Here is a link to this year’s CIF SoCal girls’ regional water polo championship brackets and schedules:
https://www.cifstate.org/sports/waterpolo/GWP_brkts_2025/index
The brackets are lined up nicely. This year’s Regionals will carry more weight than usual. Oaks/Newport can prove that their run wasn’t a fluke, while MD/OLu can prove that they belonged in the Open finals all along.
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I do not really agree. IMHO, Oaks does not have anything to prove. That is the beauty about the CIF-SS tournament. Any team can peak at the right time and go on a run and win the Championship. Oaks was that team this year.
Until there is a true CIF State Championship, not many will be talking about the 2025 CIF Regional Champion down the road. The ring that everyone was after was awarded last week.
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No TOP program takes the current regionals seriously. CIF is what counts until there are TRUE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
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Agreed. 2 of Oaks best players won’t even be playing the semi or final. Out of town.
I think MD and OLu will take it seriously if they get to the finals. I would think the same would go if Newport and MD match up in the semis. Oaks may be the only one who doesn’t care as much
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Even the boys don’t take it seriously. Newport won CIF-SS and didn’t care to protect their perfect record for State. It’s a consolation and many teams aren’t even practicing.
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@swimcoach I agree with everything you are saying here and I don’t mean to discredit Oak’s win. They had a phenomenal run and I was rooting for them to win it all after they upset MD.
I believe the last time we had a team outside of the top 3 win the CIF-SS Championship was in 2018 when San Marcos clawed their way from a bottom seed to upset Dos Pueblos (#1 seed). We just don’t see upsets like this as frequently and I’m glad we did this year.
In most years, Regionals don’t carry any weight except for the team that lost in the CIF-SS finals. This year, I’m pretty certain that the top 3 (MD, OLu and Newport) are looking to prove something at Regionals. Whatever the outcome, they can’t take away what Oaks has accomplished.
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do you know that they didnt care to protect their perfect record or are you saying that because they didnt win?
In my opinion, Newport had the No. 1 boys’ team in the country in the fall, even though they lost to an excellent JSerra team in the finals of the Southern California Regional Championship Tournament. However, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Newport didn’t care whether they won the game. They played their starters while the game was in doubt. I haven’t met many high school coaches who take the possibility of an undefeated season lightly. It doesn’t happen very often.
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The Newport boys didn’t practice the entire week. Interpret that how you like.
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That’s not surprising. There wasn’t much time to practice between the 2024 Southern Section Open Division championship game (played on Saturday, November 16) and the first game of the 2024 SoCal Regional Division 1 Championship Tournament (played on Tuesday, November 19). Nor was there much time to practice between the first game and the semifinals (played on Thursday, November 21) and between the semifinals and the finals (played on November 23).
The Newport boys’ team has had two undefeated seasons (1975 and 1978). I’d be surprised if they didn’t want another one in 2024. Just as JSerra did in 2023 when they beat Newport in the finals of the Southern Section Open Division Tournament and the Southern California Regional Tournament. History gives extra credit to undefeated teams.
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Trying to keep a perfect season alive is the only reason that I think could possibly motivate these kids after just finishing their season 3 days ago. Obviously this is not the case with any of the girls’ teams this year.
Most if not all of the coaches I knew pre 2023 only cared about the CIF championship in SoCal. The regionals were a chance to play everyone and often coaches never left thier bench during the game. Things changed a bit when one of the teams that lost in CIF in 2023 used the regional as chance to get retribution it seemd. They and thier coaches went all outplayed to win and the other team (CIF Chamions) played everyone and ditn take the game as serious as CIF chamionship.
CIF is all that matters to most of the top programs and is what has mattered over the decades without a true State championship. Regionals are funky.
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I belive that OLU and MD each want to finish on a high… MD after such a strong start and with three ODP/Youth National team transfers still have nothing to hang on their wall at their pool for 2025.
OLU won trinity league over MD which was a big MD upset given the talent MD has accumulated.
Not taking anything away from Oaks + Newport, awesome to see #3 & #4 taking the finals…
If these two highly competitive (against each other) schools make it to the regionals final, it will be another great GWP game to finish the year.
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Neither did the did the JSerra team they lost to but CIF-SS is the crown and Newport earned that crown. However, an undefeated season is so much more difficult and raises that team historically. Newport lost that chance.
Perhaps up North it’s a bigger deal and hopefully Fall-2025 will be different with a strong Cathedral Catholic team being able the challenge the CIF winner.
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The Regional tournament is mandated by CIF, so the qualifying schools have to play in it. Teams have tried to opt out before and CIF would not allow it.
CIF-SDS always treats it like the Super Bowl…but it never seems to matter…
Are there any lurkers who can tell me about the Clairemont Chieftans who are matched up against La Jolla tomorrow? The only thing I know about Clairemont is that a young writer named Cameron Crowe went there and his experiences were turned into Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The same request for Murrieta Valley and Valhalla High School. I want to cheer for your teams. Palisades, Birmingham, and Santa Paula are making great runs this year, but who are they? I don’t care if all I get is the most biased, homer perspectives. People have good reason to be proud of their team and I’m here for it.
MD and OLU are great, but I’d like to know about any team from anyone willing to talk about it. Any takers?