2025 National Junior Olympics

Links:

Click here to view JO's 2021 Texas Preview Video
 

USAWP Athlete Requirement List - all athletes participating need to complete everything on this list within their USAWP profile.
 

Junior Olympics Overview:

  • The USA Water Polo Junior Olympics Championship (JOs) is the largest water polo tournament in the USA.

  • 2025 JO will consist of three sessions.  Session 1 and 2 will be in Orange County, California.  Session 3 will be in the Dallas metroplex area.

  • Different teams from the same club are allowed to choose to attend the California OR Dallas sessions (but the same team can not attend both)

  • In order to participate in Session 1 and 2 in California, each team will need to qualify for a slot by competing in the Southwest Zone JO Qualifier Tournament in Texas on May 3-4, 2025. This means athltetes needs to participate in the qualifier to earn their spot. Session 3 is open to all zones and zone qualification is not required.

  • To be eligible to compete, all athletes must be USA Water Polo GOLD members with birth date verification.  If your child wants to play in JOs, please make sure to sign up on USAWP for a Gold membership and complete birth date verification.  Also, please upload your child’s photo

  • Our objectives are to provide developmental experience for our athletes, as well as to play at the national level.  JOs is a great way to build team camaraderie and skills.

  • This is a Play to Win tournament and playing time is not guarantted.

  • USA Water Polo JO page with more info: https://usawaterpolo.org/sports/2018/12/19/junior-olympics.aspx

 

2025 Key Dates:

  • Southwest Zone JO Qualifier tournament - May 3-5 in Dallas, Texas.

  • Session 1- July 19-22, in Orange County, California for Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U

  • Session 2- July 24-27 in Orange County, California for Girls 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U & Mixed 10U, 12U

  • Session 3 - July 31-Aug 3 in Dallas for Girls & Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U, Mixed 10U, 12U, and Girls 10U

 

Roster Size:

  • Maximum 15 athletes per age group team.  For each age group, Pegasus will send the travel team to CA for Session 1 and 2.  
    Session 3 in North Texas is open registration and Pegasus coaches will determine the rosters.  Coaches will make the decision for final rosters for each age group once we have everyone's opt-in commitment.  Every effort will be made to accommodate those that have expressed interest. 

  • Since this is a national tournament, no athlete is guaranteed a certain amount of playing time; it’s at the coach’s discretion

 

Costs:

  • Session 1 BOYS Travel Team - Non-refundable deposit of ~$xxx per athlete. This includes the Qualifier and JO Tournament registration fees, coaching fees, coach travel costs and food.

  • Session 2 GIRLS Travel Team and Mixed 10U/12U - Non-refundable deposit of $xxx per athlete for the JO Tournament alone. If qualifier tournament is needed an additional $xxx per athlete will be charged.

  • Session 3 in Texas - Tournament fee will be around $xxx per athlete. Amounts may be adjusted once we have final roster committments.

  • Without a deposit, we cannot secure a spot for your athlete.  The deposit will be fully or partially refundable only if a team cannot complete a minimum size roster or if the team doesn’t qualify for a California JO slot. Maximum 15 athletes per team.

 

Travel Information:

  • Session 1 - Athletes need to arrive in California by July 18, and leave no earlier than 8 pm on July 22.

  • Session 2 - Athletes need to arrive in California by July 23, and leave no earlier than 8pm on July 27.

  • Teams that want to go to Session 1 and 2 will need to play in the Southwest Zone qualifier tournament May 4-5, 2025 (in Dalllas for 2025), to compete for slots. Teams going to Session 3 will not need to go to the qualifier tournament. 

  • Hotel Information and booking links are posted on the tournament event page on the Pegasus website event calendar.