 18 NC Monza - 3
Szeged -17 ZVL-1886 - 3
CN Barcelona - 7 HAVK Mladost - 4
BVSC Zuglo - 10 CNAB - 8
WP Sevilla - 10 CN Terrassa - 4
Brunswick HS - 13 Onda Forte - 6
CN Sabadell - 7 VK Sabac - 6
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[SPOILER ALERT - ROUND 2 SCORES BELOW]
More impressions:
Impressed by Team Elevate from South Africa and Szeged from Hungary. Looking like they can challenge the favorites.
Tournament uses running substitutions.
Kudos to the CN Sabadell juniors for playing a bass drum during the whole game!
Beer tent outside the pool a good idea considering the indoor temp hovered well above the outside 83 temp.
Boyâs Round 2:
Elevate WP - 9 CNAB - 9
BVSC Zuglo - 12 BCN WP Club - 2
FTC-Telekom - 18 CN Terrassa - 4
WP Sevilla - 14 NC Monza - 6
CN Barcelona - 7 ZVL-1886 - 5
Szeged -6 HAVK Mladost - 5
VK Sabac - 12 Brunswick HS - 11
CN Sabadell - 10 Onda Forte - 4
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Quarterfinals are set. Boyâs Round 3 results below.
Quarterfinals:
FTC vs Elevate
BVSC Zuglo vs Sevilla
CN Barcelona vs VK Sabac
CN Sabadell vs Szeged
Boyâs Round 3:
NC Monza - 11 CN Terrassa - 8
CNAB - 9 BCN WP Club - 3
FTC-Telekom - 8 WP Sevilla - 6
CN Sabadell - 9 Brunswick HS - 7
HAVK Mladost - 9 ZVL-1886 - 2
BVSC Zuglo - 9 Elevate WP - 8
CN Barcelona - 11 Szeged - 5
VK Sabac - 13 Onda Forte - 5
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Really impressed with the level of competition here; many u18/u20 national team players representing so many countries here! Playing with the 28/18 and subs on the fly definitely brings a different feel to the game as well.
Lots of good polo out there this weekend so might not be top of your list, but I guarantee youâll see some of these players in college in the near future.
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Semi-finals are set:
BVSC-Zuglo vs Szeget (8pm Barcelona time)
FTC vs CN Barcelona (9pm Barcelona time)
Streaming on Overnght
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