The TXWaterpolo Podcast

Austin College's first weekend slate of games against Air Force didn't end the way they'd prefer. They now fly to Colorado Springs to face Cal Baptist and the Falcons again this weekend. Meanwhile, Texans ripped it up across the country from Fresno, to Thousand Oaks, to the East Coast, as the NCAA season begins in its own strange, atrophied way. The high school season is near, more on...

For there not being a lot going in in the water polo world there's... quite a bit going on. For one, the collegiate season, in its truncated form, has kicked off. Austin College men return to the pool versus Air Force this weekend after a slate of games in California where Texans showed their stuff. And the high school season is nearly here. Joe talks with TISCA Chairman Scott Slay about how t...

We're back! Joe moved (again) and abandoned the show for a couple weeks. But he's returned with news of a spring water polo season soon to get underway. Plus updates on the Dare to Dream Tournament, ODP past and future, changes in leadership for the Southwest Zone, speculation on the Olympics in Tokyo, and some referee news. All that and an interview with... no one.

In a year like no other for the entire globe, but also for our resilient Texas water polo community, we close the book on the dreadful 2020 reminiscing about two and a half normal months followed by endless efforts to make things as normal as reasonable during a pandemic. From a truncated high school season, to tentatively getting back in the pool, leading the nation in hosting age group competiti...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone! Since y'all have been good this year, Texas water polo fans, our gift to you is a conversation with the legendary Tony Azevedo (even though it's now four days after Christmas. We've been busy). In a very frank discussion Tony opines on the state of the USA Men's program (there's not much critique to be had for the world's best...

Mainly, a recap of the past weekends tournaments in North Texas, including some mild scolding of certain individuals who are unaware of the tourney guidelines about wearing masks (!). Then a conversation with Austin native and UOP freshman poloist Cooper Gaderson on becoming part of a highly successful collegiate program. Happy Holidays to everyone, and thank you for your continued support.

In a rush to get this year over with we keep this one mercifully, lazily short. Joe and James vamp about the two tournaments that will tie up this year in a masked bow, Joe's dog gets bummed out, and James confesses to not seeing The Matrix. It's not what you'd call chock full of water polo content, but times are kind of lean anyway, don't you think? Happy Holidays to everyone and...

Over one hundred athletes descended on Lewisville for the second ODP clinic of the season on Nov. 29. The turnout was great but the pool was crowded! Perhaps some changes afoot with the next ODP clinic, as James and Joe discuss. Then the first interview with brand new St. Mark's Head Water Polo Coach Trent Calder, who fills us in on his expectations for the team as UIL water polo approaches, a...

Wishing all our generous and loyal listeners a wonderful Thanksgiving week, we keep the show short and amateurish with some dodgy audio quality, but some good info on how this Sunday's ODP clinic will play out, and about Joe's new house (their offer was taken). Plus, Joe makes fun of James for being in Santa Fe (and Colorado) but what's new?

Texas has now hosted two late-year tournaments since the pandemic struck us in March. What have we learned from those events and how might those lessons apply to competition in our state and beyond as the situation remains hopeful but also very uncertain. The Texas Challenge Cup ended on Sunday with a slew of teams from California and Oregon visiting Lewisville and The Colony. They and every other...

If you've ever wondered whether a collegiate water polo player has given a pre-game rendition of the national anthem on a trombone, wearing a Speedo, this show is for you. Exeter Water Polo Club's Jack Amaral is bringing his group of California girls to face off against many of the best teams of Texas. His team and others from Texas and California kick off the Texas Challenge Cup on Saturd...

It's election week, which means... not much. This is a water polo podcast. We skate over the complexities of national politics and head straight to the Covid-19 guidelines for the upcoming Texas Challenge Cup and whether they will influence those that are implemented at the Texas Age Group Championships in December. Speaking of Covid and the Texas Challenge Cup, did you know there are several...

We're two weekends out from the Texas Challenge Cup in Lewisville and The Colony at which several teams from the West Coast will compete in addition to many of Texas' most well-known clubs. So what are the rules that will govern the tournament as we know it? We got the chance to talk with Thunder Club Director Chris Cullen whose club is hosting the event and drafting the rules on the fly....

