James Smith

About James Smith

https://aquatexwaterpolo.com

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AquaTexans Earn 24-25 UIL Waterpolo Honors

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It took a while to compile all the data but finally, we’re very excited and proud to share AquaTex’s high school water polo honorees for the UIL 2024-25 season.*

Gavin Hantelman, Round Rock HS

  • TISCA All-UIL Region 3 Second Team
  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Most Valuable Player
  • 2024-25 All-District 22 First Team

Colton Nealis, Round Rock HS

  • TISCA All-UIL Region 3 Second Team
  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Offensive Player of the Year
  • 2024-25 All-District 22 First Team

Izzy Morrison, Round Rock HS

  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Second Team

Rachel Delk, Waco Midway HS

  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Second Team

Rocco Falce, Round Rock HS

  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Second Team

Ronald Chou, Round Rock HS

  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Second Team

Rudy-Matheo Garcia, LASA

  • 2024-25 All-District 23 Honorable Mention

Max Tsukerman, Round Rock HS

  • 2024-25 All-District 22 Honorable Mention

The entire coaching staff congratulates all our athletes – current, former, and future (!) – on another great year of UIL water polo capped by this tremendous list of honorees. We expect to see more in the future as the sport grows. You have done your club proud along with your high school.

*includes athletes registered with AquaTex as of the summer of 2024

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2024 Fall Schedule and Programming Update

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Coach Max has announced the following training schedule for the Fall of 2024, beginning on Tuesday, August 20. Here’s what he wrote about the schedule:

As always, things may change, but here is the schedule we will be going with for the time being…

The start time listed is the time that you are expected to be on deck and ready to go in proper dryland attire (sneakers, shorts, t-shirt). The 30 min of dryland each day is going to be extremely beneficial for our development and health in the water…please be on time.

More info on the expectations and changes for the upcoming season will be sent out and discussed over the next couple of weeks. Much of that will be done in a smaller GroupMe divided up by each age/practice group.

Can’t wait to be back on deck with everyone, and continue to build on all the improvement/success from last season…hope you are all excited and motivated to get back to work!

– Coach Max

Just to reiterate:

  • As always, this schedule is subject to change
  • With the change in programming we should expect a change in the fee structure to cover expenses. We’ll share details whenever we get them
  • Note Coach Max’s explanation for earlier practice times: dryland training. Be on time and be prepared with the correct gear (Crocs are NOT athletic shoes!)
  • The updated schedule also takes in to account the time we train in Micki’s small pool, which affects the kind of training we can do

2024 Fall Training Schedule

All training at Micki Krebsbach unless/until there’s an update.

High School & Age GroupNovice WaterpoloSwim2Score
first 30 minutes drylandfirst 30 minutes drylandfirst 15 minutes dryland
Mondayno trainingno training6:45PM to 8:00PM
Tuesday6:30PM to 9:00PM6:30PM to 8:00PMno training
Wednesday6:30PM to 9:00PM6:30PM to 8:00PM6:45PM to 8:00PM
Thursday6:30PM to 9:00PM6:30PM to 8:00PMno training
Fridayno trainingno trainingno training
Saturday10:00AM to 1:00PM10:00AM to noon9:30AM to 11:00AM
Sunday10:00AM to 1:00PM10:00AM to noon9:30AM to 11:00AM

 

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Final Session 3 Update, Summer Break, Fall Scheduling

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AquaTexans, we have arrived at the end of our training year. Session 3 of JOs begins on Thursday so here’s a final update prior to then. And there’s info for all families who will be training with us this fall, current members and potential ones. Read on.

JOs Session 3

The tournament schedule, locations, and much more are on our Event page. Please take a moment to view all the special instructions for a couple locations where we’ll likely end up: SMU and Garland. And be sure to read in detail what spectators should expect, including online ticketing. For our 18u families have a printed and signed version of the proper form (linked here) when we get to SMU on Wednesday evening. There’s one form for adults and athletes age 18 and up, and another for minors. Coaches will be collecting your forms and then packaging them for our friends at SMU.

