Waterpolo on the net
by Graham Brown
See Also: Waterpolo equipment
"DON'T the horses drown?"... an amusing quote on the subject of water polo?! But wait a minute!
The fact is ... 400 years ago, water polo WAS played using horses. Furthermore ... Because so many WERE drowning, the players took to the moderately deep seawater themselves.
A couple of centuries on, waterpolo players have taken another adventurous plunge ... into the world wide web.
I began my quest for waterpolo on the net by typing "water polo" and "clubs".
The Avondale Waterpolo Club
The Aviondale Waterpolo Club can congratulate their webmaster that they appeared at 1 in the yahoo list from my rather basic request.
Against a beautiful bubbly, watery background I learnt about the club.
Avondale was founded in 1906, is one of the oldest water polo clubs and has members from early twenties up to mid sixties. The club is more social than competitive & they drink more alcohol than water. It would seem like the ideal club to join if you are a beginner. You must, however, be a strong swimmer! Should you be looking for competitive national league polo you should try other London clubs, such as Polytechnic or Penguin. You will find links to them from Avondale.
I spoke to the aforementioned webmaster ... Antony Stansbie. He told me
"Our web-site has been very useful in attracting new members. I set it up a couple of years ago, mainly in response to falling membership numbers.
Waterpolo is one of the UK's best kept sporting secrets, and unless you know someone who plays, it is not at all easy to find much information about clubs, or how to get started. That's why the web has been so useful to us, as it has given the club a much higher profile.
I've also contacted web-masters from other waterpolo sites around the world and swapped links, so hopefully there's a bit of a network forming"
H20 Polo
Next I looked at H2O Polo www.h2opolo.com
This site began in 1995 and provides a network for water polo players and clubs around the world. Water polo news and links can be added to the site instantly. It is surprising that more sites don't trust their readership with this minor enhancement of the Guest book idea. H2O Polo is one of those rare sites that employs simplicity but that has real graphical clout when required.
There are also plenty of coaching guides . A good example being the homepage of Paul Williams.
Paul was the goalkeeper for the Australian team at the World Championships 1975; Olympic Games 1976; and the World Championships 1978.
He warns "There is no official involvement in or sanction of this site. It is intended that it will be in development all the time. It has only been here a few months - so be patient for content - or better still - contribute some." He needn't worry ... he's just described the internet itself!
So when you are watching the 2004 Olympic Games, the athletics hasn't started yet and the dressage is dull ... Why not take in a water polo game. Thanks to the net ... you'll know the rules ... know some of the tricks ... have some inside information ... and if someone says "Don't the horses drown?"
Water Polo World
www.waterpolo-world.com
Waterpolo-world is on of the most popular websites for international water polo on the net. The site uses a database system, that provides many detailed reports and information on international events and national leagues in different languages (English, Spanish, German etc.). Waterpolo-world was created in 1999 and is regulary visited by people from more than 80 nations; for many of them it is the most important source of information on international water polo on the net.
British Waterpolo
Finally, we must direct you to www.british-waterpolo.org.uk where you can find information on all UK leagues and teams plus links to foreign waterpolo websites.
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