welcome to water polo!
If you are familiar with European handball, water polo is like handball in the water! If not, it is sort of like a cross between basketball and soccer. Water polo is fast paced, exciting, and extremely fun to play! It takes good team skills as well as individual strength and endurance.
In BCSSA, water polo follows beach water polo rules. Games are played 4 on 4, with both teams consisting of 2 girls and 2 boys. The objective is to swim and pass the ball into the opponents’ end, and to score points by throwing into a net defended by a goalie. There are different age categories, determined by the player’s age as of December 31 of the current year. In addition to the competitive teams, Cruisers Aquatics offers a novice water polo program to introduce the players to water polo in a fun and semi-structured format where the players learn some of the basic skills and rules of the game. New players are welcome to join the team at any time.
Water Polo Groups
Cruisers water polo programs are open to swimmers of all levels and abilities. Swimmers are placed on teams and train with others in age groups, which are:
P1 – 11 and under
P2 – 12 & 13
P3 – 14 & 15
P4 – 16 to 18
P5 – 19 and over
In addition to these categories, Cruisers runs a novice program for swimmers who are 8 and under (Intro to Water polo) and want to try out the sport. The novice program is run in shallow water, and has the objective of developing fundamental game skills in younger swimmers.
Summer 2023 tournaments & Results
As the summer competitive season starts, we will be posting the details and results here.
PRACTICES
P1-P5 have 3 practices a week, the novice program has 1. We understand that many kids are involved in a number of different activities outside of Cruisers and cannot always make it to every practice. Waterpolo is a game of endurance, so for water polo swimmers we recommend that you also attend some speed practices to work on endurance.
POOLS
Cruisers Aquatics has pool time across the North Shore. When you look at the calendar, in addition to times, it will also list the pool location for each practice.
Ron Andrews Community Recreation Centre: 931 Lytton St, North Vancouver
Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre: 123 East 23rd Street, North Vancouver
Events
Important dates for waterpolo and tournament information will be found in the calendar.
director.waterpolo@cruisersaquatics.com