Is there anywhere you can see the real rankings? So all seasons/schools combined? Just curious as there has to be great teams outside of CA I’ve never heard of
It’s interesting how MaxPreps works. Always super excited! Gotta hype the teams up -I’ve been to so many amazing high school games, we’re lucky to have so many great players spread over a small amount of schools!
Would be cool to see a list of the Top 20–30 NorCal girl players, including the established standouts as well as the up-and-coming talent that should be on the radar for college coaches.
Who should be on the list?
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Maxpreps is not very accurate, specially when it comes to waterpolo. Unfortunately, the CIF southern section and the San Diego section, don’t start their girls WP seasons until mid November, so it’s always been really hard to gauge, who the strongest HS teams are, on the girls side.
On the girls side, there are not any HS teams right now, outside of CA, that would crack to top 10 if there was a national ranking. I really hope there is, at some point in the future, but just not yet.
JOe
If you scroll down, there are some topics below that talk about upcoming players.
You will see two threads for Class of 2026, and 2027, player commitments
There is also one name something like ‘up and coming class of 2028 girls”
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I agree. I don’t think there is a high school team in Northern CA that could beat the top SoCal teams
Newport, Mater Dei, Oaks, Bishop’s, OLU & San Marcos. Maybe 6-10.
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I actually went back and edited my comment. I forgot to mention ‘outside of CA’
I do believe that the top girls HS from Norcal, could give a great fight to a lot of the teams you mention, since their talent seems to be concentrated among a smaller pool of teams. Unfortunetely we may never know
I agree - NorCal has some great talent. It’s so hard to tell without playing them how we’d do. I’m sure there are games live streamed but I’m not enough of an armchair expert to figure out if they’re better (plus I’m biased knowing so many NorCal players). Even if they let the top teams have an exhibition match it would be amazing to watch.
I honestly do not understand this argument. At the last NJOs, only one Norcal girls team got a medal- Lamo 10U girls won bronze. I do not see any Norcal high school team beating Newport, for example.
Carondelet is the closest to being a complete team in Norcal, but even for them, it might be too hard a task.
The 16u and 18u results in JO’s have different top three’s in each bracket. If you then put great players in various high schools is there still an obvious power house? I agree Newport team (vs High School) looks great for most age groups & Carondelet is having an incredible season. Would love to see them play the top SoCal team.
There are also some stellar players, at unranked or lower-profile NorCal schools. They often go unnoticed because their teams don’t make the rankings, but the talent is absolutely there, and some of these athletes stand out and could be real impact players at the next level.
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There is no doubt that there are some great players in Northern California, but I do not think that any of the teams have the depth and talent of some of the Southern California teams like Newport, OLu, Mater Dei, etc.
Unfortunately, it does not look like we will ever see them play in the same season.
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Diablo 12u girls came in 2nd at NJOs last year (and 3rd the year prior). NorCal girls seem to disperse amongst the NorCal high schools though rather than be concentrated on one HS team.
Yes, I forgot about Diablo 12s. Still, the point stands. Not a single Norcal girls team won a medal in 14U-18U age groups last summer, which does not improve the chances of a high school team from Northern California beating, say Newport Harbor.
What are people seeing here?
- SHP
- Carondelet
- Acalanes
everyone else
I am not so sure. Carondelet has only one loss this season- a one point loss to SHP at the SHP home tournament. SHP has two losses, including a two points loss to Carondelet in September.
Also, I am not sure that the top three are separated from the rest. Campolindo and say AG can beat a top three team on a good day. And I am not sure it is only Campo and AG.
I frequently wish there were more girls HS talk. So, I’ll take a stab. This is far from perfect, and I can’t rival what @jeff does on the boys HS side, but here are some thoughts.
1&2
Carondelet & SHP seem to be at the top. As @wpolo93 said, it’s hard for me to weigh one game as the deciding factor, even if SHP did win head to head just a few days ago. These seem like the top two teams this season, and I won’t be surprised if they face off in the CIF NorCal final after just having played in the NorCal Tournament final.
#3
Acalanes seems to be solidly at #3 to me based on what they have done all season and some of their real strength. I see them being separate from the groups above and below them, and all of these top 8 teams can give each other a very close game.
#4 through #8
Campolindo, Arroyo Grande, Soquel, SRV, Leland - I have not seen these teams play enough to be sure, but this group is very strong and each has had ups and downs this season. Games where they played with or beat a team above them, and games where they looked a bit less complete or consistent. And, all five of these teams can easily build into an incredible postseason.
#9 through #13
Miramonte, Davis, Las Lomas, Archie Williams & Clovis - Differences in schedules and results make it hard for me to be sure how this group compares to each other, but some top playoff seeds are represented in this group and I won’t be suprised if some cobination of Miramonte, Las Lomas & Archie Williams are playing in the D1 NCS Final in a few weeks.
#14 through #19
Tam, Archbishop Mitty, Redwood (NCS), Merced, Marin Academy & Buchanan - Most of this group especially has some single results that look like they should be in the group above, and others where they seem to have had a key injury, illness, or just an off game. That said, these teams are solid and while they probably aren’t ready to hang with the Carondelets and the SHPs of the world, they are strong and dynamic teams who can surprise teams above them on the right day
Teams I considered, but I’m not sure…
Merced, Granite Bay, Alameda, Palo Alto - I’m sure there are more that I’m missing. I know NCS teams best and would love for folks who know more about CCS or SJS to help suggest teams from those areas who I’ve missed (or NCS teams that I’ve overlooked).
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The best SJS teams have been slowed down by injuries to some of their best players in October.
I hope very much that injured kids recover 100% as quickly as possible.
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Two interesting results in league playoffs yesterday, Oct 30th:
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Diablo Athletic League (CIF-NCS) - Miramonte beats Acalanes 10-9. Is CIF-NCS Open Bracket going to be 4 teams again like 2023 and 2024? Or go back to 6 like 2022?
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West Catholic Athletic League (CIF-CCS) - St. Francis beats Mitty 7-6. Will this affect who gets in CIF-CCS Open Bracket as well?
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