(Another) New Coach
Welcome to Max Staresenic, our newest addition to the coaching staff. Coach Max learned how to play water polo in Pittsburgh, enough so to be named Pennsylvania’s high school player of the year before heading off to play at UCLA. Post collegiate career he turned to coaching with Tiger Water Polo in Pennsylvania and the famous Bruin Water Polo Club in LA under UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright. He and his business partner, Jonny Songer (otherwise known as Jonny Rocket of YouTube fame) are also coaching water polo at Westover Country Club in Austin (more about that in the coming days).
Take a moment to say hi next time you can. You can expect to see a lot of Coach Max! Welcome aboard.
Recaps
As the high school season winds down we need to get ready for several upcoming tournaments this winter (our winter season begins November 1). But first…
Alamo Classic
We’re so excited that some of our newest athletes went and competed so well at the Alamo Classic in San Antonio with Coach Sebastian and our friends from Longhorn. Word is that Izzy was dominant for the Longhorn 8th grade girls, Ilay did the same for his 12u team, and our newest athletes, Neel, Preston, Graham, and Jonas were huge contributors to their team after most of them have only about a month of training with AquaTex! And finally, Ilay continues to shine, also dominating for his Longhorn 12u team. We’re so excited to have so many new players competing. Well done to all of them, their Longhorn teammates, and Coach Sebastian.
TISCA Championships
Meanwhile, CenTex Consolidated earned fourth place in the state with a big win over John Paul II in the initial match of the TISCA Consolidated High School Championship Tournament last Saturday, then a close call against Houston Rebels to finish fourth. This ragtag group held it together despite injuries, homecomings, and a short bench. It’s the end of the season for our first ever high school consolidated team so huge congratulations to JP, Chase, Aaron, Jacob, Remy, Cash, William and their teammates from Longhorn and Zilla who joined us. And massive thanks to Coach Anthony who led them the whole way.
Upcoming Competition
You can find these events on our Tourneys page. Be sure to read through them and then sign those kids up!
TAGS (Texas Age Group Championships)
AKA the Texas middle school championships, is now officially on the calendar for November 4-5 in Southlake and Keller. Again, we want a big turnout for this tournament since it marks the end of our Fall season. It’s what we’re training for! It’s for anyone in 8th grade or younger.
Mavericks Tourney
Originally set for San Antonio this tourney had to switch locations to North Texas, November 18-19. This is the first chance for ALL our UIL and CenTex Consolidated athletes to show off those fall-honed skills against all our usual Texas competitors. Coach Max is already excited to get us ready to excel.
Cowtown Stampede
And one of our favorites, a tourney we have done very well at in the past. December 16-17 in Keller featuring all age groups. Let’s finish 2023 with a bang and a huge turnout.
Milestones
Birthdays! We’ve been neglecting them so time to catch up some. Happy birthday (some belated) to:
- Clayton, 9/13
- Chase, 10/23
- Rocco, 9/25
- Aaron, 10/2
And welcome to the club Dhruv, Andrew, Oliver, Helen, Delton, Aanay, Ada, Annika, Elvis, Kendrick, Jonas, Preston, Margaret! So stoked to have so many newcomers to Swim2Score, and our Age Group/HS programs.
And in case you didn’t already see it, our Jacob Gerakos got some pub in the local Temple newspaper! Way to rep the club and CenTex Consolidated, Jacob.
Gear
A couple gear reminders: thanks to our newcomers who have already purchased the required gear. To those who haven’t yet, each athlete is required to have one “uniform” t-shirt, and one competition suit. You can find all the eligible uniform items here.
Plus, the weather is (finally) getting colder. For all our shivering athletes and parents on the deck check out our cold weather gear: parkas, hoodies, sweats, and probably more soon, like sweatpants. As always, if you have a product you think would look good in AquaTex colors let us know.
Camps & Clinics
Nominations are open for the 2023 Holiday Camp in Colorado. It’s a great chance for any of our athletes in 8th grade to work with some of the best coaches in the US and train with players from all over the country. You can find details here but be sure to let Coach James know if you’d like to attend because you can only do so with a nomination from you coach. If you’re interested you’ll definitely be nominated.
More soon but until then, see you on the deck.
