Feb. 27, 2013
By Kate de Give
When you’re face to face with a boy twice your size, ready to swim you down, the last thing on your mind is a date to homecoming.
My coaches, however, never fail to jokingly ask if I have a date after particularly rough episodes during a water polo game.
As a girl, playing coed water polo can go one of two ways:
Either a boy will either treat you as an equal…or try to avoid all contact with you.
I prefer equality. Being an athletically built girl gives me and other girls of similar build a huge advantage in the sport. We often prefer coed water polo to girls water polo because it gives us more confidence and provides more equally matched competition.
I’m not saying girls water polo isn’t challenging or any less physical; in fact, in my experience, girls water polo can be much more physical than coed, but the higher level of play in coed polo helps me learn more and improve faster than I can playing girls polo.
But iif you’d asked me what I preferred just a year ago—or even asked me if I knew how to play—I wouldn’t have had an answer. The reason is because I was a nervous high school newspaper reporter on her first assignment…covering a water polo game.
I showed up at the Mountain View Aquatic Center, terrified about writing my first article. The atmosphere around the indoor pool—from the whistles to the stifling, hot air—did nothing to calm my nerves.
As I approached the Grady team—all seven of them—their faces lit up.
“Are you here to play? Are you here to play? We need subs!” they shouted.
I assured them I was only there to write an article, but one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I squeezed into my petite friend’s bathing suit and was in line for the UCLA drill.
A few things made me extremely hesitant about playing. First, I was in a bathing suit tighter than anything I had worn before, and, second, we were playing the No. 1-ranked St. Pius Lions. To most people, the huge, buff boys in itty bitty, black Speedos across the pool might not appear intimidating; but to a water polo player, those outfits meant those boys new exactly how to play.
My friend assured me the tight bathing suit was great for water polo: the boys couldn’t grab my straps.
“Straps? Grabbing?” I gasped.
My friend “assured” me the referee would stop any grabbing of straps…if he saw it, that is.
Oh great, they can drown me as long as the ref isn’t looking, I thought. What a great sport; at least this is a one-time thing.
Oh, how little did I know. Not only did I join the team for the rest of my junior year, but I became so enamored with water polo that I made it my No. 1 sport.
During my senior year, I committed myself to water polo. I even quit soccer, a game I had played since I was four, to make more time for water polo. I just had so much fun with it.
Water polo wraps up many different sports into one, allowing me to make use of all my other athletic skills. It also provides a demanding physical workout. Whether I’m racing down the pool to defend the goal or sprinting during a breakaway, I feel the exhilaration I long for as an athlete.
I also feel a strong sense of community from my teams, both coed and girls.
We’ve been through a lot together. At the beginning of my senior year, I wondered if we’d even have a team. Our old coach had moved away, and a few key players from our small team had graduated. I was happily surprised, however, when I learned that not only would we have two new coaches but also that we’d be paired with North Atlanta to create the Atlanta Public Schools Knights.
Our team grew from only a few members to a pool full of enthusiastic players; I went from knowing nothing to being a starting player. Our team went from last in the league in 2011 to first in Division 2 by the end of the 2012 season.
My team’s development paralleled the Georgia High School Water Polo Association’s growth. This year GHSWA increased the number of teams in the league from 16 to 21 and added a girls league with four squads. It’s my hope that GHSWA will continue to grow, adding more girls teams and getting more inner-city public schools like my own involved in such an exciting sport.
Water polo has made such a big impact on my life. I’ve met great friends, learned from fantastic coaches, and gained confidence. As my senior year comes to a close, I can look forward to college water polo and a lifetime spent playing a wonderful sport.
This article appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of SkipShot Magazine
