I wanted to field some thoughts on club merging for JOs I.e team Vegas, club to club and so on. Also, has anyone been hearing about two prominent clubs making a merger for the new season. I don’t want to say their names but they are from Irvine area. Thoughts…
North Patriot? ???
SoCal and Patriots are merging next season. Interesting how this will play out. A lot movements for next year.
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I heard that SoCal will keep their name. Does this mean the Patriot name will go away? Patriot has been around for how long. It seems that SoCal began their decline when Patriot emerged. I’m not sure of this as I’m only going off the optics. Should be interesting.
Zones with low club participation should have to go through another method of qualification to enter clubs into JO’s. Would Vegas-North Irvine teams have qualified into Championship in SPA? They both had ZERO Vegas players, so why qualify through Vegas? Over half of red team just got USAWP #'s so they could be rostered and haven’t touched a pool since swim league finals. Those boys played their hearts out, but did they really belong in Championship? They probably would have had a better time in classic.
The red team Iron manned Saturday mornings game, including the 14-15 year old. This team was thrown together last minute, probably to not have to pay the forfeit fee of each game. They could have easily been in classic or ran 1 team of their actual existing club players in Championship with the new 18 roster max this year.
SoCal and Patriot merger has been the word going around. Could be a play to lock down the new Woollett pool. I see nothing wrong with it, it’s strategic, and it’s creating another super club.
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I heard Elite also merged to scrape together enough kids to field teams after having a couple years of solid 10U and 12U platinum results. (Sand Canyon and North Irvine)
Rather than looking at the impact of merged teams, perhaps we should be looking at the cause? Not enough athletes? Coaching issues? Cost? (for anyone not in Commerce)
SOCAL being one of the oldest and most successful waterpolo clubs in southern California, and it makes sense to keep the SOCAL name. The last few years, Patriot has been great at the lower age groups, (where SOCAL used to also thrive), but for Patriot, the problem has been retaining the kids when they reach 16U and 18U. SOCAL still has a strong presence in the upper age groups, and hopefully if they merge, they can bring SOCAL back to it’s glory days. Tustin is too small to have two clubs. It makes perfect sense to merge and combine resources and coaches.
Sometimes with success, you rest on your laurels and that’s what I feel happened at our club, SOCAL. I have two daughters that went thru SOCAL. Only club we ever played for and even considered playing for. It’s like our big extended family.
We need some fresh ideas and new coaches with energy that are willing to do the grass roots efforts to draw people to the club, and that’s what they are trying to do.
Foothill HS has always been tied at the hip with SOCAL, and if there is a young coach out there, with some good energy and ideas, the girls waterpolo head coach position is open right now, if you are interested.
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Same with Tsunami 14 boys…. Their 14u A team qualified and won gold in classic, but their B team merged with Topaz and went into championship and went 0-7. Make that make sense. 
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They just announced SoCal Patriot new club!! I wonder how many parents will stay or move to different
Or ……..…..move back???
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Should be good for SoCal water polo, both great clubs. I wonder if their top level teams will still be SoCal Black. My son played there on 16U black, always loved the black and gold, not crazy about the updated blue and gold.
BTW- I think this is the only way for kids who remain in public schools (other than NB and CDM) to still get access to a program that will compete at the top level.
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At least on the boys side at 10u, 12u, and 14u, I’d have to think it will be more ‘move back’. I believe no team in SPA has a stronger roster of youth coaches than what SOCAL Patriots has put forward.
10u - Tijmen Egberts
12u - Paden Mitchell
14u - Miles Wilson
Those coaches can be loud, so it may not fit everyone’s style, but that is a pipeline built to win national championships. Any kid or parent in that pipeline who wants to be at the tippy-top of the sport and thinks the pool will be a brighter shade of blue elsewhere in Orange County is mistaken.
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It’s basically SoCal Patriots, Imperial and Vanguard that are now the only high level open clubs at 16 and 18. Seems like it’s always consolidation and not expansion recently in Orange County.
