Water polo is arguably one of the oldest aquatic sports in history, but not many people know it despite being around for so long. Water polo combines strength, speed, stamina, and teamwork. These are essential to play.
Did you know a player can swim up to 2 miles alone in one game?
How are the players dressed?
Each team has different colored caps, each cap has ear coverings to protect the player from any impact. Each cap has a number to help identify the player, goalies have a different colored cap from their team. For example, if team A has white caps, their goalie would have a red one.
Players must have a specific suit to play, these suits are very different from traditional swimming suits. The water polo suits are much tighter to the skin and usually have a zipper attached to the back of the suit. This allows the player to be more flexible and agile in the water.
How do you play water polo?
To start, two goals are placed at each end of a pool, each team must score using these goals, whoever has the most goals, wins the game.
Each team consists of 13 players, they are allowed to have seven in the water at one time – six outfield players and one goalkeeper. The lineup for each game consists of their outfield players with one center back, one center forward, two drivers, and two wingers.
In the game one ball is used, to move this ball around players may move the ball by throwing it to a teammate or swimming while pushing the ball in front of them. They can only hold the ball with one hand, other than the goalkeeper who can use both hands.
Each team is only allowed to hold onto the ball for a maximum of 30 seconds before shooting for the goal. If they haven’t done this then possession passes to the other team.
Players are not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool, they must use a movement called ‘’eggbeaters’’ to lift themselves in the water. “Eggbeaters” is another form of treading water.
The match starts with a swim-off meaning the ball is released in the middle of the pool with the players lined up along their goal lines. The first team to reach the ball has the lead of the game. As the game happens, two referees are traditionally dressed in all white, ensuring the rules are followed.
There are 4 quarters in a standard game,8 minutes each quarter. In total, the game lasts about 30 minutes.
Don’t forget to come to support our West Boca Waterpolo team!
Game schedule:
2/19- 3:30 pm at Wellington, WB vs. Wellington.
2/23- 3:30 pm at AquaCrest, WB vs. Dwyer
2/29- 6:30 pm at South Broward High School, WB vs. Western
3/4- 6:30 pm at Wellington, WB vs. Wellington
3/5- 4:30 pm at Nova High School, WB vs. Flannigan
3/6- 6:00 pm at Boca High, WB vs. MSD
3/9- 10:30 am at Boca High, WB vs. Gainesville
3/14- 6:30 pm at Nova High School,WB vs. Nova
3/15- 4:00 pm at AquaCrest-SENIOR NIGHT, WB vs. Spanish River
4/1-4/3 TBD DISTRICTS at Boca High
