Age group water polo in the U.S. revolves around the “Junior Olympics cycle,” with a series of tournaments and leagues culminating in the massive National Junior Olympic tournament in late July of each year. To ensure that players do not change age groups during a JO cycle, USA Water Polo uses an “age as of” date of August 1 of that year for the tournament.

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Age groups are separated every 2 years, e.g. “14U” is 14-and-under, “12U” is 12-and-under, etc.

So, for example, an athlete born on 8/1/2009 will turn 13 on 8/1/2022, and thus will be considered “14U” by USA Water Polo for the entire 2021/2022 season, even though he/she will not have turned 13 until the last day. That athlete would be ineligible for most of the important 12U tournaments and leagues that we play in as a club.

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An athlete born one day later, on 8/2/2009, will still be 12 on 8/1/2022, and thus will be considered “12U” and eligible for the entire 2021/2022 season.

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This is a nation-wide policy of USA Water Polo, enforced by its registration and age-verification system, and by the online rostering system for most important tournaments and leagues. There is no way for PVWPC to waive or over-ride the age restrictions for tournaments that use the USA Water Polo roster registration system.

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There are a few tournaments in the Fall that use a different “age as of” date, but since our club is geared towards building teams for JOs, our club adheres strictly to the USA Water Polo age group system throughout the year.