Back to the Pool - Hampton Roads Water Polo

For those who have watched a water polo game on television or in person, it may seem like an incredible athletic feat to swim back and forth in a pool while maintaining enough agility to catch, aim and throw a ball into a tiny net guarded by a goalie.

Indeed, water polo is tough. In 2011, the Bleacher Report conducted a ranking to determine the world’s toughest sport. In the article, each sport was measured on six attributes - speed, endurance, strength, agility, skill level and physicality. In their findings, water polo was deemed to be the toughest, outpointing football, hockey, rugby and soccer.

In the article, the writer noted the “kicking and grabbing which goes on under the surface, with all sorts of sly blows underwater.” To put it in physical terms, the author recommended going to the local pool and treading water for 30 minutes straight, then trying to imagine playing a competitive game at the same time.”

Fortunately, there are enough able bodied swimmers in the Tidewater region to field a competitive local water polo team. The Hampton Roads Water Polo club was founded in 2009 and is headed by Marcio Soza. The club practices every Thursday night from 8:15-9:30 at the Norfolk Academy pool. According to Soza, his Hampton Roads team is the only one in the region.

Says Soza, “Our main objective is to help grow the sport of water polo in the Hampton Roads area and to provide our military members an avenue to enjoy the sport of water polo. Our players come from all of the Hampton Roads cities.”

Ironically, it is the military aspect of water polo which draws members, but also keeps the team roster in a state of transiency. On last year’s squad, three local players, Chris Flores and Patrick Killingsworth from Hampton, and Matt Creelman from Yorktown were on the roster. However, Killingsworth, on active duty with the Air Force, was transferred to California, while Creelman has taken a job overseas.

But Flores has been there through the changes, starting with HRWP when it began four years ago, but involved with the movement for much longer.

“I have been trying to build water polo with Marcio (Soza) for over a decade,” said the former Penn State player. In spite of the fluctuating lineups of the past, Flores is confident with the structure of this year’s team. “The important thing for us is to always have a strong core to provide leadership and continuity and we have that.”

The league season begins this weekend with a league tournament in Washington D.C., but the club did finish in second place at the third annual Virginia State Championship Tournament, held in the last weekend of February at the NOVA Aquatics Center in Richmond. The event was hosted by the Richmond Water Polo Club and featured eight collegiate (Virginia, William and Mary, VMI and James Madison) and masters co-ed teams. The HRWP squad went undefeated in the round-robin format, winning its ‘B’ bracket and reaching the championship game, in which they narrowly lost to a heavily favored Northern Virginia team.

The team competes in the South Atlantic Coast Water Polo league, and includes the Richmond and D.C. teams, as well as contingents from Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta and Baltimore, among others. People who are interested in participating are encouraged to attend a team practice. No experience is necessary, but Soza warns that being a strong swimmer is highly recommended. There is a club membership fee of $25 per month or $10 per visit, plus American Water Polo registration.

The Hampton Roads Water Polo website can be found at www.hamptonroadswaterpolo.com.

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