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Staff keeps head above water
by Paul Shugar Usually a coach punishes players by taking them out of the game, but leaving them in might be punishment enough in water polo. The Post sports staff learned this quickly last weekend when it attempted to learn how to play water polo from the Ohio men’s and women’s club water polo teams. When most people learn how to play a new sport, there usually is a lot of standing around while someone overwhelms the rookies with the rules and how to set up on the field of play. With water polo, The Post’s players struggled to keep their heads above water, but not because of all the new rules they had to learn. “I was so tired at the end of them teaching me how to play that I was ready to stop right there,” staff writer Eric Pfahler said. “We hadn’t even started playing yet.” Water polo is played in a pool where the water depth is not supposed to be shallower than 1.8 meters, according to FINA, the official governing agent of water polo and swimming. This means players must constantly be treading water or swimming for the whole game. “It’s not the easiest of all sports,” men’s club water polo preside Matt Kittle said. Kittle said there are seven players to a side in water polo; three offensemen, three defensemen and a goalie. The sport is played in a pool that is 30 meters long by 20 meters wide with a goal on each side. The Post stringer Tim Trainor said the game definitely moved quickly across the small area. “It seemed every time you swam down to the other end the ball was already going the other way,” he said. “It was back and forth non-stop.” Similar to hockey in a pool, the point of water polo is to score goals on the opposing team. In the game, any player can score from anywhere in the pool. Kittle said players use a ball that is slightly smaller than a basketball and weighs around six to eight pounds. Players can swim with the ball, but can handle the ball with only one hand. The women’s team uses slightly smaller and lighter ball around the size of a volleyball. “The ball is definitely hard to handle because smaller then a basketball, but bigger than a volleyball,” Trainor said. At the Olympic level, Kittle said shots can reach speeds of 35 mph, but stay around 25 mph at the club level. Still, players wear protective gear over their ears to prevent injury. The caps are colored to identify who is on what team. Before being worn down in the pool, one thing The Post staff said it enjoyed was the sport’s technical lingo. “One thing you want to make sure of is to make a wet pass to the hole or your guy will get killed,” women’s water polo president Jenny Case said. “You always want to go wet to the hole. Yes, we have a lot of fun with our lingo here.” The Post staff quickly learned the difference between a dry pass that never touches the water or a wet pass that finds the water’s surface. They also learned how to cycle the ball between the flanks to the man playing the hole in front of the net. Despite being an Olympic sport, water polo is not as popular in the United States as it is in Europe, Kittle said. However, the men’s and women’s water polo teams accept anyone that is interested, or has little to no experience. The team usually practices three hours a day swimming and playing water polo to stay in shape. Anyone interested in playing should contact Kittle at 589-4542. Quite a few members of The Post sports staff said they enjoyed the game, but some members did not sound like they would be back soon. “I hope nobody peed in the pool because I swallowed a lot of water,” Pfahler said.
Water Polo by the numbers
— Pool depth must be no less than 1.8 meters. — Ball speed can reach upwards of 35 miles per hour. — Pool: 30 meters long by 20 meters wide — There are seven people to a team: A goalie, three defensemen, and three offensemen. — A men’s ball weighs between 6 and 8 pounds and is slightly smaller than a basketball. The women’s ball is slightly smaller.
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