We will attempt to keep everyone informed during the tournament via our GroupMe’s and on the Event Page.

For our NWC players make sure you’re communicating with Coach Daniel and we’ll see you and your Chicago teammates soon!

Good luck to everyone participating and make sure to share any photos or game film with us. We’ll use it for Instagram and we’ll create a shared folder on the interweb where all of them will be kept for posterity.

IDs

USA Water Polo will be checking the identity of each athlete prior to games and requires a physical photo ID of everyone. The ID can be your USAWP ID card, a drivers license, official state ID card, school ID card, passport. You can also download a photo ID with your USAWP membership. This only takes 1-2 minutes and can be done from a phone. Login to your account at the USAWP website and then click the blank profile picture to download a photo ID. Step by Step Instructions on How to Update USAWP Membership Photo.

Team Dinner

All our non-18u athletes and families are expected to attend a team dinner at Black Walnut Cafe in Coppell at around 6:30 PM on Wednesday, July 31. We’ve reserved a large room to accommodate families for three whole teams! It is a seated restaurant but each person orders at a counter. Tip your waiters generously.

Fall Training Schedule

Our practice on Tuesday, July 30 is the last one of the summer and marks the end of the 2023-24 club water polo season. We will take a well-deserved break after JOs Session 3 and then resume training on Sunday, August 11. That includes all training and new-athlete evaluations: Swim2Score, age group, high school, and novice. The detailed fall schedule will be out soon. We’ll see you again in August.

Re-registration

This is important! Especially for our UIL high school athletes.

All AquaTex member families (water polo or swim) are “terminated/suspended” at the end of July each year, and are then required to re-register via the Team Unify site on or after August 1. Many of you are quite familiar with this but we also have some newcomers who may not be aware of it.

For those who will train with AquaTex in August you have until the 11th to re-register. That includes all Swim2Score, age group, novice waterpolo, and CenTex Consolidated high school athletes. It’s pretty simple: if you’re practicing with AquaTex you need to be registered with the club.

If your athlete will be playing for a UIL-sanctioned high school team (not CenTex Consolidated) this fall then do not re-register on August 1. Let your membership lapse. Wait until November, or whenever your athlete resumes training with AquaTex. You are more than welcome to continue training with AquaTex during the UIL season but (no surprise) you will need to be a paying, registered member. Otherwise, we’ll see you again in November.

Contract

Note that we now require each family that (re-)registers with the club to agree to a Player/Team/Parent contract. Take the time to review the draft of it now. An electronically signed version of this contract will be required from each family upon registration.

Account Suspensions

Also note in the contract that there are new rules for any temporary suspension or termination of an athlete’s AquaTex account. For those high school athletes who are suspending their accounts until November in order to play UIL-sponsored water polo, please fill out this form. Each of those athletes will be automatically re-instated on November 1.

It’s been a great year. Thank you everyone for making it the best we’ve ever had at AquaTex Waterpolo. And the future is bright. We’ll see you at JOs and then in August.

James

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Summer, JOs Update

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For all our members, and those playing with us at JOs this summer, a quick but quite important note about a few things coming up quickly this summer.

Junior Olympics

We’ve been informed of a few things that will help us plan for Session 3 of JOs. None of this has been officially confirmed but is very likely based on what someone I trust told me.

  • It is very likely, but not certain, that the team registration deadline will be extended past June 1, which gives us more time.
  • We’ve been told that if our 16u boys team does not receive a slot at Session 1 (unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely we’ll receive a slot) that the roster is wide open for Session 3. We can add athletes or move them to different age groups. Which means…
  • Our 14u roster will (very likely) include several players from that 16u JO Quals team which means that roster is already bigger than expected.
  • Another club has invited our 12u mixed athletes to participate with them at JOs Session 3. AquaTex coaches will be deciding if it’s a good fit in the coming days, but it’s good news for our 12u athletes who don’t have a team to play for. More to come.
  • Our plans are to have Longhorn athletes join us on a 10 and under mixed team! This is so exciting for us. If you are part of our Swim2Score or Novice Waterpolo programming and haven’t signed up to participate at JOs it’s not too late. Probably the most fun part of the whole tournament.
  • We’re so pleased to have several girls join us recently and we are still looking for a place where they can play at JOs.

