Water polo

Water polo is one of the world's most challenging sports. Its offensive and defensive strategies and its shot clock resemble basketball. Its playing field looks a bit like soccer or like hockey, also a similarly physical sport. But despite this resemblance to other sports, water polo is unique because the players must tread water at all times during play, making it an endurance event as well as a fast-paced competition. It was developed during the mid-nineteenth century in Great Britain, where organizers of swimming events saw it as a way to draw larger crowds. It spread to continental Europe and to other English-speaking regions like the United States and Australia, acquiring a reputation along the way as a sport which was too rough and strenuous for women; since the 1960s, however, women have established a strong international presence in water polo.

In the early twenty-first century, water polo was played professionally in Europe and by amateurs and students in many parts of the world. It is an Olympic sport, and the International Swimming Federation (FINA), which governs international water polo competition, holds annual tournaments for men and women. American water polo clubs and leagues are facilitated and governed by USA Water Polo.

Origins and History

The roots of water polo have been traced back to Scotland in the 1860s, where teams competed in rivers using inflated pig bladders for balls. The term polo probably derives from the Hindi word pulu, meaning rubber ball. In the 1870s, organizers of English swimming exhibitions began to stage games called "water football" or "aquatic handball" at their events. In 1877 Scotland, William Wilson developed the first formal rules for what he called "aquatic football." During the late nineteenth century more elements were added to the game, including a harder ball and scoring by throwing the ball through the goal. By the end of the century, English and Scottish representatives had developed the first standard set of rules for the game.

Water polo quickly spread beyond the British Isles. The first American team was organized in 1888 by an Englishman who had left England before the rules were standardized. Late nineteenth-century American water polo was a very dangerous sport, with few restrictions on player conduct. Acceptable moves included wrestling-style grappling and holding an opponent under water. It was nevertheless very popular; as early as 1899, college and club teams were competing in self-proclaimed national championships, and the first formal championship was held in 1914.

Water polo was embraced in Europe during the 1880s and 1890s, eventually reaching Anglophone outposts like Australia. These regions used British rules, which initially caused difficulties in international competition. Men's water polo was included in the 1900 Olympics as an exhibition event, the first team sport to appear in the games. But when international teams found out that water polo in the 1904 St. Louis games would be played using American rules—which, in addition to being violent, used an old-fashioned soft ball and required players to physically place the ball in the goal to score—they withdrew, leaving American teams to compete against each other. Only in 1920, after FINA declared that British rules would apply for all members, did it become a true Olympic sport, with twelve countries competing. Under FINA governance, men's water polo continued to evolve during the twentieth century, with international championships beginning in 1973.

Women's water polo made its international debut at the 1920 Olympics, in an exhibition match between two Dutch teams. A women's national championship was held in the United States in 1926. After that, however, women's competition was discontinued until the early 1960s, on the grounds that the sport was too barbaric for women. Beginning in the 1960s the women's game slowly redeveloped momentum. The first women's water polo world cup was organized by FINA in 1979; in 2000, women's water polo was added to the Olympics, albeit only after heavy pressure and the threat of lawsuits. By 2016, women athletes had reached the benchmark of 40 percent of the participants in international water polo competition.

Rules and Regulations

Water polo is played in a pool between two and eight meters deep. Because players must tread water at all times, deeper pools are preferred. The field of play measures twenty-six by twenty meters (eighty-two by sixty-six feet), and is marked with a mid-distance line, lines at five and two meters from the goal, and a goal line with goal boxes. While water polo teams can include as many as thirteen members, only seven—six players and a goalkeeper—are on the field at one time, or six for youth competitions. The uniform is a swimsuit and team cap, which includes ear protection and identifies each team by color. Positions include centers, positioned in front of the opposing goal in order to score; attackers, who act as guards and look for opportunities to score; wings, who play both defense and offense; and defenders, whose task it is to block the forwards and protect the goal.

Water polo matches have four quarters, but the length of a match depends on the level of play. National teams and American varsity teams play eight-minute quarters, some club teams play nine-minute quarters, and college club teams and younger players play shorter quarters. Because the game clock is paused when the ball is out of play, quarters take longer in real time. Players must continue to tread water even when the clock is stopped after a goal is scored, after a foul, or during the one-minute time-out that each team can call during a quarter. There is a two-minute break between quarters and a five-minute halftime.

At the beginning of each quarter the teams line up at their own goal lines and, when the whistle blows, swim to the center of the pool where the referee drops the ball into the water. Possession goes to the team that reaches it first. As in basketball, water polo players "dribble" the ball by moving it around using the wave created by their chests as they swim. They can lift it to pass or make a shot but have to do so using one hand. Only goalkeepers are allowed to touch the ball with two hands. Also like basketball, water polo employs a shot clock which counts down the thirty seconds a team has to take a shot before losing the ball. Each goal is worth one point, and if the score is tied at the end of regulation play, the game goes into overtime according to the rules of the governing body. FINA prescribes a penalty shootout, while the NCAA calls for additional brief periods of play.