Dispiriting news from the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which announced on Monday that the inaugural season of sanctioned high school water polo will take place in the fall of 2022 rather than in 2021. That due to a variety of things related to the Covid-19 pandemic which has thrown the water polo calendar in to understandable disarray. Scott Slay will now likely serve as TISCA Waterpol...

The Central Texas Festival ended with some mighty satisfied athletes, happy coaches, and a very high proportion of fans wearing masks. James and Joe were both there hosting and recap Texas' return to competitive water polo. Plus, news is improving with three more tournaments on the calendar with more likely to take place. And we make brief mention of water polo outside the Lone Star State, in...

One weekend done and one big one to go for the Central Texas Festival. We recap the high- and low-lights of weekend one, and speak with Tom Davis, coach of the Gold Coast Water Polo club from Ventura, CA, the only teams from outside Texas that are taking part. The former UC Irvine All-American talks about what his club is doing, how he got back in to coaching, and some words about the famous UCI C...

Actually, the title above pretty much covers everything in this abbreviated, we're-very-busy edition of the pod.

Acutally, we're pretty busy today. So here are some bullets: ODP's first weekend is here in Round Rock and James is stressed about it. Joe has no sympathy. Joe shows James how to properly manage an event by finalizing the Central Texas Festival beginning on Oct. 4. The New York Times mentions water polo because Nikola Jokic of the NBA's Denver Nuggets throws the ball with one hand. TIS...

There's going to be a festival in Central Texas, says Joe, who's directing the first competitive tournament sanctioned by USA Water Polo since before March of 2020. The Central Texas Festival will take place over the course of two weekends at the start of October in Cedar Park and Round Rock. Meanwhile, more full contact scrimmaging thanks to Zilla and the City of Cedar Park. James' cl...

Big news as dates are solidifying for the first age group tournament in Texas since before the lockdown. Zilla and AquaTex will be the local hosts for a USA Water Polo event organized by Joe (who else would it be?) to be held Oct. 3-4 and/or Oct. 10-11 in Round Rock and Cedar Park. Details, as they say, are forthcoming. Meanwhile, September's ODP Clinic in Round Rock has received tons of inter...

There's some movement in Texas water polo. After talking about a league under way in Utah a week ago, we find out that Joe refereed a scrimmage for AquaSwift, a new team in Boerne, last weekend. Yes, it's only a scrimmage. But it shows there are rules in place to get things moving again. So much so that, we also break some news about a tentative tournament in Central Texas in October. Did...

We're basically one year away from Texas' first ever state sanctioned high school water polo season. So, where are we? How did we get here? What's it going to look like beginning in August of 2021? What needs to be done before then? James has no answers, but - this is a shocker - Joe does. We also talk about the passing of an American water polo legend, Andy Burke. He was most associat...

In this TXWaterpolo Interview we speak with another of the USA's water polo legends, 3-time Olympian, 2008 Olympic silver medalist, NCAA Champion and MVP, and now assistant under Coach Terry Schroeder at Pepperdine University. He, along with Adam Wright, Matt Farmer, and Maxwell Irving were in Dallas last week and I had the chance to speak with Merrill about his experiences at some of the most...

Another star-studded show as we welcome two athletes vying for spots on the 2020 USA Men's Olympic Water Polo Team. Maxwell Irving and Matthew Farmer were in Dallas last week to help Coaches Adam Wright and Merrill Moses lead a series of clinics with athletes from all over Texas. We talk to them in depth about changes to their agendas given the Olympic delay, playing in Europe, and much more (...

Today it’s a special guest for our first full length interview of season two of the Pod. His name is well known to those familiar with American water polo. It’s Adam Wright, head coach of the UCLA Bruins and an Olympic Silver medalist himself. The coach was in Dallas a week ago to lead an Azevedo water polo camp hosted by Pegasus and Thunder. He and James got to speak while driving back to their h...