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I have been saying it for the past three years as we struggle to keep my son on a program that has like minded and talented kids with a decent coach. Waterpolo is in trouble as a youth sport. Maybe even the beach folks will agree with Newport 12U finishing outside the top 10 at JOs this year? Clubs combining to field teams is certainly a red flag to me. Not sure if it is due to costs increasing, kids choosing easier sports, ipad/gaming life, coaches demeaning and berating, i could make a long list.
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Very strong line up of coaches that will challenge you. Also, 16u coach Ethan Shipman just led the Patriot boys to a 4th place finish in platinum bracket.
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SoCal Patriot is a big selling point imho. My kids have played at both programs and we loved the development at Patriot and high level of SoCal in the older groups. Seems natural this would happen. Looks like all their favorite coaches will be staying too. I imagine they will be highly competitive next year and plenty of kids will be moving over.
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The rationale is not simply to make the club larger. It is to combine the complementary strengths of both organizations to provide a better experience and clearer pathway for every athlete.
- Create a unified Orange County development pathway: The combined organization will support athletes from Splashball and introductory programs through age-group competition, high school preparation, collegiate recruiting and elite-level water polo.
- Build greater depth across every age group: Combining the player bases would make it possible to field multiple appropriately leveled teams within each age and gender division. Elite athletes would face stronger internal competition, while developing athletes would receive more playing time and instruction suited to their current level.
- Bring together two strong competitive traditions: SOCAL brings a long history of national success, collegiate placement and Olympic-level alumni. Patriots brings a growing, highly competitive program with recent success across multiple Junior Olympic divisions. Together, the clubs could create one of the deepest water polo programs in Southern California.
- Strengthen the coaching platform: A combined staff would offer greater coaching depth, position-specific instruction, goalie development and continuity across age groups. It would also create more attractive long-term career opportunities for high-quality coaches.
- Improve access to and utilization of pool space: Pool availability is among the largest constraints on water polo development. A merged organization could coordinate existing facilities, reduce scheduling conflicts and negotiate from a stronger position with school districts and pool operators.
- Reduce unnecessary competition for the same resources: Rather than competing for many of the same athletes, coaches, pools and tournament opportunities, the clubs could redirect that energy toward expanding participation and improving athlete development.
- Strengthen both boys’ and girls’ programs: The combined scale would help ensure sustainable rosters across every age group and allow both programs to maintain competitive and developmental teams.
- Provide better collegiate recruiting support: The combined club would have broader coaching relationships, greater tournament visibility and a stronger platform for helping athletes identify appropriate college opportunities.
- Preserve local accessibility while gaining the benefits of scale: The merger should not require every family to train at one location. A hub-based model will retain convenient local practices while bringing athletes together for higher-level training, team selection and competition.
- Create greater financial and organizational stability: A larger membership base will support professional administration, coach development, technology, equipment, financial aid and expanded programming while eliminating duplicated expenses.
- Increase regional and national relevance: The combined organization will have greater influence with USA Water Polo, tournaments, sponsors, municipalities and school districts, strengthening its ability to advocate for athletes and grow the sport.
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so which high schools will they now be trying to pull from?
I would say any high school in the general area of central Orange County, since they will remain an open club, centrally based in Tustin/Irvine
The SoCal club is a shell of itself over the past few years. No more than this year. The only team that placed platinum was 18u girls and they are aging out. Why did Patriot want the merge. Did they price themselves out? They basically cost almost $1000 every quarter including heavy tournament fees. There are basically no weekends off for Patriot athletes and families either; have they burnt the families and kids out, therefore struggling with recruitment and maintaining numbers? Will SoCal have to raise their rates which are also not on the cheap side as well. I’m sure if they raise their rates some will disapprove. I like the merger better than the continuous breaking off for more unnecessary clubs in OC. Lord knows there are already too many. I believe this merger helps SoCal more than Patriot. What’s up with Patriot that they felt the need? Also, with those International coaches from Patriot gel with SoCal coaches?. I’m sure there will be lots of ego in the room with the new merger
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