Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams. Each team consists of six field players and a goalkeeper. The objective is to score more goals than the opposing team by throwing the ball into their goal. Players move about the pool by swimming and treading water while passing and shooting at the goal. It originated in Scotland in the mid-19th century as a form of water rugby and has since become popular worldwide, with governing bodies establishing standardized rules. Special equipment includes a water polo ball, numbered caps, and goals attached to the side of the pool.

1. WATER POLO
By: BIENGHELOLIVER

2. History
■ The rules of water polo were originally developed in the mid-nineteenth century in Great Britain
by William Wilson.
■ The game originated as a form of rugby football played in rivers and lakes in England and
Scotland with a ball constructed of Indian rubber, probably from the 1850s onwards. This ‘water
rugby’ came to be called ‘water polo’ based on the English pronunciation of the Balti (Tibetan
language of Kashmir) word pulu[3][4], which means ‘ball’. Early play allowed brute strength,
wrestling and holding opposing players underwater to recover the ball; the goalie stood outside
the playing area and defended the goal by jumping in on any opponent attempting to score by
placing the ball on the deck.
■ In the first edition (1893) of their book ‘Swimming’, Archibald Sinclair and William Henry state
"On May 12, 1870, a committee was appointed by the Swimming Association, then known as
the London Swimming Association, to draw up a code of rules for the management of the game
of ‘football in the water.’ "[1] This indicates that forms of the sport we now call ‘water polo’
existed before the current name was in common use. Other names included ‘water base ball’ and
(more frequently) ‘aquatic football’. For example, in the South Eastern Gazette (in Kent; now
closed), on Tues 28 July 1857, it says "An aquatic foot-ball match is fixed for to-morrow,
Wednesday".

3. William Wilson, Scottish aquatics pioneer and originator of the first rules
of water polo. The rules of water polo were originally developed in the mid-
nineteenth century in Great Britain by William Wilson.

4. Water polo
■ Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams. The
game consists of four quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by
throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the most goals at the
end of the game wins the match. Each team is made up of six field players and
one goalkeeper. Excluding the goalkeeper, players participate in both offensive and
defensive roles. Water polo is typically played in an all-deep pool so that players
cannot touch the bottom.
■ A game of water polo mainly consists of the players swimming to move about the
pool, treading water (mainly using the eggbeater kick), passing the ball, and
shooting at the goal. Teamwork, tactical thinking and awareness are also highly
important aspects in a game of water polo. Water polo is a highly physical and
demanding sport and has frequently been cited as one of the most difficult sports to
play.

5. ■ Special equipment for water polo includes a water polo ball, a
ball of varying colors which floats on the water; numbered and
coloured caps; and two goals, which either float in the water or
are attached to the sides of the pool.
■ The game is thought to have originated in Scotland in the mid-
19th century as a sort of "water rugby". William Wilson is
thought to have developed the game in 1870s. The game thus
developed with the formation of the London Water Polo League
and has since expanded, becoming widely popular in various
parts of Europe, the United States, Brazil, China, Canada and
Australia.

6. Rules
The rules of water polo cover the play, procedures, equipment and
officiating of water polo. These rules are similar throughout the world, although
slight variations to the rules do occur regionally and depending on the governing
body. Governing bodies of water polo include FINA, the international governing
organization for the rules; the NCAA rules, which govern the rules for collegiate
matches in the United States; the NFHS rules which govern the rules in high
schools in the US and the IOC rules which govern the rules at Olympic events.

7. Positions
■ There are seven players in the water from each team at one time. There are
six players that play out and one goalkeeper. Unlike most common team
sports, there is little positional play; field players will often fill several
positions throughout the game as situations demand. These positions usually
consist of a center forward, a center back, the two wing players and the two
drivers. Players who are skilled in all positions of offense or defense are
called utility players. Utility players tend to come off of the bench, though
this is not absolute. Certain body types are more suited for particular
positions, and left-handed players are especially coveted on the right-hand
side of the field, allowing teams to launch two-sided attacks.

8. Offense
■ The offensive positions include: one center forward (also called a "set", "hole-
set", "center", "setter", "hole", or "2-meter man", located on or near the 2-
meter, roughly in the center of the goal), two wings (located on or near the 2-
meter, just outside of the goal posts, respectively), two drivers (also called
"flats", located on or near the 5-meter, roughly at the goal posts, respectively),
and one "point" (usually just behind the 5 meter, roughly in the center of the
goal, respectively), positioned farthest from the goal.
■ The center sets up in front of the opposing team's goalie and scores the most
individually (especially during lower level play where flats do not have the
required strength to effectively shoot from outside or to penetrate and then pass
to teammates like the point guard in basketball, or center midfield player in
soccer). The center's position nearest to the goal allows explosive shots from
close-range.

9. Defense
■ Defensive positions are often the same, but just switched from offence to
defence. For example, the centre forward or hole set, who directs the attack on
offence, on defence is known as "hole D" (also known as set guard, hole guard,
hole check, pit defence or two-metre defence), and guards the opposing team's
centre forward (also called the hole). Defence can be played man-to-man or
in zones, such as a 2–4 (four defenders along the goal line). It can also be
played as a combination of the two in what is known as an "M drop" defence,
in which the point defender moves away ("sloughs off") his man into a zone in
order to better defend the centre position. In this defence, the two wing
defenders split the area furthest from the goal, allowing them a clearer lane for
the counter-attack if their team recovers the ball.

10. Goalkeeper
The goalkeeper has the main role in blocking shots against the goal as well as guiding and informing their defense of
imposing threats and gaps in the defense. The goalkeeper usually begins the offensive play by passing the ball across the
pool to an attacker. It is not unusual for a goalkeeper to make an assisting pass to a goal on a break away.
The goalkeeper is given several privileges above those of the other players, but only within the five-meter area in front
of their own goal:
•The ability to punch the ball with a clenched fist,
•The ability to touch the ball with two hands.
In general, a foul that would cause an ejection of a field player might bring on a five-metre shot on the goalkeeper. The
goalkeeper also has one limitation that other players do not have: he cannot cross the half-distance line. Also, if a
goalkeeper pushes the ball under water, the action will not be punished with a turnover like with field players, but with a
penalty shot.

11. Equipment
Little player equipment is needed to play water polo. Items required in water polo include:
•Ball: A water polo ball is constructed of waterproof material to allow it to float on the water. The cover is textured to
give players additional grip. The size of the ball is different for men's, women's and junior games.
•Caps: A water polo cap is used to protect the players' heads and ears, and to make them identifiable from afar. Home
team field players wear numbered dark-colored caps; Visiting team field players wear numbered white caps. Both
starting goalkeepers wear red caps (sometimes quartered), numbered "1" (substitute goalies' caps are numbered either
"13" for FINA international play or "15" for NCAA play) Caps are fitted with ear protectors.
•Goals: Two goals are needed in order to play water polo. These can either be put on the side of the pool, or in the
pool using floaters.
•Mouthguard: A mouthguard is not mandatory in most tournaments, but is recommended.
•Swimwear: Male water polo players wear either swim briefs or jammers (thigh-length trunks). Female players must
wear a one-piece swimsuit. Suit-grabbing fouls are common, so players often wear tight-fitting suits, and may layer
on several suits at a time for additional security. Many swimwear labels also sell specialized water polo suits that
feature reinforced stitching and tougher fabric. Female water polo suits are generally one-piece outfits which do not
have open backs, but zip securely up the back so as to not have straps that can be easily grabbed.