The University of Idaho water polo club has been around since 2012. It’s a water-based team sport where two teams of seven attempt to score goals by throwing a ball into the opposing team’s goal.
The sport is played in a deep pool, so being able to tread water and swim for long periods of time is a necessary capability for players. Connor Gould, the president of the water polo team, said he thinks of it as “water rugby” because it’s an aggressive, competitive and close quarters type of sport.
The fast-paced competitive atmosphere, paired with the tough workout the sport, provides two popular reasons why water polo players join the team.
Gould joined the water polo club in 2017 after having played at his high school in California. He said he didn’t know anything about the sport before he began playing, but it later became his favorite pastime.
“I was a baseball player, and it just happened to be the offseason for me,” Gould said. “I thought it was good conditioning. I didn’t have to be extremely good to play.”
Gould later came to enjoy water polo more than he thought he would. He said he wanted to keep playing so much that, when getting ready to graduate from high school, any college on his preferred list of candidates needed to have the sport available to him.
Since Gould’s freshman year, he has been playing for the water polo club and has risen up the ranks to become president of the club as a senior, getting ready to graduate this spring. Gould said his goals include continuing with recruitment in hopes of gathering a larger team and keeping the club alive by making sure there are other members to take over once he’s no longer there.
Despite Gould’s enthusiasm, the water polo club is not the most popular and doesn’t garner as much attention as more popular sports, like basketball and football, but they were able to recruit enough players to field a team. Most of the club members were recruited through tabling at larger events, like Palousafest, and by word of mouth. Some of the members, like Gould, were curious about what clubs the university offered and joined because it caught their attention.
Kellen Moore, a lifeguard for the University of Idaho pool, joined the water polo club to keep in shape. Moore said he enjoys the physical activity and stress relieving benefits of water polo, which allows him to create a bond with the team as well as get in a good workout routine. He’s also made a few friends, saying there were a lot of nice people in the club who made playing water polo a good time.
“I’m a chemical engineer so I have quite of bit of homework as far as my workload goes,” Moore said. “It’s been really nice to be able to have that outlet to destress.”
Maya Warnock, a freshman in the water polo club, said she joined the team four months ago as a spur-of-the-moment decision. She has 13 years of swimming experience and was excited to find a water-based, intensely competitive sport like water polo as a part of UI’s available clubs. As a new player, Warnock said she enjoys being on the team and loves the sport itself.
“The people on the team, it’s like one big family,” Warnock said. “Every day is a learning experience and I learned something new every day. Having people show me what to do and being a part of little scrimmages and stuff, it’s pretty fun!”
Gould said the club isn’t ranked in or a part of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, but they do compete against other schools. They play against teams from Washington, Montana and Oregon. They sometimes travel to other states for competition and will occasionally host their opponents in the UI Swim Center.
They haven’t had much of a season since 2019 due to COVID-19 and the challenges the pandemic posed. Gould said the pandemic has limited them to just practices because it’s a close-quarters sport and the players need to use their own ball while they are practicing instead of passing it, despite being in the water with each other.
However, Gould said he is hopeful they’ll be able to arrange a scrimmage with another team at the Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene this spring.
Ryan Hill can be reached at arg-sportsuidaho.edu