Summer Schedule

As of today we are fortunate to have all of Micki Krebsbach to ourselves on weeknights for the coming few weeks (the swim team will be training at the RRAC). So, our TENTATIVE schedule beginning June 3 is something like this. We want to keep you informed as best as possible but this is, as always, subject to change. Overall though this is great news for the club. We’ve never had regular access to the whole facility on weeknights in the summer.

Coaches

We’re hopeful that we could bring on at least one if not two very experienced coaches in the coming weeks. We’re in very early discussions and will let everyone know when we have news.

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We’re Headed to the RRAC

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Micki Krebsbach will be closed between April 8-21 as it usually is every April. The City does maintenance on the pool every spring in order to prepare for the very busy summer schedule.

Fortunately, this year, we’re shifting practices (mainly) to the Round Rock ISD Aquatic Center (affectionately known as the RRAC) on the campus of Cedar Ridge High School. We’re really excited to use this great facility. Between April 8-21 the RRAC schedule is:

  • High School/Age Group Waterpolo: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
  • Novice Waterpolo: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
  • Swim2Score: Wednesday, 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

Also, you can plan on practices at Lake Creek on the weekends during Micki’s repairs. That schedule is still being worked on and will be updated here whenever we have more info.

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STX Champs Recap, JOs on the Calendar

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A quick note as we’re already in February of a busy year.

STX Champs Recap

AquaTex’s 14u team came away undefeated at last weekend’s South Texas Spring Champs in San Antonio after two matches to win the “B” bracket of their age group. Two convincing wins means that next time that team can look forward to playing in the “A” bracket! Plus, our newest players got some great game experience in a setting that encourages newcomers to take part. Congratulations lads.

Our 16u team did take part in their A bracket and came away with two educational defeats to Alamo and Viper Pigeon. The results might be disappointing but this team is much improved since last summer. Coaches are pleased with the progress of this team… but expects even more! Keep working hard.

Meanwhile, Gavin and his Longhorn 18u boys teammates fell to their new nemesis, Alamo, in the final match to place second out of four.

Well done to everyone who participated, thanks to all the parents who attended, and to Coach Max for leading the team.

A reminder to those who did participate: the fee is $45/athlete payable to Coach James via Venmo or Zelle.

Roster Calls

Most important: All the Junior Olympics tournaments are now on the calendar. It’s the most important competition of the year so read on:

Longhorn Game Day

AquaTex will have a Game Day with Longhorn on Sunday, February 25. The schedule will be basically the same as it has in past months.

Dare to Dream

Dare to Dream for 10u and 12u athletes is in Pearland (Houston) on January 27-28. Our young athletes are expected to attend. We want AquaTex 10u and 12u teams ready to go! It’s USA Water Polo’s most prestigious tournament explicitly for our youngest athletes.

2024 National Junior Olympics

That’s right: we’re beginning planing for a tournament that takes place in July/August! There are several steps we need to take (as most of you already know) in order to take teams to one of the three Junior Olympics sessions. Just know, our aim is to bring as many AquaTex teams to California as possible.

For our newcomers, JOs is the biggest youth water polo tournament in the world. There are three sessions, two of which are in California, one in North Texas. Any team that plans to compete in one of the two California sessions *must* qualify via a Zone Qualifying Tournament. Thus, any athlete who plans to play on a California-headed roster is obligated to be on the Zone Qualifying roster as well. There are no exceptions. The Southwest Zone JOs Qualifier tournament takes place May 3-5, the earliest it has ever taken place in Texas. Thus the increased planning urgency.

  • An “intent” form is coming for all AquaTex families. Knowing full well that plans can change we need to assess our level of commitment to fielding teams for NJOs.
  • The tentative deadline to confirm intent to play at JOs is March 15. That date may change so stay tuned.

Much more to come about JOs but just know we plan on having a big turnout.

