The Lamorinda Brentwood water polo team will host the Pacific Junior Olympic Qualifiers at Liberty High School on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June. The event is being held in Brentwood for the second time as it is the only swimming pool in the East Bay east of Mount Diablo to host this tournament and it is the first year that the 12 year old and under team (12U ) participates in the tournament.
“To get a place in (Junior Olympiads) is a big deal,” said Jack Doria, Lamorinda water polo director. “It’s the pinnacle of age group water polo every year. That means you’re playing against the best clubs in the country. We are really proud to have had athletes compete in the Junior Olympiads since 2016.”
The USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics is the country’s largest association water polo tournament. Each July, teams from across the country come to California to compete over a four-day period. USA Water Polo divides the country into 11 zones: Pacific Northwest & Hawaii, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Mountains, Pacific, Central California, Coastal California, South Pacific, and Pacific Southwest. Brentwood is located in the Pacific Zone, one of the largest zones in the country. Each zone then receives a specified amount of allocations from USA Water Polo. From there, teams then play each of their Junior Olympic Qualification Zone tournaments in June to qualify for the Junior Olympiad, which alternates between Northern California (Bay Area) and Southern California (Orange County) each year. The best teams in the country get a chance to compete and it’s the largest water polo tournament held in the United States.
The Lamorinda Brentwood water polo team is sending three teams to qualify this year: 12U Coed, 16U Girls and 16U Boys, Doria said. “For the first time we are sending a team of 12 female students. We have been asked to host the (Junior Olympics) qualifying tournaments for a number of years and last summer we were also asked to host the (Junior Olympics). The Pacific Zone has again requested that we host games in the 12U Coed and 14U Boys divisions at Liberty High School again this year. As a result, our children get home games, which is very rare in tournaments of this type.”
Each fall, all athletes begin a year-long training program with the ultimate goal of qualifying to compete in the Junior Olympics. 8th graders and younger athletes begin training in the fall, while high school athletes play for their respective schools in the fall and then begin training for the Junior Winter Olympics.
The qualifying tournament for the age groups 10U, 12U and 14U will take place this weekend. The 12U team will play at the Liberty on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. and 2:40 p.m. and then a third game on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. depending on the results of the previous games. The qualifiers for the Junior Olympiad for the older children (girls up to 16 and boys up to 16) will take place on the weekend of June 16-18. Lamorinda Brentwood will start this weekend’s tournament as the fourth seed. The top eight teams qualify for the Junior Olympics. The free event is public.
“The field has some very good teams and the level of competition will be high,” said Doria. “Nevertheless, our 12U coach, Rosina Ayers, has done an exemplary job of developing the athletes, creating a positive culture within the team and preparing them for the challenge of this tournament. I believe they will rise to the challenge and successfully qualify for the Junior Olympics. We hope that all three teams we selected to qualify for the Junior Olympiads are successful in earning the right to represent our community and club at the Orange County Junior Olympiads in July.”
Ayers, who has coached the mixed Lamorinda 12U team for the past three years, says they will be without one of their starters for the first two games. But Ayers says the team has worked hard and still hopes to make it to the Junior Olympic tournament.
“We expect to qualify and having home games at Liberty High is a plus,” Ayers said. “Many will be very nervous, but also very excited. If this group of kids qualifies, it would be the first-ever 12U group from the Brentwood area to make it.”
Ayers’ daughter Erin, 11, has played water polo since she was eight, starting with the city of Brentwood’s splashball program with teammates Charlie Campbell and Hailey Siino. Because there weren’t enough kids for the Brentwood team under the age of 10, Erin and Charlie had to compete with the Orinda-Lamorinda team. This year, however, there are enough members for a full team, meaning Erin Ayers will be competing with 12U collegiate team Lamorinda Brentwood this weekend. Ayers says it’s exciting not only to be able to train at Brentwood, but also to be able to compete here.
“I’m really looking forward to participating in the[Junior Olympics qualifiers]and I love that we’re doing it at our home pool,” said Erin. “I love water polo and can’t wait for the games on Saturday.”
Doria and Ayers emphasize the importance of hosting a home tournament not only for the team but also for the community to help grow water polo in the area, create jobs for local children, help local businesses and to be a fundraiser for local high schools, officials said.
“This event is very important to the watersports community,” said Ayers. “We have also never seen a local team organize a home tournament. This helps the local team not have to travel more than an hour to a tournament and is able to hold a tournament in a pool we know. It’s definitely an advantage, especially as we’ll have late games on Saturday and early games on Sunday. The 12U kids, most of whom are doing it for the first time (Youth Olympic Qualification), would appreciate the support of the community.”
Doria added that the ability to host a tournament locally gives visibility to other water polo clubs as well as USA Water Polo Pacific Zone and USA Water Polo itself.
“They have consistently praised the community, facilities and professionalism of our crews in hosting these events,” said Doria. Events like this “bring together many teams from across the Bay Area to compete for a place in the Junior Olympiads. Families and athletes have enjoyed our Farmer’s Market, the small town atmosphere here, and frequented the many downtown shops. The public is definitely invited. It is a community event and we would love for the stands to be full to support these children.”
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