Space City Invitational Preview
By: Whitney Ho
Introduction
After a two month break, Southwest Quadball is back in action at the Houston Cosmos and Texas Copperheads’ joint tournament in Houston, Texas: the Space City Invitational. Attending teams are the usual suspects — along with Copperheads, the Texas Hill Country Heat will be back in action to defend their unbeaten start. But the dark horse is Boom Train, making the long trip from Chicago to Houston to see where they stand against the Southwest. Who will come out on top after these top ten matchups?
Texas Copperheads
The Texas Copperheads had a rocky start to their season, beginning this year 0-3 after three tough losses to Heat at Diamond Cup XIV back in November. Despite this, Fast Break News voters ranked the Copperheads at No. 7, and while I refuse to reveal where I ranked them, I’ll say with confidence that their 0-3 record is not a good indicator of where they stand against the rest of the nation. Recent USNT addition Hayden Boyes definitely has what it takes to lead this team to victory, and I’m excited to see how they match up against a team other than Heat.
Copperheads are mostly made up of SHSU alumni, including Boyes, Brandon Kubena, Chase Contreras and Mallory Hughes. Their style is unsurprisingly similar to that of SHSU’s, taking heavy advantage of turnovers to score quick goals and using their technically sound physical prowess to get big stops on defense. Beating wise, recent SHSU graduate Conner Mason has risen to the top, along with Caleigh Duvall and Sophia Araujo. However, the big story in the Southwest has been the loss of Baldemar Nuñez, who left Copperheads to join Heat after winning the 2025 Benepe Cup with the San Antonio Soldados. The loss of Nuñez has certainly been a heavy blow, and others will have to step up to maintain the promise that they showed last season.
While Copperheads have a history of coming second to Heat, their most recent matchup against Boom Train was at Nationals 2025, where they surprised everyone by upsetting them in pool play 145-90. This result should still be on everyone’s minds. And even though Copperheads are now Nuñez-less, they’ve proven that they can be big in big moments and should not be overlooked, something Boom Train is a little too familiar with.
Texas Hill Country Heat
No. 2 Texas Hill Country Heat are still hot after their three victories against the Copperheads at Diamond Cup XIV and will be hungry to continue to prove they’re title contenders this weekend. Captain Sammy Garza has taken the reins, supported by superstar talent like Nuñez, Jackson Johnson, Bailee Fields, Jay Stewart, Alyssa Villalba — I could genuinely just name the entire roster that they brought to Diamond Cup but I’ll try to keep the glaze to a minimum.
So far, Heat’s only test has been Copperheads, but they’ve certainly proved that they’re still the number one team in the Southwest. The chasers, including but not limited to Stewart, Villalba, Garza and Matt Blackwood, are fast and unforgiving, scoring a total of 49 goals against Copperheads at Diamond Cup in November. The Beaters for this team, including Johnson, Fields, Nuñez, and more, are some of the best in the sport, playing with skill and confidence built up from years of domination at the highest levels. Heat also has technically sound and incredibly skilled Seekers in the form of John Alvarez and Christian Cortez, who, like many members of Heat, are coming off of a championship MLQ season with the San Antonio Soldados.
This weekend will be crucial in Heat’s preparation for the 2026 Garland National Qualifier, where they will meet an undefeated No. 3 Reign QC as well as No. 4 New Jersey Dice for the first time. Both of these teams are undoubtedly title contenders and also met at least one form of Boom Train at a previous tournament, and Heat will use Space City to tighten up lines and work out any kinks before Garland.
Boom Train
Now, technically No. 1 Boom Train’s last game was a 160-175 loss against their B team, Trainwreck, at Trick or Beat IV, but no one who actually knows ball really counts that. If you follow TXST Quadball on Instagram, which is where I live out my influencer dreams, you’d have seen a few teammates and I speak a little about Trainwreck and Boom Train after the USQ Winter Classic. What exactly is Trainwreck? Well, to the best of my knowledge, there is really no difference between Boom Train and Trainwreck right now. Boom Train is one of those teams that has so much talent and not enough roster spots, and the solution right now is to just let the kids play by sending whoever can go to as many tournaments as possible, and in my opinion, it’s working. We have yet to see a full strength Boom Train after a clear A team and B team split, and even without that distinction, Trainwreck has been tearing it up at tournaments like Trick or Beat IV and the USQ Winter Classic, even earning a No. 8 ranking even though no one really has any idea what these two teams are going to look like at Nationals 2026. Although Trainwreck lost their first game ever against Reign QC at Winter Classic, 125-150, this program is packed with talent and I think it doesn’t really matter who they send to Space City — they’re going to be the team to beat.
Boom Train’s program consists of superstar Quadball names like Kennedy Murphy, Vincent Reyes, Nojus Ausra, and many more. The roster this weekend will likely be made up of these vets as well as rising stars, all hungry to conquer Southwest Quadball. Expect to see cohesive ball movement on offense and a strong structure that picks apart their opponents’ defense before punishing weaknesses and blunders. I’ll leave this final thought — Boom Train has really always been known for their Beaters, made up of years of experience and a confidence that can’t be taught.
While I won’t publicly predict the results of this weekend because I refuse to reveal how biased I actually am, let’s just say that Heat vs Boom Train is going to feed families, and Copperheads should absolutely never be underestimated.
Schedule
All times listed in Central Time
9:30 AM: Copperheads vs Boom Train
10:30 AM: Heat vs Boom Train
11:30 AM: Heat vs Copperheads
12:30 PM: Copperheads vs Boom Train
1:30 PM: TQC College Expo
2:30 PM: Heat vs Boom Train
3:30 PM: Heat vs Copperheads
4:30 PM: Copperheads vs Boom Train
6:00 PM: Heat vs Boom Train