Communications

A reminder that GroupMe will remain our method for the most urgent communications between and among coaches, athletes, and families. All families are expected to join the AquaTex Waterpolo Club GroupMe for that reason (contact Coach James if you need the link to join). In addition:

  • Because the group is meant for AquaTexans of all ages, it will remain a squeaky-clean family friendly zone! All communications will be assiduously G-rated.
  • Our families often use the GroupMe to share that they won’t be attending a particular practice. From now on coaches would prefer that the athlete him- or her-self share that information in the GroupMe. Athletes should take responsibility for their own attendance.

Homework

Everyone should be watching (if possible) as much World Championship water polo as possible. Team USA has already qualified for the Paris Olympics this summer but this is one of the best tournaments of the year. For Americans, Team USA games are available on Peacock. If you’re sufficiently inventive there may be ways of watching a lot more via other sources. Good luck!

Milestones

January and February Birthdays! Happy birthday to all of you.

  • Aanay, 2/16
  • Ilay, 2/28
  • Jean, 2/18
  • Roman, 1/14
  • Remy, 2/21
  • Cash, 1/14
  • James, 1/16
  • Coach James, 1/23

See you on the deck.

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Cowtown Recap, New Training Schedule

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First of all, and most importantly, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to the beautiful and expanding AquaTex Waterpolo community. We’re so glad to have you with us.

Cowtown Recap

Our new-look (and short-handed) 16u boys team went 1-3 at the Cowtown Stampede last weekend with Coach Max in at the helm. A couple challenging first games vs. Viper Pigeon and Alamo were followed buy much closer matches against Pegasus and Zilla. The team is making progress and most definitely take away more to learn after the (exhausting) weekend.

Meanwhile, Gavin was a key contributor for and Elvis made his tournament debut with Longhorn’s 18u runner up team, which fell to Pegasus in the tournament final; Jean scored his first ever goal for the Longhorn 14u squad; Jonas was one of the leading scorers for the 12u team, as Graham was for the 10u team. We’re so excited for all our new, young athletes.

Well done to everyone who participated, thanks to all the parents who attended, and to Coach Max for leading the team.

A reminder to those who did participate: the fee is $95/athlete payable to Coach James via Venmo or Zelle.

Roster Calls

A quick note on upcoming competition:

  • More details coming but Longhorn has invited us to a Winter Beach Polo Blitz on Sunday, January 7. We’ll see whether that replaces practice for most or some.
  • AquaTex will have a January Game Day with Longhorn on Sunday, January 21. Again, details forthcoming, but we can all plan on game days with Longhorn happening roughly once a month.
  • Dare to Dream for 10u and 12u athletes is in Pearland (Houston) on January 27-28. Our young athletes are expected to attend. We want AquaTex 10u and 12u teams ready to go!

Training Schedule

Updated 3 January 2024 to correct an error.

On January 3 we begin an updated training schedule for our high school and age group rosters:

  • Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 6:40 PM to 9:00 PM
  • Saturday and Sunday from 9:40 AM to noon

High school and age group athletes are expected to be at the pool on time for 20 minutes of stretching and dryland; thus the 6:40 PM and 9:40 AM start times. Wear proper clothing.

Schedules and programming for Novice Waterpolo and Swim2Score are being updated over the holiday break and will be published as soon as possible. For now, Swim2Score will remain on Sundays at 10:00 AM. We will have more firm times and days for Novice Waterpolo soon.

Holiday Break

We will have practice the morning of Saturday, December 23 after which we will go on hiatus until Wednesday, January 3. We hope everyone has a joyous holiday and we’ll see you again in January.

Milestones

November and December Birthdays! Happy birthday to all of you.

  • Saaketh, 10/30
  • Jacob, 12/20
  • Gavin, 11/9
  • KJ, 11/19
  • Elvis, 11/29
  • Ana, 12/9
  • Annika, 12/13
  • Austin, 11/21
  • Helen, 11/4

See you on the deck in January.

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Sasa Branisavljevic Joins AquaTex Waterpolo

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One of the nation’s most accomplished water polo coaches is joining AquaTex Waterpolo Club.

