I work for USA Water Polo as a national talent evaluator. I provide coaches with a database of players ranging from D1 to DIII, along with attached scouting reports. In addition, we discuss players after various events (production/upside/etc). Yes, most of the players selected are from D1 programs. However, we travel to Dallas for the ODP Regionals to find potential players for our National Teams. Each NT Coach and his staff all have preferences for what they want when building a team. As we advance, I believe we are on the right path, but bias/personal preference will always be part of the equationâitâs human nature.
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Like a lot of people with kids who update websites all day, any idea on NTSC list release? Or put another way, if you were going to be on it you were already contacted so donât ask 
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The time and money for kids outside of CA I staggering when you consider the all in cost, in the hope of getting noticed. The regional tryouts, regional event, nationals, travel, etc. It is what it is. I just wish ODP would consider that with all these add on events that are being required, but USAWP is a business.
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The NTSC list has not gone out yet.
Actually, the boys wonât know if they made the NTSC until the official list is released. Itâs usually published within a week of the event, though tracking it down can be tricky. Last year, they ended up emailing it directly to the players.
Any idea when GIRLS schedule and rosters are out for nationals?
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USA Water Polo has been running an annual deficit of nearly $1M, with expenses consistently outstripping revenue. Several line items show a decline, specifically in membership, where a 7% fee increase failed to offset a drop in total members and donations. Conversely, expenses have continued to rise. Total assets fell from $6.5M at the end of '22 to approximately $4.7M at the end of '24. If this cash burn persisted through 2025 (for which financials are not yet public), the organization may have less than three years of runway. This assumes most donations are unrestricted, which is rarely the case.
I suspect this precarious financial position is whatâs driving the increased frequency and rising costs of USA WP-hosted events.
Financials: Public Documents - USA Water Polo
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Thanks for providing that @wp2024 . Agreed that may be why that keep adding layers to this, and trying hard to increase numbers. I think most realize the regional weekend is wasteful outside of CA zones, but it is a business decision. I donât know how to do this but if they could somehow make the travel element of the cost less burdensome on families they may get more participation. And participation is where the revenue comes. Travel expense is waste as far as USAWP is concerned since they see none of that. It would be interesting for them to look at total spend a family/player incurs for water polo (fees, equipment, travel, camps, club fees, etc). Then determine what percent of that USAWP captures. They need to figure out how to capture more of the dollars being spent, not increase the spend itself, as that will decrease spend and growth.
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I donât doubt you are right, but USAWP needs to be careful in continuing down the path of raising prices. The most recent Championâs Cup in which only a single SPA team tried out for it should have set off alarm bells. It is not like Orange County is lacking water polo clubs, players, or is an economically downtrodden region, and yet only one team viewed what USAWP was offering at Championâs Cup as being worthwhile.
Similarly, when USAWP increased the number of Dare-to-Dream events from the original three to having one near every Starbucks, total participation dropped. They increased the number of pools being rented and ended up decreasing the total number of kids in those pools.
Personally, Iâd like to see USAWP work toward making the events more special instead of more common. An example is Quiksilver Cup where they have an inflatable arch and rent a smoke machine. The kids walk through the smoke-filled arch as the announcer booms out their name to the crowd. The kids love it and it isnât that expensive.
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I agree with this completely. Another risk for USAWP and ODP is once families realize their kids and dollars, at least 90% of them, are actually there to subsidize the expenses for the real prospects that have already been identified then they will be less generous with their spend and this declines rapidly.
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The NTSC list is out.
Can you share the link?
working again
same. it was working and now it is not.
for those who donât have it, here is the link (that doesnât work right now)
Whatâs funny is that NTSC has been rendered to not really mattering because there are already 2 Youth National Teams playing in National League and last night a list came out (before NTSC) for a Cadet National League team that will supposedly play in 18u divisionâŚ
And the next Academy/Pipeline list came out after before NTSC list as well⌠but after last weekends ODP gamesâŚ
So if the Youth National teams are identified and playing together, the Cadet National team is at least in range of being identified and playing togetherâŚwhat exactly is the point of NTSC?
Bilk those outside California folks who have dreams I guessâŚ
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Go to my comment above. Somebody has to subsidize this.
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Was that Academy/Pipeline list published?
Even further rendering it ridiculous, SPA Cadet had 6 kids make NTSC who played Youth, leaving only 5 kids who actually played on the Cadet team that got second going on (not counting goalies). The charade that everyone talks about seems to be coming to life. It is still a great experience for the boys who get to bond, but more disclosure should be given about realistic chances of making NTSC. Spending a bunch of money on the hopes that the rumors of a preselected team are false is not helping thingsâŚ
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Next is for the kids not selected to find out if they are invited to the alternative options outside of NTSC and national team.
What do you mean by this? Like future Academy trainings? Would a player continue to get Academy invites if they werenât selected for NTSC?