MAKING IT WORK
By Aaron Brown
The following article will appear in the September/October edition
of
The NISCA Journal:
“How do you play water polo in a pool
that's not great for playing water polo?” - Anonymous
I asked a respected high school coach in
Illinois: "I have no trick for working with deep-shallow pools. We use the
shallow end to demonstrate, then varsity practices in the deep end and JV
stays shallow."
I quickly compiled a list of things that
schools and teams typically do in order to make water polo work no matter
the setting:
1. Use the shallow end to demonstrate and swim,
deep end to scrimmage.
2. Have varsity practice in the deep end while
JV practices in the shallow end.
3. Use staggered practice times to allow boys
and girls teams to play in an all-deep pool.
4. Hold practice before school or at later
times in the evening.
5. Schedule contests and attend tournaments at
facilities that have all-deep pools.
6. Utilize dryland and weight training
activities when pool time is not available.
7. Share facilities when regular pool time is
not available.
8. Form Co-op teams so players from multiple
schools can participate at one facility.
9. Use unconventional options. Shallow-deep
pools. Narrow, 4-5 lane pools. Outdoor pools. Homemade goals.
10. Think outside the box. When the goal is to
try and provide water polo opportunities no matter the
circumstances…nearly any pool will do!
Can you think of any other advice for future
water polo parents? Please send an e-mail to illpolostaff@gmail.com if
you would like to comment and possibly be included in a future article.