Sasa Branisavljevic, founder of Vanguard Aquatics and former Head Coach at Huntington Beach High School, has agreed to an assistant coaching position with the club. He will begin his work with AquaTex athletes in the coming weeks.

The Subotica, Serbia native founded Vanguard in 2013 and since then has molded the club in to one of the most successful and recognized in the US, with 30 Junior Olympics trophies and two USA Water Polo Chairman’s Cups, awarded to the the top male water polo program in the United States.

He and his family, including two young children, have re-located to Pflugerville where Coach Sasa will pursue a career in firefighting while also sharing his considerable skills with AquaTex; in particular, working with our youngest athletes, providing training and planning advice, and pursuing growth opportunities for the club in his new home town and others in the Round Rock area.

More on Coach Sasa from Vanguard’s web site:

Sasa is a seminal figure in the American water polo landscape, distinguished not only for his individual accomplishments but also for his transformative impact on the sport. As the Founder of Vanguard Aquatics, alongside his fellow coaches, he has helped built one of the most formidable water polo powerhouses in the country. Vanguard Aquatics has twice received the USAWP Chairmans’ Cup, an award recognizing it as the top male water polo program in the United States. Sasa oversees all aspects of the program, including coaching, administration, practice programming, and staff development, all while ensuring the safety and well-being of all participants by rigorously enforcing board policies.

Sasa’s journey in the sport began at the age of 8 in Subotica, Serbia, laying the groundwork for an illustrious career that would span continents and diverse levels of competition. During his youth, he gained valuable experience in Serbia’s First League and became the youngest player to join Spartak’s professional team at just 16. While with Spartak, the team secured a coveted spot in the Len Cup, a top-tier European club championship.

In 2009, Sasa transitioned to a coaching role at Huntington Beach High School, one of the most esteemed high school water polo programs in the United States. Elevated to head coach in 2015, Sasa has become the most decorated coach in the school’s history. Under his stewardship, the team reached the CIF Division I finals in 2016 and 2021 and clinched four Sunset League Championships in 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2021. Sasa has been instrumental in elevating Huntington Beach High School to a top nationally-recognized water polo institution in California. He’s instilled a culture of academic and athletic excellence, and has been a vital force in assisting student-athletes during the recruitment process for prestigious university programs. A number of his former players have ascended to the Junior and Senior National Teams.

Despite a demanding professional life, Sasa is a devoted family man, blessed with a loving wife and two children. This harmonious blend of personal and professional commitments enriches his holistic coaching philosophy, which places equal emphasis on athletic prowess, emotional resilience, and teamwork.

Branisavljevic joins AquaTex as the club has experienced its most substantial growth since being formed in 2013. Coach Sasa will join new Head Coach Max Staresinic in helping craft and expand AquaTex programming to Westover Hills Club in Austin, where training will begin in the coming months. The club winds up 2023 with more athletes of the broadest range of ages since its foundation with aims at yet more growth and quality in 2024.

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Spooner, Hantelman Earn All-region Honors. Gordon to Auburn.

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Morgan Spooner finished her Round Rock HS career as a 2023 first-team all Region 3 selection as voted on by regional high school coaches. She’s joined by fellow AquaTexan Gavin Hantelman who made the all-region second team as a Junior. Former member Erica Campbell earned Honorable Mention for the district girls.

All three, and several other AquaTexans, also were selected to All District teams at the completion of the 2023 UIL season.

Huge congratulations to all of them.

Meanwhile, one of AquaTex’s longest tenured poloists has finished touring colleges and made this choice:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Aaron Gordon (@aarongordon2025)

Congratulations to all three of them, and their fellow AquaTexans who earned high school water polo honors in 2023.

Water Polo District 21 All-District 2023

Water Polo District 22 All-District 2023

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Staresinic Takes Helm, AQTX Waterpolo Expanding

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Huge news as we name a new head coach, expand our reach in to Austin, and prepare for next summer (that’s right).

