Southwest Zone Champs and National Junior Olympics Information – 2015

Southwest Zone Championships, June 12-14, 2015

Attached is the Southwest Zone Championship tournament information which will be at Strake Jesuit College Prep (Houston, TX) on June 12-14, 2015 (only Friday games as needed). The Southwest Zone Championships will be the qualification/seeding tournament for the National Junior Olympics for the Southwest Zone. Only team attempting to qualify for NJO’s will be allowed to enter the tournament. On the tournament information, included is a breakdown of the entry process for teams from the Southwest Zone which intend to enter the NJO’s. Please read the two page document carefully regarding tournament eligibility requirements, deadlines, age criteria, club affiliations, age verification, etc. Some of the highlights for the Southwest Zone Champs and National Junior Olympics are below.

USA Water Polo NJO’s Website: http://www.usawaterpolo.org/juniorolympics/

NJO’s Allocated Spots/Seeding: http://www.usawaterpolo.org/juniorolympics/allocations-seeding.html

Entry Fee: The entry fee will be $425 per team. All teams will play 4-5 games for the tournament. Make checks payable to Southwest Water Polo. Please send entry fee payments to Southwest Water Polo (for Southwest Zone Champs ONLY), 7750 North Macarthur Blvd, #120-275, Irving, TX 75063. Payments will not be accepted online for Southwest Zone Champs (mailed or brought to the tournament).

Athlete Eligibility: An athlete’s age for the Southwest Zone Champs and NJO’s is determined by their age on August 1st for both boys & girls (*see exception below). Athletes MUST be Gold Members of USA Water Polo in order to be entered into the Southwest Zone Championships and National Junior Olympics. Athletes also must complete the Age Verification online at the USA Water Polo website in order to be eligible to compete in either event. *The one exception to this rule will be for those graduating senior athletes who turn 19 before August 1st. These athletes can now play in the 18U Division as long as they graduate High School in May/June 2015.

Club Affiliation/Age Verification Deadline (NO EXCEPTIONS): Athletes and Coaches MUST be registered with the Club they intend to play with by Friday, May 29th at 9:00 pm. Athletes will also need to have their Age Verification completed by this date (3-5 day process). Athletes who turn 19 before August 1st AND graduated from high school in May/June must turn in their official transcript with USA Water Polo by this date. This deadline is for both Southwest Zone Championships and the National Junior Olympics.

Deadline for Southwest Zone Champs Team Entries: The deadline for the Southwest Zone Champs team entries is Friday, May 29th at 9:00 pm. For those teams trying to qualify for NJO’s, teams will need to enter the Southwest Zone Champs at https://webpoint.usawaterpolo.com/wp15/Events2/ViewEvt.wp?EventID=12016. These teams will also need to enter NJO’s when registering for Southwest Zone Champs. Payments will not be accepted online for Southwest Zone Champs (mailed or brought to the tournament).

Deadline for NJO Team Entries: The deadline for entry in National Junior Olympics for teams from the Southwest Zone is Friday, May 29th at 9:00 pm. Only online entry is available for NJO’s. In order to qualify for NJO’s, clubs/teams must enter the Southwest Zone Champs (see process above). Failure to enter the Southwest Zone Championships will disqualify any NJO entry for the respective club’s team in a specific age/gender division. To enter the National Junior Olympics, please complete the online entry process at https://webpoint.usawaterpolo.com/wp15/Events2/ViewEvt.wp?EventID=11903 (Session #1) and/or https://webpoint.usawaterpolo.com/wp15/Events2/ViewEvt.wp?EventID=11909 (Session #2). NJO’s Session #1 is for All Boys Divisions and 10U Girls. NJO’s Session #2 is for All Girls Division (except 10U Girls) and 10U Mixed.

Rosters for Southwest Zone Champs: Rosters for Southwest Zone Champs will be due Friday, May 29th at 9:00 pm.. Rosters for Southwest Zone Champs will only be accepted via the USA Water Polo roster verification system. More entry information is on the attached documents. There will be a roster “Lockdown Deadline” on Friday, June 5th at 9:00 pm. Any roster changes made between May 30th and June 5th will incur a $100 late roster fee. No changes will be made to rosters after June 5th (no exceptions).

ID Checks/Photo ID’s: The Referees will be doing ID Checks for coaches and athletes prior to each game of the tournament. All athletes need to be GOLD members of USA Water Polo. All coaches need to be registered with USA Water Polo/Age Verification and updated on their background check, 1st Aid/CPR, Safe Sport, etc. We recommend that all athletes download a picture with their USA Water Polo account (process takes two minutes). The Referees will a have a copy of all team rosters. Teams will need to line up prior to their game in number order. All teams can print out team membership cards (click print membership cards at the bottom of each team’s roster). Athletes can also have individual membership cards (this take longer than printing out team membership cards).