By Philippe Morin
Water polo is a fun, challenging sport. That’s the message that Peter Murray wants to tell male students about a sport that’s sadly neglected at the local high school level.
For the last eight years, Ottawa has not had an official competitive men’s high-school water polo league. Currently, there are six teams, but a competitive league requires a minimum of eight.
“It started happening 15 years ago,” says Murray, a science and gym teacher at Immaculata high school.
“I started noticing there were less guys signing up for the swim team. It’s too bad, I really don’t know why there is less interest.”
Having played on St. Patricks’ high school team, Murray’s love for the sport inspired him to start Immaculata’s program 28 years ago.
“I love this sport,” he says. “So much of it is about teamwork.”
While there isn’t enough interest from male students to justify a team at Immaculata, Murray says the girl’s team is thriving. It did not make the playoffs this year, but has more than enough interested students.
Hannah Cameron, a member of Immaculata’s girls’ water polo team, says she enjoys the sport, but she says it is often ignored by the general student body.
“I don’t think students really care too much.”
While Murray says sports like soccer and basketball have easily identifiable heroes, water polo is less well known.
He says games usually don’t attract many cheering students, partly because matches are held off school grounds since Immaculata doesn’t have a pool.
Mike Gelineau, a Grade 12 student at Immaculata, says male students simply prefer field sports.
“It’s just not as big as rugby or lacrosse,” he says of water polo, but says students still root for the team and support the players, when game results are announced over the intercom.
Murray says it is unfortunate that boys don’t participate in water polo, because it offers a unique challenge.
“It’s probably one of the most rigorous sports I know,” he says. “These are six-minute periods, and you have to be swimming all the time.”
He adds that it can be surprisingly rough.
“Most of the action happens under the water, where the referees can’t see,” he says. “I know a lot of players wear two swimsuits, in case one is pulled off accidentally.”
Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt, a Grade 10 Immaculata student, has been playing water polo for two years. She says she was surprised by the sport’s intensity.
“It’s very aggressive,” she says.“I’m not a very aggressive person, and so I had to get into it.”
While the sport isn’t popular among the male high school crowd, the same isn’t true of other age groups.
In Ottawa, a not-for-profit program called “I love water polo” promotes the sport for children eight to 12.
One hundred and twenty children, more than half of whom are boys, are registered in the program.
Deanna Barry, organizer for the program, says interest has been high this season.
“It’s something unique and the kids like it. Water polo is a good way to get in shape and more fun than doing laps.”
Though younger boys enjoy water polo, Barry says, she doesn’t understand why older boys are less interested. Nevertheless, she says she’s heard some people lamenting the lack of a high school men’s competitive league.
She says her organization, the Ottawa Titans water polo league, is exploring the possibility of holding competitive matches for boys of high-school age. The project might have fewer than eight teams, but would allow youth a chance to play competitively.
Though many Ottawa high schools offer water polo, only Glebe Collegiate has its own pool. Murray says Immaculata’s lack of a pool makes practice harder to organize.
In addition to balls and helmets — which players wear to protect their inner ear — he says schools must also pay for lifeguards to supervise practice.
A program organized by the city exchanges time between schools and pools. Immaculata offers its gym to city evening sports programs and the team gets free access to pools at Brewer Park and Carleton University.
Immaculata principal Tom D’Amico says it’s a great idea. “It’s a partnership which works out for everyone,” he says.
Though it requires considerable organization, D’Amico says water polo is definitely worth the effort.
“The more non-traditional sports we offer, the more opportunities we present,” he says. “We need to go beyond soccer and basketball, so that everyone can find something which is perfect for them.”
After 28 years of coaching, Murray says he can only hope more young men will discover the sport.
“We’ve had ups and downs over the years, but I have never cut a player,” he says. “I coach players to improve their team skills and work skills. Sometimes, during a game, I forget the score. I am just coaching them to get better.”