In 1970, Shell Oil transferred many families from California to the Houston area. These families settled in the northwest part of Houston and wanted to continue the swimming experiences they had begun in California. So five fathers, employees of Shell Oil, got together and established the NORTHWEST AQUATIC LEAGUE (NWAL ). The first five teams in the league that year were Enchanted Oaks (now called Forest Oaks), River Plantation, Northampton, Ponderosa Forest, and Westador. These teams are still active in the league today. Governing rules were based on those that had been used in Menlo, California.

Since that time, NWAL has grown to approximately 100 teams and 15,000 swimmers from ages 4 through 18. The teams are located as far west as Giddings and Bryan-College Station, east as Newport, south as Bear Creek, and north as Huntsville and Livingston, are divided into five regions and seventeen divisions . Some teams have as many as 350 swimmers while others only have 45 to 50 swimmers.

In the early days, the division line-ups were determined by a committee of five who would place teams according to what the committee believed to be the size and strength of each team. In 1985, Pete Junkins developed what is now called the ‘power-index’ formula . Team size, meet scores and season record were taken into account mathematically. In recent years teams have also asked to be more aligned based on geography, in order to reduce travel time to meets.

NWAL has also become computerized and publishes a lot of information in it's web site www.NWAL.org . Also computerized is the management of the teams and meets using the Team Manager and Meet Manager software from Hy-Tek Sports Software .

Parent volunteers have been and continue to be the key to the success of NWAL. In most cases, the coaches are paid but there are cases in which the coaches are also volunteers. Each team elects a Team Representative who coordinates with the other teams in their division. Each division then elects a Division Representative (from these Team Reps.) who sits on the NWAL Board of Directors. The NWAL Board of Directors is made up of the Division Representatives and the NWAL Executive Board. The NWAL Executive Board consists of a President, 1st Vice-president of Training & Certification, 2nd Vice-president of Software & Website, Secretary and a Treasurer. The Executive Board meets four times a year to set the guidelines for the season. These meetings are open to any interested party, although, only the Division Representatives and Executive Board members can vote. Each team is then represented at the annual meeting held in January. The major purpose of this meeting is to disseminate all of the information for the upcoming season.

The Northwest Aquatic League swim season begins around late April with meets beginning around late May and continues for about six weeks. Each team in the division competes in a dual meet with every other team in their division. Divisions with only 5 teams will also swim one meet against a team from another division. The season concludes with a divisional meet at which all teams from that division compete.

During the season and following the divisionals meet, several optional invitational meets are also scheduled.

[Acknowledgements and thanks to the Northampton Cudas for providing the basis of this information.]