Coach Max Takes Over

We’re excited to announce that Max Staresinic is the new Head Coach of AquaTex Waterpolo Club. He takes over training and programming duties and will be the key voice in articulating and executing our competitive goals (which are ambitious!). You can read his credentials from our announcement that he was joining the club a few weeks ago. The Pittsburgh, PA native played his collegiate ball at UCLA after which he coached both in Pennsylvania and in Southern California.

Barbara (Babs) Lanier will be the Head Coach for all girls’ teams and athletes at AquaTex. Working with Coach Max she’ll lead training and competition for our girls of all ages. She will continue working with our youth boys athletes as well.

Sebastian Houng will be the Head Goalkeeping Coach and will also focus on our 14u/12u athletes.

And we’re fortunate to have Coach Anthony Gerakos with us to assist with – especially – high school-age boys. He just completed a very successful season with our Consolidated High School team.

I will remain the Team Director, focusing on communications, financing, administration, and working with Club Owner Mark Parshall. And I’ll step in to coach at Coach Max’s discretion.

As always we’ll continue to look for new coaching talent, which we hope will be necessary as we continue to grow.

AquaTex Waterpolo is Expanding

AquaTex Waterpolo will be expanding its reach in to Austin. Coach Max is starting water polo programing at Westover Hills Club in Austin in the coming weeks and those athletes will be members of AquaTex Waterpolo. We are already putting together a plan for those athletes who will likely train weeknights at Westover and weekends at Micki with the whole team, and will be on AquaTex’s competitive teams going forward. We are very excited that our reach has expanded, as we’ve hoped for some time, and that the sheer number of athletes taking part in AquaTex water polo under Coach Max’s leadership will increase. It’s a big day for the club as we extend ourselves in to Austin and, hopefully, beyond.

Parent Advisory Board

We have begun recruiting individuals to take part in a new Parent Advisory Board. Several have already committed and we’ll announce the list once everyone who has been invited has had the chance to respond. It is an informal board that will serve Coach Max in helping set the competitive and social priorities for the club. The format is still to be determined but will likely include at a minimum quarterly online meetings (perhaps some in person!).

(Re-) Registration

We have plans for our high school athletes, former and future, who are beginning to return after the end of the second UIL season (with congratulations to all who played UIL water polo in 2023). All lapsed members need to re-register with AquaTex prior to re-starting training. Contact Coach Mark if you have any issues doing so, and please remember that when you register, if you’re in high school or middle school and are NOT slotted for our Novice Waterpolo program, then specifically select “Age Group/High School Waterpolo.” Do not select “High School” or “Junior” which are swim team groups.

Ladies and gents, our aim is to send every possible AquaTex team to California for JOs in 2024. Qualification for those sessions takes place as early as it ever has in early May. The work toward competing next summer begins now. So get registered and get training with our revamped group of talented coaches.

Tournaments

TAGS

The final update regarding this tournament came out this morning. If you are attending be sure to read the important updates about parking limitations and gate entry fees. Good luck to our athletes and Coach Sebastian!

Mavericks Tourney/Armadillo Classic

They keep changing the name and location of this tourney but it’s the first opportunity for our high school athletes to play after the UIL season. 18u and 16u teams only up in The Colony, hosted by the quickly improving Mavericks Club.

Cowtown Stampede

Those who’ve been around a while know we have had some of our biggest successes at this tournament so we expect to end the calendar year with a bang and with lots of teams participating up in Keller in December.

Gear

Finally, a reminder to all our families: an AquaTex competition suit and one AquaTex tee-shirt are required for each athlete, both available year-round in our shop. Coach James has a fitting kit for men’s briefs so please ask to try one one before you purchase if you’d like.

And, as we said earlier, the shop is full of cold weather gear, which we’re going to need as the winter progresses. The deadline to order Printful gear so it arrives prior to Christmas is December 10 for gear produced in US and November 25 for stuff produced in the EU.

Team Rules Update

Though we only announced a new set of team rules in August, they are already in need of some serious revision. Such things as rules regarding suspending your account, annual registration fees, and more do not currently fit with the Club’s requirements. Stay tuned for an update.

So excited for this winter and beyond. See you on the deck.

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