Strategy and Tactics

Although water polo has been tamed since the early days of the American game, it still has a reputation as a rough and aggressive sport. Fouls are very common and play a strategic role in gameplay. As in basketball, teams on offense try to get the defense to foul them, giving them the opportunity to make a free throw or penalty throw or temporarily removing one of their opponents from the game, increasing their chances to score with a power play. While a player who is holding the ball cannot be fouled and is thus legally vulnerable to being grabbed, pushed, or dunked, most contact with other players is illegal. But because water polo players are partially submerged during play, making it difficult for referees to see what they are doing, aggressive behavior can take place under the surface.

Fouling rules depend on the location of the players in the pool and the infraction committed. For ordinary fouls, such as touching the ball with two hands or putting it underwater, not advancing the ball, obstructing an offensive player who does not have the ball, or not taking a shot within the prescribed time, the ball is given to the other side unless the foul is called on the defense inside the two-meter line, in which case the offense gets a free throw. Other fouls are known as major fouls. For exclusion fouls, including interfering with a free throw, aggressive splashing, or other misconduct, the player committing the foul is removed from the game for twenty seconds of play, or until a point is scored or the ball changes sides. After three exclusion fouls a player is permanently removed and replaced. Misconduct fouls, which penalize players for unsportsmanlike conduct or inadvertent physical assault of an opponent, also result in permanent removal, with substitution allowed after twenty seconds. Brutality fouls are called when a player intentionally attacks an opponent and are punished by removal with their team forbidden to add a replacement for four minutes, as well as a penalty shot. In addition, any major foul committed by the defense within five meters of the goal results in a penalty shot for the offense.

Professional Leagues and Series

Other than the Olympics, global water polo competition is governed by FINA, which organizes the Water Polo World Cup in even-numbered non-Olympic years and the World Aquatics Championships in odd-numbered years. FINA also operates an annual water polo world league, which began for men in 2002 and women in 2004. This league includes regional tournaments for teams representing countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia and the Pacific. Top competitors then advance to a championship tournament whose winner is awarded a substantial monetary prize.

Nationally and regionally, water polo is played professionally by clubs in European countries, many of which have national leagues, as well as in countries outside of Europe, including Brazil and Australia. In Europe, LEN (European Swimming League/Ligue Européenne de Natation), the regional governing body for aquatic sports, sponsors a Champions League for club teams, as well as overseeing the men's and women's European Water Polo Championships. Regional organizations like the Adriatic Water Polo League, which includes clubs from Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Serbia, provide additional opportunities for competition. In the United States, professional opportunities in water polo are very limited. Some top players have historically played for teams in other countries. USA Water Polo, the governing body for the sport in the United States, inaugurated a men's national league during 2015 and 2016 for professionals and top club teams.

Popularity

In the United States, water polo is primarily a youth and amateur sport. USA Water Polo, established in 1978, is responsible for overseeing the country's Olympic teams and developing athletes. It runs programs for adults and children and holds a national championship, the US Open of Water Polo. The Collegiate Water Polo Association oversees varsity and club teams at four-year colleges and universities, and the NCAA organizes men's and women's college tournaments. At the high school level, water polo is played by schools and club teams. Many members of the national women's and men's teams are drawn from college or high school teams.

Water polo is more popular in other parts of the world. Central and Southern Europe and the Balkans are centers of the game, with countries like Italy and Serbia strong and consistent performers. In Hungary, which has been an international powerhouse since the 1920s, water polo is informally considered to be a national sport. Australia also has a long history of water polo and a broad-based culture of amateur and professional competition. Brazil made its Olympic debut in 1920, and after an uneven history, the sport enjoyed great popularity with the home audiences at the 2016 Olympics.

As a spectator sport, water polo faces structural challenges because it is not well-suited for television. Much of the action is obscured by the water, the players in their caps are not easily distinguished as individuals during the game, and the games are short from the spectator's perspective. FINA has contemplated further changes to the rules in hopes of making the sport more TV-friendly, but even in Central Europe supporters have worried that the sport is losing ground.

Bibliography

Lupo, Corrado. "Women's Water Polo World Championships: Technical and Tactical Aspects of Winning and Losing Teams in Close and Unbalanced Games." Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, vol. 28, no. 1, 2014, pp. 210–22. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182955d90.

Mann, John. "What You Don't Know About: Water Polo." The Players' Tribune, 4 Aug. 2016, HYPERLINK "http://www.theplayerstribune.com/john-mann-water-polo-rio-olympics-2016" www.theplayerstribune.com/john-mann-water-polo-rio-olympics-2016.

Sides, Annabel Jane. "Making a Splash in 2000: A Historical Case Study of Women's Water Polo at the Olympic Games." Bridging Three Centuries: Intellectual Crossroads and the Modern Olympic Movement,edited by Kevin B. Wamsley, Centre for Olympic Studies, University of Western Ontario, 2000, pp. 143–52.

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Snyder, Pete. Water Polo for Players and Teachers of Aquatics. LA84 Foundation, 2008.