Polo Water Sport Basics

History

• The origins of the sport of water polo lie in England during the 19th century, according to the Athletic Scholarships website. Water polo was designed to be a type of rugby played in lakes and rivers around England with the name being an English variation of the inflatable “pulu” ball, which originated in India and was used during early games. The first rules of water polo were introduced by the London Swimming Association, which were quickly superseded by rules created in Scotland that emphasized speed and passing instead of the physicality of the English rules. Water polo’s popularity grew quickly and became the first team sport included in the modern Olympics in 1900, making it the oldest team sport still played in the Olympics.

Rules

• Western Water Polo reports water polo uses six outfield, or positional players and one goaltender. The aim of the game is to score more goals in the opposition team's goal than the opponent. Each game of water polo is played over five periods consisting of between five and eight minutes, depending on the standard of the players. Time is measured when the ball goes out of play, for example when a goal is scored or the ball leaves the area of the pool used for play. Goals are scored by throwing the ball past the goaltender into the net, with each team given 30 seconds of possession time to shoot at goal.

Pool Markings

• According to the Sport Spectator website the area used for a water polo game is rectanglular and measures between 11 and 22 yards in width and between 22 and 33 yards in length. Pools are no less than 2 meters or 2.2 yards in depth with players not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool during play, according to the Ontario Water Polo Association. The pool is marked by a series of lines including white lines for the goal lines and mid pool. Three other lines mark each half of the pool at different distances from the goal, including the red or two meter line that cannot be entered by an offensive player without the ball.

Fouls

• There are three types of fouls described by the Sport Spectator website, which are ordinary, exclusion and penalty fouls. An ordinary foul is a violation of minor rules. An example of this is a shot clock violation, which results in a free throw for the fouled team. Sport Spectator reports exclusion fouls are more serious than ordinary fouls and include interfering with a free throw. By committing an exclusion foul a player is excluded from play for 20 seconds. A penalty foul takes place with four meter line in front of the goal and is the result of a probable goal scoring opportunity being blocked by a foul.

Colors

• Each team is differentiated by wearing different colored swimming caps, according to the Sport Spectator website. The home team usually wears a dark colored cap and the visiting team wears white caps. Each goalkeeper is marked out from the other players by wearing a different colored cap, usually red.