GREAT WEEKEND AT PACIFIC ZONE JO QUALIFYING

Congratulations to all the teams on a great job at the Pacific Zone Junior Olympic Qualifying Tournament. As most of you know, there are 11 zones in US Water Polo. Each zone is allocated berths in JOs and must conduct an early summer qualifying tournament to award those slots. It is also the only time all the teams in our zone are matched up with one another. As is so often the case, Stanford was the pre-eminent club in the tournament, qualifying five teams for JOs and winning two of the three age groups.

Here is the team by team recap of the weekend:

14Bs- 7th Place
Finished the tournament with a convincing 11-3 victory in the 7th place game. Although there are just five spots set aside for our zone at the 14s level, there is still an outside chance that one or two more teams may be invited. Congratulations to this fast improving group of players.

14As- 4th Place
Cruised to impressive wins on Saturday, including a 9-1 quarterfinal victory to ensure a JO bid. The team finished 4th and has great potential for improvement during the remaining seven weeks of summer polo. Great job by the entire team and Coaches Jenny and Angie!

16Bs- 6th Place
The zone seeding committee didn't think the 16Bs could qualify for JOs. A top seven finish was required, and the 16Bs were seeded 11th! But with solid wins over #6 Oakland on Friday night (11-5) and Diablo B (10-2), the team was into the top 8. Despite a close loss in the quarterfinals, the 16Bs roared back to defeat Golden State, 8-2, and the team had clinched a berth in JOs! Congratulations to all the players, on the bench and in the water, who made it a great weekend for the team. And thanks to Travis and Jessie for getting the group prepared.

16As- 1st Place
With no game closer than three goals, the 16As breezed through the weekend with five wins, including 5-2 over NorCal in the championship game. Does this team know how to play defense? They gave up just six goals in five games!!! That is unheard of in the older age groups. An impressive run by this team and Ted.

18Bs- 5th Place
Another team thought by the experts to be of less-than-JO quality, the #9 seeded 18Bs lost 9-6 to Diablo A in their first game, then righted themselves to go 3-1 the rest of the way, losing only to our A team! They beat Alamo in a shootout, handled Nordic, 10-3, then got another shot at Diablo A in the 5th place game. This time, just 30 hours after losing to the same team, we won 14-5! From a three goal loss to a nine goal win, that's a 12 goal turnaround- what a great job by all the players and Theo.

18As- 1st Place
The players on this team, who have been with Stanford an average of five years, showed their unity and skill by dismantling the competition en route to winning the 18-under age group. They won the championship game by "just" five goals, but they were ahead 12-2 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Brilliant play and coaching. Congratulations to the squad and to Kyle and Susan.

Notes:
1. Stanford garnered five of the zone's 19 spots in JOs (5 teams of 14s, 7 of 16s, and 7 of 18s). No other club had more than three teams qualify.
2. No other club in the zone placed a B team in JOs. We had two! In other words, our "B" teams are truly "A" teams.
3. Our 18Bs moved up four spots from their seeding. No other club that qualified finished more than two spots higher.
4. The 16Bs moved up five spots. No other qualifying team moved more than two spots.
5. The 18As averaged over 14 goals per game. That is quite an offensive explosion.
6. We had 10 coaches on hand during the tournament, which means we had a coach:player ratio of 1:8.

I hope everyone will be able to make it to the JO Quals Celebration this Wednesday, June 21, 6:15pm, here at Stanford. This will be an ice cream social and our inaugural Baking Contest. Please bring treats to have with the ice cream. All club players and parents are welcome to join in the festivities.