A. Introduction Before you know it, your sons and daughters will be ready to enter to high school. And it is
important to prepare your kids for this big event. Keep in mind that academics should be
the number one priority in high school. Sports, band and other extra curricular activities
should come second.
When your child enters high school there are a large number of options when it comes to the
selection of sports. The options range from water polo, swimming, football, basketball,
soccer, lacrosse, cross country, track & field, wrestling, tennis, volleyball and more! The
policies of each team vary and often there are tryouts at the beginning of the season because
there are only x amount of spots available on the team. Many of these sports have summer
camps that your future high schooler should attend. Check the athletic website of each team or
contact the head coach by e-mail. Don't plan on a long summer vacation on the beaches
of Hawaii if your child wants to play high school sports. Check the calendar of the specific
sport. Since this is an aquatics website, we will address the sport of water polo and
swimming only.
B. Planning Ahead Although not a requirement to play water polo or to swim, it is a good idea to have some club
experience in one or both sports. In the sport of water polo, most incoming freshmen are
given the opportunity to play water polo. You never know when some undeveloped talent may
be lurking inside one of these kids. However, the will be a marked difference in the players
abilities if he or she has had some club water polo experience. Most clubs begin with
water polo players at 9 years of age. Before that, many boys and girls participate
in swim clubs when the child can begin competing at the ripe old age of 5. Lesson to the
wise, start swim club early and progress into water polo a few years later. In order to be
a successful water polo player, you need to be a very good swimmer. It doesn't work
the other way around and swimmers need not play water polo to improve their strokes
and times. Water Polo is a dirty word to club swim coaches since swim coaches
lose many swimmers to water polo and feel that water polo negatively affects their swim
strokes. You will find that many water polo players who were once swimmers do very
well in high school swimming and enjoy this high school sport also. And if you
plan to play college water polo, it is an excellent idea to participate in high school
swimming. On all college questionaires, swim times are always requested when inquiring
about college water polo.
C. Links to Clubs for Water Polo and Swimming
For a list of local swim clubs and water polo clubs.......
Go to the navigation bar of this website,
Click onto links and
A thorough listing of club websites is posted.
D. Graduated 8th Grade? or The Summer Before High School Begins. Each summer, there is a water polo league for all high school students including the incoming
freshmen. It is the high schooler's and parent's responsibility to find this information and
sign up for the summer school program. More information about the summer programs are
available on this website around May of each year. So be sure to check back.
E. Information About Summer Leagues for Boys and Girls
On the navigation bar of this site,
Go To Teams and
Click onto Boys' and Girls' Summer Leagues.
F. Keeping In Shape Year Round
Gone are the days when you could just participate high school water polo in the fall. In
this highly competitive arena, players must participate in water polo year round. In order to
be a highly successful swimmer, you must participate in a swim club program which will include
morning and afternoon workouts. Being one of the best is not something you can wish for but
rather something that you must dedicate much time and effort to.
G. Where To Begin
On the navigation bar of this website,
Go To Teams and
Click onto Boys and Girls' Summer Leagues. Here's the Quick Link.
