Today! Water polo is now offered year-round. The official USA water polo season starts in August and culminates in July with the Junior Olympic tournament.

Most local club teams offer registrations corresponding with each season: Fall (August registration, Winter (November registration), Spring (February registration) and Summer (May registration).

We’ve designed Pop-up Polo to allow young athletes to try out the sport with a few introductory clinics without committing to a full season.

The only required pieces of equipment are a swim suit and a towel to dry off.  We will provide the water polo balls, caps and goals.

Some athletes will wear goggles for the swimming portion of the clinic.  However, goggles are not allowed to be worn during games since they are deemed to be dangerous to other athletes in the water.

We aim to do mostly heads up swimming as we prefer athletes to become accustomed to not wearing goggles for water polo practices.

Yes! Water polo is played rain or shine.

If there is lightning, we will leave the pool area and wait 30 minutes. If the 30 minutes have elapsed without another lightning strike, then they will resume practice. If there is another lightning strike within 30 minutes, the delay will start over again from the last lightning strike.

Athletes typically enjoy playing in the rain… coaches, not so much.

Great question!

Water polo historically has been a niche sport, but now it is becoming more and more popular for a host of reasons. Water polo is characterized by high-intensity, intermittent exercise with both aerobic and anaerobic activity.

Water polo is an olympic sport. Water polo has been a part of the men’s competition since 1900. The women’s water polo tournament was added to the Olympics in 2000.

Water polo is also a popular college sport. Numerous colleges offer scholarships to their water polo recruits.

Water polo is one of the preeminent spectator sports. Games usually last less than an hour and are highlighted by continuous action.

Perhaps, the best feature of water polo is the post-workout afterglow.  There is nothing better than a team meal after a full day of games.

Another banger!

For girls/women, the official sizes are:

10 and under: Size 2

12u: Size 2

14u: Size 3

15+: Size 4

For boys/men, the official sizes are:

10u: Size 2

12u: Size 3

14u: Size 4

15+: Size 5

When in doubt, we always recommend to purchase one size up to give your developing athlete more confidence with a larger ball.

No. We teach swimmers how to play water polo.

In order to register, athletes must be able to complete 50 yards of freestyle (2 laps) with side breathing in under 60 seconds and complete 25 yards of backstroke (1 lap) in under 40 seconds.  We also require athletes to be comfortable swimming in deep water including treading water for 60+ seconds.

We do not expect athletes to have *any* prior experience playing water polo.

If you are looking for a learn to swim program, please write to us at admin@yolopolo.org for some local recommendations.

Typically, 7 years old is the earliest an athlete will try out water polo. Swimming confidence helps young athletes have a reliable base to embark on their water polo journey.

USA Water Polo hosts the world’s largest water polo tournament in July of each year. The youngest age group in the national competition is the 10 and unders. Therefore, 2nd grade is a great time to try an intro to water polo course. And 3rd and 4th graders are right in the sweet spot for playing the sport competitively.

Unlike our local swim leagues which determine the swimmer’s age as of the beginning on the season, USA Water Polo determines your age group based on your age as of the end of the season (August 1st). Confusing.

For example, if an athlete turns 11 on August 1, 2024, then they would compete as an 11 year old for all competitions from August 2023 through July 2024, including Junior Olympics. The best possible water polo birthday would be on August 2nd or closely following. Information that would’ve been useful a decade ago, right? 🙂

Unfortunately, pools are expensive to rent. All water polo coaches are jealous of the local basketball coaches who can just walk up to any local court and teach a clinic.  Most clinics will cost $25-$35 per session.

The two biggest bottlenecks are pool space and coaching.  During the high school water polo and swimming seasons (fall and spring, respectively), it is almost impossible to find open pool time on weekdays before 7pm.

Whenever there is an opening, we will do our best to host a spontaneous Pop-Up Polo clinic.

No.  As of January 2024, we will experiment offering a “novice” water polo program with the sole prerequisite of swimming confidence.  We’ve taught the fundamentals of water polo to dozens of women.  Are you next?